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BRIEF on Coral Triangle;
No other place on Earth is as rich and varied in marine life as the Coral Triangle. Spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste, this extraordinary expanse of ocean covers some 5.7 million km2. The Coral Triangle matches the richness and diversity of the Amazon rainforest. It is home to 75% of all coral species known to science.
More than 3,000 species of reef fish and commercially valuable pelagic, or open ocean, species including yellowfin tuna, skipjack tuna, bigeye tuna, bumphead parrotfish, needlefish, Napoleon wrasse, and barracuda.
Six of the seven species of marine turtles including green, hawksbill, olive ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and flatback.
Migrating populations of whale sharks measuring up to about 20m, and massive mantarays, which are attracted to the region by abundant plankton.
Marine mammals such as 22 species of dolphin (including spinner, spotted, bottlenose, and the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin), the endangered dugong or seacow, rare Bryde’s whale, short-finned
pilot whale, sperm and dwarf sperm whale, humpback, Cuvier’s and Blainville’s beaked whales.
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