Kimbe Bay
Encyclopedia
Kimbe Bay also known as the Coral Triangle is a large bay in West New Britain Province
, off the northern coast of New Britain
, Papua New Guinea
, at 5.1666667°S 150.5°E. Kimbe Bay is an important nature biodiverse site, 60 percent of the coral
species of the entire Indo-Pacific region live here. Kimbe Bay is the home of more than 860 coral reef
fish species. It is believed that this area is where the world's coral originated from, and eventually spread, making it the oldest know coral reef on earth, and the coral's "homeland". Because of a massive die-off of coral worldwide due to pollution, human activities, and global warming
, Kimbe Bay has become increasingly important, since it is seen as one of the last holdouts for coral should the degradation continue. Efforts are currently underway to limit the human impact on the bay. Due to its beauty it is also a popular diving
site.
West New Britain
West New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea on the islands of New Britain. The provincial capital is Kimbe. The area of the province in 21,000 km², and there are 184,508 inhabitants . West New Britain produces palm oil for export...
, off the northern coast of New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, at 5.1666667°S 150.5°E. Kimbe Bay is an important nature biodiverse site, 60 percent of the coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
species of the entire Indo-Pacific region live here. Kimbe Bay is the home of more than 860 coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
fish species. It is believed that this area is where the world's coral originated from, and eventually spread, making it the oldest know coral reef on earth, and the coral's "homeland". Because of a massive die-off of coral worldwide due to pollution, human activities, and global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, Kimbe Bay has become increasingly important, since it is seen as one of the last holdouts for coral should the degradation continue. Efforts are currently underway to limit the human impact on the bay. Due to its beauty it is also a popular diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
site.