Cod Hole

Cod Hole
Nearest town/city	Cooktown
Coordinates	14°39′51″S 145°39′49″E / 14.66417°S 145.66361°E / -14.66417; 145.66361Coordinates: 14°39′51″S 145°39′49″E / 14.66417°S 145.66361°E / -14.66417; 145.66361

Cod Hole is one of the best known dive sites in the world and is located on the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia on ribbon reef number 10.^[1] It is notable for and is named after the dozen or so potato cod that live there. The sanctioned feeding of these fish and number of visitors to the site has also made it a focal point in the debate over reef management.^[2][3][4]

Potato Cod

Divers feeding potato cod at Cod Hole.

The potato cod at the site can weigh 6-30 kg, having been fed by divers for the last 20 years since underwater photographers Ron and Valerie Taylor publicised the site.^[5] Their numbers have declined as the site has become more popular, with the average number of potato cod seen per dive almost halving between 1992 and 1998.^[6]

See also

• Great Barrier Reef
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• Potato Cod

References

1. ^ Coleman, Neville; Marsh, Nigel (2004). "Lizard Island". Diving Australia: A Guide to the Best Diving Down Under. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9625933115. http://books.google.com/?id=PkfjhkmkkA0C. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
2. ^ Quinn, NJ; Kojis, BL (1990). Are divers destroying the Great Barrier Reef's Cod Hole?. 
3. ^ "Potato Cod". Lizard Island Research Station. http://www.lizardisland.net.au/research/potato_cod.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
4. ^ Orams, Mark (1999). Marine tourism: development, impacts and management. Routledge. pp. 27. ISBN 0415195721. http://books.google.com/?id=sSruCNy1HHAC. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
5. ^ "Cod Hole". Diving Cairns. http://www.divingcairns.com.au/reef7.html. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
6. ^ Davis, Kim (1998). "The Cod Hole: long-term monitoring of human usage, fish populations and injuries to fish and the environment". Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. http://kurrawa.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/info_services/publications/reef_research/issue3.4_98/3.4wot.html. Retrieved 2008-06-19.