The "living creatures," including those in the sea, "were countless in number" in the vision recounted in this Sunday's second reading. Australia's Great Barrier Reef will need decades to recover from the damage caused by a grounded Chinese coal carrier that spent nine days gouging a three mile zone of the treasured reef, said experts.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the accident, which also leaked about two tons of fuel oil into the pristine seas, an "absolute outrage." He added, "We will leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding out how that happened."

Officials have promised to investigate allegations that ships have been taking short-cuts through the world's biggest reef, which covers 137,600 square miles off the east coast of Australia.

David Wachenfeld, chief scientist at the body overseeing the heritage-listed marine park, said the Shen Neng 1 coal carrier had been grinding against and crushing the reef after it veered off course and smashed into it on April 3. The reef was also left plastered with toxic anti-fouling paint from the ship's hull.

Divers "have found significant scarring and coral damage. They've also found quite a lot of anti-fouling [paint] spread across the reef," said Russell Reichelt, chairman of the marine park authority. "It is a concern because it's designed to be toxic and stop things growing on ships. We've already seen observations where anti-fouling paint that's been scraped off onto the reef is killing corals in its vicinity."

Conservationists say the incidents highlight the risk to Australia's environment posed by rocketing resource exports to Asia, which are fuelling a strong recovery from the global financial crisis.

The reef, which is visible from space and is one of the world's foremost ecological treasures, has already come under pressure from rising sea temperatures and pollution.

Source: An article by Talek Harris Agence France Presse