Australian environment minister Tony Burke has announced plans to develop the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve off the nation’s north east coast. The proposed park would cover approximately 385,000 square miles — to put that in perspective, larger than France and Germany combined. The park would protect coral reefs, a myriad of fish and underwater geographical features like submerged volcanoes and sea canyons. However, the area that the park will cover does not only preserve wild life. This area is where the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought in 1942, and is the resting place of to the USS Lexington, the USS Sims and the USS Neosho.
