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| Sand cay that may eventually become an island (in, at a wild guess, one hundred thousand years time) |
History
The Coral Sea Islands were first charted in 1803; in the 1870 and
1880s the islands were mined for guano but the absence of a permanent
supply of fresh water prevented long-term habitation.
[1] The territory was created in 1969 by the
Coral Sea Islands Act (before, the area was considered part of Queensland) and extended in 1997 to include
Elizabeth and
Middleton Reefs nearly 800 km further South, already in the
Tasman Sea.
The two latter reefs are much closer to
Lord Howe Island,
New South Wales (about 150 km) than to the southernmost island of the rest of the territory, Cato Island. The islands, cays and reefs of the
Great Barrier Reef
are not part of the territory, belonging to Queensland instead. The
outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef is the boundary between Queensland
and the Coral Sea Islands Territory.
The territory is a possession of
Australia, administered from
Canberra by the
Attorney-General's Department[2] (before 29 November 2007
[3] administration was carried out by the
Department of Transport and Regional Services). Defence is the responsibility of Australia, and the territory is visited regularly by the
Royal Australian Navy.
Australia maintains automatic weather stations on many of the isles
and reefs, and claims a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive
fishing
zone. There is no economic activity (except for a significant but as
yet unquantified charter fishing and diving industry), and only a staff
of three or four people to run the meteorological station on
Willis Island (South Islet), established in 1921.
[citation needed]
In November 2011 the Australian government announced that a 989,842
square kilometres (382,180 sq mi) protected area was planned in the
Coral Sea.
[4]
Geography
There are about 30 separate
reefs and
atolls, twelve being wholly submerged or drying only during low tide, and 18 others with a total of about 51 islets and
cays (18 alone on the atoll
Lihou Reef),
some of which are vegetated. The atolls exhibit a wide range of size,
from a few kilometres in diameter to perhaps the second largest atoll in
the world by total area (including
lagoon):
Lihou Reef, with a lagoon size of 100 by 30 km and an area of 2,500 km
2, which compares to a combined land area of the 18 individual islets of only 0.91 km
2. The islands are all very low. The territory's
FIPS 10-4 code is CR, whereas
ISO 3166 includes it in Australia (AU).
The
Willis Islets
are important nesting areas for birds and turtles, but their natural
resources are negligible. They comprise less than three square
kilometres of land. There is no port or harbour, only offshore
anchorage.
Most of the atolls fall into two groups, while
Mellish Reef to the east, and
Middleton Reef and
Elizabeth Reef to the south are grouped separately:
Northwestern Group
- Osprey Reef (submerged atoll roughly oval in shape, measuring 25 by 12 km, covering around 195 km2, with lagoon up to 30 m deep)
- Shark Reef (small elongated submerged reef 15 km South of Osprey Reef, with a least depth of 7.8 m)
- Bougainville Reef (small submerged atoll, 2.5 by 4 km, area 8 km2 with lagoon, dries at half tide)
- East Holmes Reef (submerged atoll, about 14 by 10 km, area 125 km2 with lagoon)
- West Holmes Reef (submerged atoll 6 km East of East Holmes Reef, about 18 by 7 km, area 125 km2 with lagoon that is open on the West side, two small cays)
- Flora Reef (small submerged atoll, 5 by 4 km, about 12 km2)
- Diane Bank (sunken atoll, depths of less than 10 m over an area of 65 by 25 km, or 1300 km2, along the northern edge 3 m deep, with Sand Cay in the Northwest, 3 m high)
- North Moore Reef (small submerged atoll, 4 by 3 km, area 8 km2 including lagoon that is open on the Northwest side)
- South Moore Reef (small submerged reef 5 km South of North Moore Reef)
- Willis Islets (sunken atoll, bank 45 by 19 km, bank area more than 500 km2, 3 islets on the Northwestern side: North Cay, Mid Islet almost 8 m high, South Islet or Willis Island 10 m high)
- Magdelaine Cays & Coringa Islets (one large, partially sunken atoll structure, almost 90 by 30 km, bank area about 1500 km2, 2 islets of the Magdelaine Cays in the North: North West Islet (area approximately 0.2 km2) and South East Cay (area 0.37 km2); 2 islets of the Coringa Islets 50 to 60 km further Southwest: Southwest Islet or Coringa Islet (area 0.173 km2), and Chilcott Islet (area 0.163 km2))
- Herald Cays, Northeast Cay (encircled by a reef of 3 by 3 km, total area 6 km2, land area 0.34 km2)
- Herald Cays, Southwest Cay (4 km Southwest of Northeast Cay, encircled by a reef of 2 by 2 km, total area 3 km2, land area 0.188 km2)
- Lihou Reef and Cays (largest atoll in the coral sea, with a size of 2500 km2, land area 0.91 km2)
- Diamond Islets & Tregosse Reefs (large, partially sunken atoll, 100 by 52 km, area of the bank over 3000 km2,
with 4 islets and 2 small submerged reefs in the Northeast and
Southeast: West Diamond Islet, Central Diamond Islet, East Diamond Islet
on the Northeastern rim of the former atoll, and South Diamond Islet,
East Tregosse Reef and West Tregosse Reef on the Southern rim)
- North Flinders Reef (large atoll, 34 by 23 km, area 600 km2, with 2 islets, Flinders Cay being the larger one with a length of 200 m and a height of 3 m)
- South Flinders Reef (atoll, 15 by 5 km, 60 km2)
- Herald's Surprise (small submerged reef North of Flinders Reefs, 3 by 2 km)
- Dart Reef (small submerged reef Northwest of Flinders Reefs, 3 by 3 km, area 6 km2 including small lagoon that is open to the North)
- Malay Reef (small submerged reef, not clearly defined, no breakers, difficult to see)
- Abington Reef (submerged reef, nearly awash, 4 by 2.5 km, area 7 km2)
- Marion Reef (large circular atoll formation that is composed of
three main units located on the Eastern side: Marion, Long and Wansfell;
and a number of smaller reefs on the west. The formation sits atop a
submarine feature known as the Marion Plateau which is separated from the larger Coral Sea Plateau to the north by the Townsville Trough.
Three small sand cays are located on the eastern side of Marion Reef:
Paget Cay, on Long Reef, Carola Cay, south of Long Reef, and Brodie Cay,
on Wansfell Reef.
The atolls of the Northwestern Group, except Osprey Reef and Shark
Reef in the North, and Marion Reef in the South, are located on the
Coral Sea Plateau (Queensland Plateau), a contiguous area of depths less than 1000 m.
- Flinders Reefs (North and South), Herald's Surprise and Dart Reef form a cluster of reefs of 66 by 26 km.
- Magdelaine Cays, Coringa Islets and Herald Cays are part of the 8856 km2 Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, created on 16 August 1982 and located around 400 km east of Cairns
and 220 to 320 km from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The 6
islets of the nature reserve have areas from 0.16 to 0.37 km2, for a total of 1.24 km2.
- Lihou Reef was declared a Nature Reserve on 16 August 1982, with an area of 8440 km2.
The Nature Reserves were created to protect wildlife in the respective areas of the territory; together they form the
Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site.
Mellish Reef
- Mellish Reef, being about 300 kilometres to the east of the Northwestern Group,
thus the most distant from the Australian continent of all the reefs
and atolls of the Coral Sea Islands Territory, is not considered to be
part of any group. It has the outline of a boomerang-shaped platform
around 10 km in length and 3 km across, area 25 km2. The
surrounding reefs, which enclose a narrow lagoon, are completely
submerged at high tide. Near the centre of the lagoon is the only
permanent land of the reef - Heralds-Beacon Islet. The island is a small
cay measuring 600 m by 120 m, area 57,000 m2, only rising a few metres above the high water mark.[5]
Southeasterly Group
- Frederick Reefs:
The reefs form a semi-enclosed lagoon, known as Anchorage Sound, with
an opening on the North side. The complex measures about 10 by 4 km,
with an area of 30 km2. On the southern side of the reef lies
Observatory Cay, the only permanently dry land, although there are a
few of others cays that can be awash at high tide.
- Kenn Reefs, submerged atoll of about 15 by 8 km, area 40 km2, islet Observatory Cay in the Southeast, 2 m high
- Saumarez Reefs,
southernmost reefs to be located on the Coral Sea Shelf; three main
reefs and numerous smaller reefs that form a large crescent-shaped
formation open to the northwest, about 27 by 14 km, area less than
300 km2. There are two sand cays: North East Cay and South West Cay.
- Wreck Reefs: atoll 25 by 5 km, area 75 km2, open on the North. Islets found on the reefs include Bird Islet, West Islet and Porpoise Cay.
- Cato Reef: Cato bank 21 by 13 km, area 200 km2 of depths less than 17 m; Cato Reef encircles an area of 3.3 by 1.8 km, area 5 km2 including lagoon; Cato Island, in the West of the lagoon, 650 by 300 m, area 1.5 km2, 6 m high. Close to the Southeast corner of Cato bank is Hutchison Rock, with 1 m depth over
Extreme South
Elizabeth and
Middleton Reefs, together with reefs around
Lord Howe Island (
New South Wales)
150 km to the south, are regarded as the southernmost coral reefs in
the world. Their location, where tropical and temperate ocean currents
meet, contributes to an unusually diverse assemblage of marine species.
These mostly submerged atolls which dry only during low tide were added
to the territory only in 1989. They are located on the
Lord Howe Rise in the
Tasman Sea which joins the
Coral Sea in the South. Already on 23 December 1987, they were protected as the
Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, which has an area of 1880 km
2.
- Middleton Reef, atoll about 8.9 by 6.3 km, area 37 km2 including lagoon, one islet: Elizabeth island (Elizabeth cay), no vegetation, 600 metres by 400 metres (area 0.2 km2), highest point close to the Northern end 1.5 metres. At low tides much of the reef flat is exposed.
- Elizabeth Reef, atoll about 8.2 by 5.5 km, area 51 km2 including lagoon, one islet: The Sound, 100 by 70 meters (area 5,000 m2), highest point 0.8 metres. At low tides much of the reef flat is exposed.
Overview of islets and cays
| West Holmes Reef |
atoll |
2 |
| Diane Bank |
atoll (mostly sunken) |
Diane Bank Cay |
| Willis Group |
atoll (partially sunken) |
South Islet (Willis Island), Mid Islet, North Cay |
| Magdelaine Cays and Coringa Islets |
atoll (partially sunken) |
Northwest Islet, Southeast Cay, Southwest, Chilcott Islets |
| Herald Cays (North) |
reef |
Northwest Cay |
| Herald Cays (South) |
reef |
Southeast Cay |
| Lihou Reef and Cays |
atoll |
18 |
| Diamond Islands and Tregosse Reefs |
atoll (partially sunken) |
4 |
| Flinders Reefs (North) |
atoll |
Flinders, Main, Victoria Cays |
| Marion Reef |
atoll |
Paget, Carola, Brodie Cays |
| Mellish Reef |
atoll |
Heralds-Beacon Islet |
| Frederick Reefs |
atoll |
Observatory Cay |
| Kenn Reef |
atoll |
Observatory Cay |
| Saumarez Reef |
atoll |
Northeast, Southwest Cays |
| Wreck Reef |
atoll |
Bird, West Islets, Porpoise Cay |
| Cato Reef |
atoll |
Cato Island |
| Middleton Reef |
atoll |
1 |
| Elizabeth Reef |
atoll |
1 |
| Total number of islands/cays |
51 |
Man-made objects
Automatic, unmanned weather stations are located on following reefs or atolls:
- Bougainville Reef
- Cato Island
- Flinders Reef (Flinders Coral Cay)
- Frederick Reef
- Holmes Reef
- Lihou Reef (Turtle Islet)
- Marion Reef
- Moore Reef
 |
Kerosene-powered Great Barrier Reef lighthouse at North Reef in 1968
- OTHER LIGHTHOUSES AT:
- Bougainville Reef
- East Diamond Islet
- Frederick Reefs
- Lihou Reef
- Saumarez Reef
|
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| Gannet on Ben Cropp's dinghy, Great Detached Reef area |
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| Wally Muller admired the navigation skills of Matthew Finders and visited most reefs named by this British naval explorer. |
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