The
Coral Sea Islands Territory includes a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the
Coral SeaThe Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
, northeast of
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The only inhabited island is Willis Island. The territory covers 780,000 km
2, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef, and including Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group, and fifteen other reef/island groups.
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. 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
ElizabethElizabeth Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. The reef is separated by a deep oceanic pass, some 45 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise. Elizabeth Reef is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island and...
and
MiddletonMiddleton Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. It is separated by a deep oceanic pass some 45 km wide from nearby Elizabeth Reef, forming part of the Lord Howe Rise underwater plateau. Middleton Reef is around 220 km from Lord Howe Island and 555 km from the coast of New South...
Reefs nearly 800 km further South, already in the
Tasman SeaThe Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
.
The two latter reefs are much closer to
Lord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
,
New South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. 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 ReefThe Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
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
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, administered from
CanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
by the
Attorney-General's DepartmentAn Attorney-General's Department is a government department in certain countries.*Attorney-General's Department *Attorney-General's Department...
(before 29 November 2007 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 NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
.
Australia maintains automatic weather stations on many of the isles and reefs, and claims a 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) exclusive
fishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
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. In November 2011 the Australian government announced that a 989842 square kilometres (382,180 sq mi) protected area was planned in the Coral Sea.
Geography
There are about 30 separate
reefIn nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
s and
atollAn atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
s, twelve being wholly submerged or drying only during low tide, and 18 others with a total of about 51 islets and
cayA cay , also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people...
s (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
lagoonA lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
):
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 10-4The FIPS 10-4 standard, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principal Administrative Divisions, lists two-letter country codes that are used by the U.S. Government for geographical data processing in many publications, such as the CIA World Factbook. The standard is...
code is CR, whereas
ISO 3166ISO 3166 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization . It defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions . The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation...
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
Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Australia’s Coral Sea Islands Territory, and an Important Bird Area . Together with the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve, from which it is separated by about 100 km of open ocean, it forms the Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site,...
, 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 SiteThe Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site comprises the 17,292 km2 of oceanic island and reef habitats within the Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve in the Australian Coral Sea Islands Territory.-History:...
.
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.
Southeasterly Group
- Frederick Reefs
Frederick Reef is in the Coral Sea Islands, over northeast of Gladstone, Queensland. The reef gets its name from the Frederick, which first reported sighting of the reef....
: 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
Kenn Reef is a submerged coral atoll off the Pacific coast of Queensland, Australia. It is about 15 by 8 km and appears as either a backward facing “L“ or a boot...
, submerged atoll of about 15 by 8 km, area 40 km2, islet Observatory Cay in the Southeast, 2 m high
- Saumarez Reefs
Saumarez Reefs is one of the southernmost reefs to be located in the Coral Sea Islands and part of the Coral Sea Shelf; it contains three main reefs and numerous smaller reefs all of which form a large crescent-shaped formation open to the northwest, about 27 by 14 km, area less than 300 km².There...
, 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
The Wreck Reefs are located in the southern part of the Coral Sea Islands approximately 450 km East Nor East of Gladstone, Queensland or 250 km east of the Swain Reefs complex they form a narrow chain of reefs with small cays that extends for around 25 km in a west to east lineIslets...
: 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 Reef, a part of the Cato Bank, is an area in the Coral Sea off the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia that is of approximately 21 km by 13 km of this 200 km² area, where depth of water is typically less than 17 m...
: 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
ElizabethElizabeth Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. The reef is separated by a deep oceanic pass, some 45 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise. Elizabeth Reef is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island and...
and
MiddletonMiddleton Reef is a coral reef in the Tasman Sea. It is separated by a deep oceanic pass some 45 km wide from nearby Elizabeth Reef, forming part of the Lord Howe Rise underwater plateau. Middleton Reef is around 220 km from Lord Howe Island and 555 km from the coast of New South...
Reefs, together with reefs around
Lord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
(
New South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. 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 RiseThe Lord Howe Rise is an underwater plateau that extends from southwest of New Caledonia to the Challenger Plateau, west of New Zealand. To its west is the Tasman Basin and to the east is the New Caledonia Basin. Lord Howe Rise has a total area of about 1,500,000 square km, and generally lies about...
in the
Tasman SeaThe Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
which joins the
Coral SeaThe Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
in the South. Already on 23 December 1987, they were protected as the
Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve]]Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs form the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve, located at the south-eastern end of the Coral Sea Islands, an Australian territory in the Coral Sea and the north-western Tasman Sea. They are managed by the Government of Australia under the...
, 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
| Complex | Type | Islets/cays |
West Holmes Reef |
atoll |
2 |
Diane Bank |
atoll (mostly sunken) |
1 |
Willis Group |
atoll (partially sunken) |
3 |
Magdelaine Cays and Coringa Islets |
atoll (partially sunken) |
4 |
Herald Cays (North) |
reef |
1 |
Herald Cays (South) |
reef |
1 |
Lihou Reef and Cays |
atoll |
18 |
Diamond Islands and Tregosse Reefs |
atoll (partially sunken) |
4 |
Flinders Reefs (North) |
atoll |
2 |
Marion Reef |
atoll |
4 |
Mellish Reef |
atoll |
1 |
Frederick Reefs |
atoll |
1 |
Kenn Reef |
atoll |
1 |
Saumarez Reef |
atoll |
2 |
Wreck Reef |
atoll |
3 |
Cato Reef |
atoll |
1 |
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
Lighthouses are located on following reefs or islands:
- Bougainville Reef
- East Diamond Islet
- Frederick Reefs
- Lihou Reef
- Saumarez Reef
See also
- List of islands of Australia
- Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands
The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands is a micronation established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in southeast Queensland Australia. Declared in 2004 in response to the Australian government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages, it was...
, an unrecognised micronationMicronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...
claiming the islands as their territory
External links