Middleton Reef 29°27′28"S 159°7′7"E is a coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

 in the Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea

The 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...

. It is separated by a deep ocean

Ocean

An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...

ic pass some 45 km wide from nearby Elizabeth Reef

Elizabeth Reef

Elizabeth 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...

, forming part of the Lord Howe Rise

Lord Howe Rise

The 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...

 underwater plateau. Middleton Reef is around 220 km from Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island

Lord 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...

 and 555 km from the coast of New South Wales

New South Wales

New 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...

. In 1997 the Environment, Sport and Territories Legislation Amendment Bill 1996 included Middelton Reef in Australia's Coral Sea Islands

Coral Sea Islands

The Coral Sea Islands Territory includes a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island...

 Territory.This island is included also in Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs

Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs

]]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...

Middleton Reef is a platform reef and is among the southernmost platform reefs in the world. However, despite its relatively high latitude, a wide variety of flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

 and fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

 exists both on the island and in the surrounding waters. This is due to its location where tropical and temperate ocean current

Ocean current

An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...

s converge.

Middleton reef is about 8.9 km long by 6.3 km wide and is usually submerged. However, at low tide most of the reef flat is exposed. At high tide only one cay

Cay

A 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...

 on the reef is visible, at one metre above sea level. The cay is called The Sound and is 100 m by 70 m.

The reefs form the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve managed by the Government of Australia

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

 under the Natural Heritage Trust

Natural Heritage Trust

The Natural Heritage Trust was set up by the Australian Government in 1997 to help restore and conserve Australia's environment and natural resources....

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Flora and fauna

Surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science

Australian Institute of Marine Science

The Australian Institute of Marine Science is a state-of-the-art tropical marine research centre located primarily at Cape Ferguson, 50km by road east of Townsville in North Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1972, by the Commonwealth of Australia...

 have highlighted healthy number of Black Cod Epinephelus daemelii which is now a threatened species in NSW waters. The survey in 2003 highlighted some 111 species of coral and at the same time identified 181 species of fish. The total number of recorded fish species on the reef is 311 across several surveys. High numbers of Galapagos shark

Galapagos shark

The Galapagos shark is a species of requiem shark, family Carcharhinidae, found worldwide. This species favors clear reef environments around oceanic islands, where it is often the most abundant shark species...

s Carcharhinus galapagensis were observed at Elizabeth Reef and based on size may indicate that the reef is a nursery for this species. Sea cucumber (Black teatfish), Holothuria whitmaei were also found to be in high numbers at Elizabeth reef. While the 2003 survey found only small numbers of the Crown-of-thorns starfish

Crown-of-thorns starfish

The crown-of-thorns starfish is a large nocturnal sea star that preys upon coral polyps. The crown-of-thorns receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its body. It is endemic to tropical coral reefs in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean...

, a survey in 2005 has indicated that the starfish is now active on the reef.

Shipwrecks

Along with Elizabeth Reef, Middleton Reef has been the site of numerous shipwrecks. According to the National Shipwrecks Database the ships stranded include:

Middleton Reef: Agnes Napier, Annasona, Blue Jacket, Britannia, Defender, Maelgwyn, Mallsgate, Mary Lawson, Queen of the East, Stuart Russel

Some confusion exists for the location of Britannia as the National Shipwrecks Database has a listing for both Elizabeth and Middleton Reef.

External links

• The Uncertainties of Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs (Geopolitical Study)