- Indispensable Reefs
The Indispensable Reefs are a chain of three large coral
atoll s in theCoral Sea . They are located about 50 km south ofRennell Island , separated from it by Rennel Trough. The chain stretches over a length of 114 km and its average width is 18 km.Administratively the Indispensable Reef belongs to the
Rennell and Bellona Province of theSolomon Islands .The three atolls are steep-to and each encloses a large deep
lagoon . They are separated by deep passages two to three km wide. of the Indispensable Reef are aligned in a NW-SE direction [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub126/126sec07.pdf] :*North Reef is 18 km long, and up to 7 km wide. The rim of the atoll has two narrow openings in the north and northwest. The reef has a total area of 100 km², including lagoon and reef flat. There are no islets.
*Middle Reef is 51 km long. Little Nottingham Islet is a small islet located near the center of the reef. Besides its main lagoon, Middle Reef has a separate smaller northern lagoon. The total area is about 300 km².
*South Reef is 21 km long and up to 8 km wide. It encloses a lagoon 18 to 35 meters deep. The total area exceeds 100 km².
History
Ship "Neptune" struck Indispensable Reef on August 3 1868 and was lost. The crew was rescued by the "SS Boomerang."
During
World War II a Japanese torpedo plane from carrierShokaku crashed on Indispensable Reef.In the 1980s the Solomon Islands Government apprehended a vessel from
Taiwan that had been poaching thegiant clam stocks of Indispensable Reef. Corals and endangered fish species are also being plundered for the aquarium trade.References
ee also
* [http://solomonislands.com.sb/indispensablereefs.html]
* Corals: [http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:M2kFxZIyCPEJ:www.unep-wcmc.org/marine/coralatlas/Solomon_Islands.pdf]
* Sunken ships: [http://web.aanet.com.au/bender/Ships%20named%20from%20M_P.htm]
* Ecological concern: [http://www.icriforum.org/secretariat/pdf/207-316.pdf]
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