![Elphinstone Reef](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Elphinstone_Reef.jpg)
Elphinstone Reef (also known as Sha'ab Abu Hamra) is a standalone
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...
in the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
situated about 30 kilometers north from
the town of Marsa Alam in Egypt. The
coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...
community in this reef is primarily composed of soft corals such as ''
Dendronephthya'' species.
Gallery
File:Oceanic whitetip shark at Elphinstone Reef.jpg, Oceanic whitetip shark
The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus''), also known as shipwreck shark, Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem ...
at Elphinstone Reef
File:Elphinstone Reef soft corals.jpg, Soft corals and Anthias
Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...
at Elphinstone Reef
File:Elphinstone Reef memorial.jpg, Memorial dedicated to Arno Wallaard on south plato
File:Hawksbill turtle at Elphinstone Reef, Red Sea, Egypt (35150034493).jpg, Hawksbill turtle
The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is lar ...
at Elphinstone Reef
References
{{Recreational dive sites, reesit
Reefs of the Red Sea
Underwater diving sites in Egypt