Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve is a former
marine protected area
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...
covering an area of 8440 km
2 in the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
Coral Sea Islands Territory
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class (biology), class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important C ...
that was incorporated into the new
Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve
The Coral Sea Marine Park (previously known as the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is an Australian marine park located in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland. The marine park covers an area of and is assigned IUCN category IV. I ...
in December 2012. Together with the
Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve
Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve is a former nature reserve in Australia’s Coral Sea Islands Territory that was incorporated into the new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve in December 2012. The former nature reserve together with ...
, from which it is separated by about 100 km of open ocean, it forms the
Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site
The Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site comprises the 17,289 km2 of oceanic island and reef habitats within the former Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and the former Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve in the Australian Coral Sea Island ...
, designated on 16 August 2002, listing it under the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...
as a wetland of international importance.
History
Lihou Reef and its cays were discovered by
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
John Lihou,
R.N., on 23 February 1823. Lihou, then Master of the
brig-sloop
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...
HMS ''Zenobia'', was on passage from
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
to
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. After a hazardous passage through the reef, the ship departed the
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
via an opening near
Murray Islands. On 23 February, the Lihou Reefs were sighted.
[''Source: Hydrographic Service - Royal Australian Navy. (M.A. BOLGER. Lieutenant Commander RAN for DIRECTOR HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE. 19 July 1985)'']
Description
Lihou Reef is the second largest
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
by total size in the
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...
, after the
Chesterfield Islands
The Chesterfield Islands (''îles Chesterfield'' in French) are a French archipelago of New Caledonia located in the Coral Sea, northwest of Grande Terre, the main island of New Caledonia. The archipelago is 120 km long and 70 km ...
(not counting the completely submerged
Lansdowne Bank
Lansdowne Bank, sometimes called Landsdowne Bank, is an extensive submerged bank located between the main island of New Caledonia and the Chesterfield Islands, in the easternmost part of the Coral Sea. It covers an area of ,lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
is about 100 by 30 km, with an area of 2529 km
2, making the atoll one of the largest in the world. Nevertheless, the total land area of the islets and cays is little more than a square kilometre. The lagoon is up to 60 m deep. The reserve contains 18 islets and
cay
A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...
s, 9 each on the Northern Rim and the Southern Rim, ranging in size from 5,000 to 168,000 m
2.
Northern Rim
Total land area 560,000 m
2; the islets on the Northern Rim are, from southwest to northeast (clockwise):
* Juliette Cay (78,000 m
2)
* Kathy Cay (40,000 m
2)
* Lorna Cay (168,000 m
2)
* Little Margaret Cay (10,000 m
2)
* Margaret Cay (30,000 m
2)
* Turtle Islet (31,000 m
2)
* Middle Cay (78,000 m
2)
* Observatory Cay (88,000 m
2)
* Licklick Cay (40,000 m
2)
Only Lorna Cay and Turtle Islet are vegetated. Turtle Islet reaches a height of 6 m, and Observatory Cay 2 m.
Southern Rim
Total land area 470,000 m
2.
The islets on the Southern Rim are, from northeast to southwest (clockwise):
* Anne Cay, "No 1 Cay" (112,000 m
2)
* Betty Cay, "No 2 Cay" (37,000 m
2)
* Carol Cay, "No 3 Cay" (5,000 m
2)
* Dianna Cay, "No 4 Cay" (16,000 m
2)
* Fanny Cay, "No 5 Cay" (7,000 m
2)
* Edna Cay, "No 6 Cay" (73,000 m
2)
* Helen Cay, "No 7 Cay" (10,000 m
2)
* Georgina Cay, "No 8 Cay" (105,000 m
2)
* Nellie Cay, "No 9 Cay" (104,000 m
2)
Only the largest three of the Southern Rim, Anne Cay, Georgina Cay and Nellie Cay, are vegetated. Just northeast of Anne Cay is the Herald Passage into the lagoon.
References
External links
*
{{Lighthouse identifiers , qid2=Q106104609
Coral Sea Islands
Former protected areas of the Australian government
Protected areas established in 2002
Protected areas disestablished in 2012
2002 establishments in Australia
2012 disestablishments in Australia
Lighthouses in Coral Sea Islands