coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
C ...
and a mostly submerged
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 ...
in the far southeast of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
It is 162.4 km from the closest island, Loa Boloba, which is a tiny coral islet within the fringing reef near Cape Deliverance, the south east point of
Rossel Island (Yela)
Rossel Island (named after de Rossel, a senior officer on the French expedition of d'Entrecasteaux, 1791-1793; also known as Yela) is the easternmost island of the Louisiade Archipelago, within the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. Tree Isl ...
in the
Louisiade Archipelago
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea.
It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread ...
Samarai-Murua District
Samarai-Murua District is a district of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Murua. The population of the district was 58,590 at the 2011 census.Yaleyamba Rural Local Level Government Area.
Pocklington Reef sits on top of Pocklington Ridge, which extends north-east from Rossel Island. The reef is 32 km long and up to 4 km wide. Its longer axis is north-east-south-west. The rim of the reef encloses a deep
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'') ...
. The northern rim reaches closer to the surface, and several above water rocks with heights between 0.9 and 3 metres high lie along its length. There is a small spit of sand about the size of a football field (less than one
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
) at the north-east end.
It is isolated from other reef systems by deep water and relatively pristine.
Before Papua New Guinea achieved sovereignty in 1975 it was decided Pocklington Reef should be part of the new nation.
History
The reef was discovered and named by the captain of the Sydney whaler ''Pocklington'' in 1825.
A number of vessels have been wrecked on the atoll. The brig ''Reindeer'' (324 tons) was on the way from Melbourne to China for a cargo of tea when she was wrecked here in September 1855. Among the crewmen aboard was Walter Powell.
The ''Earl of Hardwick'' (280 tons) was on the way from
Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...
, with a cargo of coal to Hong Kong in 1862 when it was wrecked on 10 June.
The ''Genevieve'' (1,000 tons) was a relatively new vessel built at Quebec in 1870 and sailing from Melbourne to Manilla when she came to grief in September 1874. Captain Largie, of the Woodlark, ship, bound from Brisbane to Hong Kong: reported sighted a vessel ashore at the south-west end of the Pocklington Reef. She had nothing standing but the mizzen mast and bowsprit, and evidently had been on the reef some time
HMS ''Renard'' under the command of Lieutenant G.E. Richards surveyed the reef in 1880 and noted there was no anchorage around its perimeter.
On 28 April 1962, the
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
nian vessel SS ''Dona Ourania'' (8,716 tons) grounded on Pocklington Reef.
The Japanese ship ''Amigi Maru'' (280 ft, 2,249 tons) ran aground during a cyclone in May 1972. It could not be saved and had to be abandoned.
In April 1974 the soviet vessel ''Fedor Litke'' spent a week at a sandbank on the reef. An Australian naval vessel visited the site soon after and it was reported a concealed electronic monitoring device was found there.
Illegal drugs worth $30 million were hidden in a wreck on the reef in 1978. Stored in watertight bags, the cannabis had been left by a trawler from Thailand.
Fishing
A Taiwanese fishing vessel was detected illegally fishing off the reef in October 1979 within PNG’s 200-mile fishing zone. The skipper was fined 1000
kina
Kina can refer to:
* Kina (animal), a sea urchin endemic to New Zealand
* Kina (musician), American singer/songwriter, and former member of musical group Brownstone
* Kina, an Italian music producer known for the single "Get You the Moon"
* Kina ( ...
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 conse ...
.Pocklington Reef Wood, L. J. (2007). MPA Global: A database of the world's marine protected areas. Sea Around Us Project, UNEP-WCMC & WWF. www.mpaglobal.org