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Elizabeth Reef

Coordinates: 29°57′25″S 159°4′32″E / 29.95694°S 159.07556°E / -29.95694; 159.07556
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Elizabeth Reef
Location of Elizabeth Reef east of New South Wales
1934 map of Elizabeth Reef

Elizabeth Reef 29°57′25″S 159°4′32″E / 29.95694°S 159.07556°E / -29.95694; 159.07556 is a coral reef in the Coral 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. It is around 160 km from Lord Howe Island and 555 km from the New South Wales coast of Australien. The Environment, Sport and Territories Legislation Amendment Act 1997 included Elizabeth Reef in Australia's Coral Sea Islands Territory.[1]

It is the southernmost coral atoll in the world and one of the southernmost platform reefs in the world. It measures 8.2 km by 5.5 km. Despite the relatively high latitude, a wide variety of flora and fauna exists on the reef and in the surrounding waters due to their location where tropical and temperate ocean currents converge.

At low tide most of the reef flat is exposed; at high tide, both a cay and a sand spit are visible. Elizabeth Island, with a diameter of about 400 m, is one metre above sea level. Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs form the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve managed by the Government of Australia under the Natural Heritage Trust.[2]

Elizabeth Reef image from NASA Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project

Flora and fauna

Surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science have highlighted a healthy number of black cod Epinephelus daemelii, a threatened species[3] in New South Welsh waters.[4] The survey in 2003 highlighted 111 species of coral and identified 181 species of fish. The total number of recorded fish species is 311 across several surveys. High numbers of Galapagos sharks Carcharhinus galapagensis were observed at the reef, which may indicate that the reef is a nursery. Sea cucumber (black teatfish), Holothuria whitmaei,[5] were found in high numbers. While the 2003 survey found only small numbers of crown-of-thorns starfish, a survey in 2005 indicated that it was active.[6]

Shipwrecks

Both Elizabeth Reef and Middleton Reef have been the site of numerous shipwrecks. According to the National Shipwrecks Database, the ships stranded at Elizabeth Reef include:

Britannia was wrecked on the 25 August 1806 and was a 301 burthen ton full-rigged whaler built in 1783 in Bridport, England, and owned by the whaling firm Samuel Enderby & Sons. The vessel also performed two voyages transporting convicts to Port Jackson.[7]

Rosetta Joseph struck Elizabeth Reef on 1 December 1850 when on a voyage from San Francisco to Sydney The 27 metre wooden barquentine was built at the Manning River by Moses Joseph, New South Wales in 1847 and was registered in Sydney [8]

Tyrian ran aground and was wrecked at Elizabeth Reef on 24 November 1851. In December Aeolus (1850) and the Jane assisted in taking off survivors from the wreck back to Sydney. The 226 ton Tyrian was a wooden barquentine was built at Scarborough in the United Kingdom in 1828 and was registered in London [9]

The Packet, a whaling vessel, was wrecked at midnight during gale on 24 February 1857 The 25 metre brigantine with a Captain Davidson was on voyage to Sydney with a cargo of whale oil, 150 barrels and a crew of 26 was built at Prince Edward Island in Canada in 1849 and was owned by Messers Mitchell & Co [10] "WRECK OF THE WHALING BRIG PACKET". Empire (newspaper). No. 1927. New South Wales, Australia. 11 March 1857. p. 2. Retrieved 19 May 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

The Douglas was wrecked on the SE extremity of the fringing reef at Elisabeth Reef on 8 May 1869. The vessel was on a voyage from Newcastle to China. The 36 metre wooden vessel is listed in the Sydney register as a barquentine was built at Machias in the United States in 1861 [11] Wreck lies on the outer reef at about "5 o'clock" [12]

Colonist was a general cargo and passenger schooner built in 1861 at Dumbarton Scotland by Denny & Rankine. It spent nearly 30 years plying the Western Pacific-based out of Sydney. It wrecked at midnight, on the 22nd May 1870 and later re-floated and returned to Sydney Harbour on 2 March 1871 more than eight months after having hit the reef with the vessel later sinking in Sydney Harbour on the 1 March 1890

The Alma was wrecked at Elizabeth Reef on 3 August 1883 while under the command of Captain John Paterson. The Iron Sailing Vessel was launched as 3 masted Schooner was built at Dundee in the Scotland in 1854 by the Gourley Brothers but by 1880 was a brigantine [13] Template:Clyde ships


Elizabeth, Naiad, Ramsay


British sailor Steve Landles was winched to a Royal Australian Navy Sea Hawk helicopter from the stranded yacht Lamachan on 2 August 2007; the yacht could not be recovered.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Prescott, Victor (1998). "The Uncertainties of Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs" (PDF). Maritime Studies. 1998 (100): 8–14. doi:10.1080/07266472.1998.10878528.
  2. ^ Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve Archived 2010-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Black Cod net
  4. ^ Marine Surveys undertaken in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, December 2003 Archived 2008-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Reefbase Online Library
  6. ^ "AIMS Reef Monitoring Elizabeth Reef". Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  7. ^ "NSW Maritime heritage database". NSW Heritage.
  8. ^ "NSW Maritime heritage database". NSW Heritage.
  9. ^ "NSW Maritime heritage database". NSW Heritage.
  10. ^ "NSW Maritime heritage database". NSW Heritage.
  11. ^ "NSW Maritime heritage database". NSW Heritage.
  12. ^ "SHIPWRECKS of MIDDLETON and ELIZABETH REEFS, PACIFIC OCEAN". ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AUSTRALIAN SHIPWRECKS. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  13. ^ "NSW Maritime heritage database". NSW Heritage.
  14. ^ Lamachan Rescue 1 August 2007
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