Maro Reef ( Hawaiian: Nalukākala - "surf that arrives in combers") is a largely submerged

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 ...

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 ...

located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was discovered in 1820 by Captain Joseph Allen of the ship '' Maro'', after whose ship the reef was named. With a total area of , it is the largest

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 ...

in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It contains 37 species of

stony coral Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

. Unlike most atolls, the coral extends out from the center like spokes on a wheel. Located about northwest of

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, Maro Reef contains about of dry land which itself can be submerged depending on the tides. Some scientists believe that it "may be on the verge of drowning" because the reefs are detached and are vulnerable to strong storm waves. USNS ''Mission San Miguel'' (T-AO-129) ran aground on the reef, while running at full speed and in ballast, and sank on October 8, 1957.

Dowsett Reef

Dowsett reef (also called Dowsett's rock) is to the south of Maro Reef. The sailing ship ''McNear'', a bark, sunk on Dowsett reef on May 14, 1900. The ship's occupants of 33 survived by sailing in boats to Laysan island.

References

Maro Reef
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Information Management System
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Atolls of Hawaii Coral reefs of the United States Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain Reefs of the Pacific Ocean Miocene volcanoes Paleogene Oceania Cenozoic Hawaii Important Bird Areas of Hawaii {{Hawaii-geo-stub

Dowsett Reef

See also

References