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07/06/2008: "THE CORAL SEA....meets the Tasman Sea - Middleton Reef"

Courtesy: Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center

Middleton Reef is 8.9km by 6.3km in size, 555 km east of Coffs Harbour New South Wales. It's the southern extremity of The Coral Sea. Many ships have been wrecked here over the recent 250 years. The steamship Runic (above) being the most obvious.

The ocean current between the mainland and Middleton Reef and beyond is often very treacherous with both wave heights and especially currents - spiral eddies which played tricks on navigators in the era pre GST instruments.

Dive trips to Middleton Reef were known to fail after days of sea travel and not finding the reef.

The original lure being semi-commercial spear fishing for Black Cod (Epinephelus daemelli), - a now endangered coastal species that was especially common at Middleton Reef, and Elizabeth Reef further south.

Protected by the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, covering 1,880 km². The reserve was proclaimed in 1987 to protect important and fragile ecosystems.

Lord Howe Island, is further south being in the Tasman Sea.