Australian Coral Sea — Reef Island Atoll Chain
202.91 €
The Swain Reefs system of the Great Barrier Reef photographed from 500 metres — the outer barrier reef system with its cay islands, reef flats, and the colour gradient from the turquoise reef lagoon to the deep Coral Sea beyond.
Description
The Swain Reefs in the southern Great Barrier Reef represent the outer reef system at its most pristine — the matrix of coral reef platforms, cay islands, and deep inter-reef passages visible only from altitude as a complete reef system. This photograph was made at 500 metres over the outer reef edge, the camera positioned to capture the transition from the reef flat — the shallow platform barely submerged at low tide — through the reef crest where waves break continuously, to the deep blue of the Coral Sea beyond. The colour gradient is extraordinary in its completeness: pale cream over the exposed reef flat, turquoise over the reef top at 1–2 metres depth, rich aquamarine over the back-reef lagoon at 3–5 metres, teal at the fore-reef at 10–20 metres, and deep navy in the inter-reef passages over 40 metres. The cay island at the reef flat centre — a sandy island barely 2 metres above sea level — provides the only vertical element in the otherwise horizontal reef landscape.
