Rowley Shoals

Located 260 km (160 mi) west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea.

These beautiful reefs cover a total area of around 80 to 90 km² (31 to 35 sq mi) within the rim of the reef, including the lagoons. Rising steeply from the ocean floor, Rowley Shoals is situated on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. They are believed to have been visited by Indonesian fishermen collecting Trepang (holothurians or sea cucumbers), turtle shells, trochus shells, and shark fins from mid-18th century.

In 1818, Captain Phillip Parker King named the Rowley Shoals in honor of Captain Rowley, who first sighted the Imperieuse Reef back in 1800. In later years, fishermen from Roti Island, south of Timor, also visited the Rowley Shoals, which they knew as Pulau Bawa Angin. The individual reefs within Rowley Shoals have their own names as well. Mermaid Reef also known as Pulau Manjariti, is a northeastern reef and an atoll with a large lagoon enclosed by a rim of coral that falls dry. Clerke Reef or Minstrel Shoal, the southernmost of the three reefs, has a length of about 15km north–south, and a width of about 6km with Bedwell Islet lying close to the northern end of the reef. Imperieuse Reef, the southwesternmost of Rowley Shoals, is about 16km in length and has a width of about