Pocklington Reef

Pocklington Reef

ISS image of Pocklington Reef
Pocklington Reef
Geography
Location	Solomon Sea
Coordinates	10°48′44″S 155°44′18″E / 10.81222°S 155.73833°E / -10.81222; 155.73833[1]
Type	Reef
Archipelago	Louisiade Archipelago
Adjacent to	Solomon Sea
Total islands	2 inhabited on Bentley Group
Major islands	North islet
Area	0.01 km2 (0.0039 sq mi)
Highest elevation	1 m (3 ft)
Administration
Papua New Guinea
Province	Milne Bay
District	Samarai-Murua District
LLG	Yaleyamba Rural Local Level Government Area
Demographics
Population	0 (2014)
Pop. density	0/km2 (0/sq mi)
Additional information
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
ISO code	PG-MBA
Official website	www.ncdc.gov.pg

Pocklington Reef is a coral reef and a mostly submerged atoll in the far southeast of Papua New Guinea.

It is 162.4 km (100.9 mi) from the closest island, Loa Boloba, which is a tiny coral islet within the fringing reef near Cape Deliverance, the south east point of Rossel Island (Yela) in the Louisiade Archipelago, and belongs to Milne Bay province, Samarai-Murua District, Yaleyamba Rural Local Level Government Area.

Pocklington Reef sits on top of Pocklington Ridge, which extends north-east from Rossel Island. The reef is 32 km (20 mi) long and up to 4 km (2.5 mi) wide. Its longer axis is north-east-south-west. The rim of the reef encloses a deep lagoon. The northern rim reaches closer to the surface, and several above water rocks with heights between 0.9 and 3 m (2 ft 11 in and 9 ft 10 in) high lie along its length. There is a small spit of sand about the size of a football field (less than one hectare or 2.5 acres) at the north-east end.

It is isolated from other reef systems by deep water and relatively pristine.

Before Papua New Guinea achieved sovereignty in 1975 it was decided Pocklington Reef should be part of the new nation.^[2]