Blenheim Reef
Blenheim Reef is a partly submerged atoll structure in the Chagos Archipelago, in the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The reef includes the coral reef known as Baxio Predassa in its south-eastern rim, plus another completely submerged part. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Chagos Archipelago. It measures almost seven miles north-to-south by more than two and a half miles east-to-west, with a total area of 14 square miles, including the lagoon of three square miles, the difference being accounted for the mostly by the reef flat. Only on the eastern side, there are a few sand cays above the water. The largest of them is East Island, which is not quite 660 feet long and 230 feet wide. The other islands in the group are North, Middle and South. Only a few grasses grow on the island. The lagoon is up to 60 feet deep and encumbered with rock. The fringing coral reef has a wide passage in the south-west. The closest land is Takamaka Island in the Salomon Islands Atoll, about twelve and a half miles to the south-west.[1]
History
The atoll is thought to have been discovered around 1570 by Portuguese sailors, which is why it is also known under its Portuguese name Baxio Predassa (a corruption of Baixo Predassa). The present name comes from the ship Blenheim which discovered the reef on 5 May 1836 during a voyage from London to Bombay.[2]
From 1845 to 1860, guano and phosphate were mined. This venture was then given up due to inadequate transport facilities. Around 1880, the Indian Ocean Fruit Company attempted to plant palm trees on the island, but all seedlings were washed into the sea during a storm.
On 15 March 1982, the senior British military representative in Diego Garcia landed on Blenheim Reef and raised the British flag, without Foreign Office instructions: the Foreign Office opinion was that the reef was not British territory and could never be, but wanted no publicity which might suggest the idea to other countries. The flag was allowed to deteriorate.[3] In February 2022 a ship from Mauritius made a fifteen day expedition to survey the legally unclaimed reef, to discover if it is exposed at high tide so that it is claimable by that state.[4][3]
In total, there have been 57 shipwrecks around Blenheim Reef, with an estimated 200 lost lives.
Islands
Baxio Predassa is the name given to the islands that emerge from the eastern rim of the reef. When first surveyed by Robert Moresby, there were many more islands in Baxio Predassa. These have, however, been eroded or submerged and only four islets remain. The group today consists of:
- North Island, the northernmost island
- Middle Island, surrounded by a reef
- East Island, the largest island and the easternmost island in the atoll. The island has only grasses growing on it, though there was once an unsuccessful attempt to plant palms on the island.
- South Island, the smallest and southernmost islet. It is unvegetated and of no importance
Outside links
References
- ↑ British Admiralty nautical chart 11000030 - 3 Chagos Archipelago, Scale 1:360 000
- ↑ Letter from James Temple Brown to the Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1837
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Brewster, David; Bashfield, Samuel (13 February 2022). "An Unclaimed Reef Adds a Wrinkle to the Dispute Over Diego Garcia". The Lowy Interpreter (The Maritime Executive). https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/an-unclaimed-reef-adds-a-wrinkle-to-the-dispute-over-diego-garcia.
- ↑ Bowcott, Owen; Rinvolucri, Bruno (13 February 2022). "Mauritius measures reef hoping to lay claim on Chagos Islands". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/13/mauritius-measures-reef-hoping-to-lay-claim-on-chagos-islands.
| Atolls of the Chagos Islands; British Indian Ocean Territory |
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Atolls with land area: |