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reef
Maro
Reef
 Maro
Reef is the largest coral reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands,
with over 1,934 square kilometers (approximately 746 square miles or
478,000 acres) of reef area. Unlike the classic ring-shaped atoll,
Maro is a complex maze of linear reefs that radiate out from the center
like the spokes of a wheel. It is named after the whaling ship Maro,
which traveled these waters in 1820.
Marine habitats
of Maro Reef range from sandy lagoons to steep reef slopes, large coral
heads, ocean pinnacles, and patch reefs. Gaps in the reef cause waves
to sweep into the lagoon clouding some areas with silt and sand.
 Maro
Reef is very large and hard to navigate, making it difficult for scientists
to study. Historic sailing vessels found the area equally treacherous,
and castaways lost at Maro Reef were forced to set out to the northwest
in search of Laysan Island. Maro Reef has
a greater abundance and diversity of coral than most any other reef
system in the NWHI chain with thirty-seven species of
stony corals documented by coral scientists during the 2000-2001 NOWRAMP
Research expeditions. Many areas of the reef, particularly on the west
side, have a large number of coral species, including rice corals,
Montipora capitata and finger corals, Porites compressa.
Maro Reef has a large amount of the hard, pink crusty algae that grows
on coral called "coralline
algae" that acts like cement and holds the coral together in high
surf. The reefs support numerous butterflyfish and surgeonfish species.  Large
ulua and omilu have been seen in the reef's open waters, along with
white-tip and gray reef sharks. Large schools of six to eight foot
Galapagos sharks are also a common sight in the reef's shallow waters.
Some researchers
believe that, while Maro Reef has very healthy reefs, it may be "on
the verge of drowning" because the reefs are narrow, unconnected,
and unprotected from storm waves. Others feel that the health of the
corals suggest that Maro Reef is a complicated reef system on a large
seamount, living in balance with the elements.
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