Cato Reef

Cato Reef is a coral reef in the Coral Sea off the central Queensland coast of Australia, about 375 kilometers east of Gladstone, built up on Cato Bank, a shield volcano of the Tasmantid Seamount Chain roughly 21 by 13 kilometers across. The reef proper measures about 3.3 by 1.8 kilometers, covering some 5 square kilometers with depths generally under 17 meters, and encloses a lagoon containing Cato Island, a low sand cay about 800 by 300 meters with an automated weather station; Hutchison Rock lies a further 3.5 kilometers to the east. Charted in the 1850s and 1860s after its 1803 discovery, the reef proved a hazard on shipping routes between Australia and Asia, wrecking vessels in 1852 and 1853, and it drew whalers and guano miners during the 19th century. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/