Carondelet Reef


Carondelet Reef is a horseshoe-shaped reef of the Phoenix Islands, also known as the Rawaki Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It is located 106 km southeast of Nikumaroro, at, and has a least depth of 1.8 meters. It is reported to be approximately 1.5 km in length. The sea occasionally breaks over it.

History and Name

During his voyage from Puget Sound to Australia, Captain Wilder Farley Stetson of the ship Carondelet sighted a reef on August 31, 1898 from position 5° 35′ S, 173° 58′ W. He was within two miles of it and considered it very dangerous. He “called it Carondelet Reef”. Most likely this wasn't the first time it was viewed by a Westerner, for on authority of admiral Adam Johann von Krusenstern, a discovery in the year 1824 of a reef in position 5° 38′ S, 172° 54′ W. had already been claimed by a captain Kemin. It may have been seen next by Capt. Obed Starbuck of the Nantucket whaler Loper on February 19, 1826, as he saw a "reef of rocks" in the reported position of 5° 29′ S, 175° 01′ W. that day.
The multiple positions of Winslow Reef, mentioned by Robert Louis Stevenson, may have been due to confusing the position of Carondelet Reef with Winslow Reef.

Status

The reef is part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area as an underwater nature reserve.