Okino-Tori-shima
- Landsat 7
- Path 120 Row 056
- 21 October 1999
Okino-Tori-shima or Okinotorishima (still often referred to as Parace Vela) is a small, extremely isolated reef located near the centre of the Philippine Sea region of the western Pacific Ocean. The reef lies 1,190 km northwest from Guam (in the Mariana Islands) and 1,062 km southeast from Okinawa (in the Ryukyu Archipelago); Minami-Iō-jima, southernmost of the Kazan-rettō group lies 700 km to the northeast. The closest landfall to Okino-Tori-shima is the small island of Oki-Daitō-jima, (in the Daitō-rettō), 675 km to the northwest.
Okino-Tori-shima consists of a 4.5 km long, mostly submerged reef formation with an approximate area of 8 km². Its outer reef crest protects a shallow interior lagoon, within which are found three small artificial islets (concreted over), a research platform and a number of emergent rocks.
image: millenium coral reefs landsat archive/usf millenium global coral reef mapping project/nasa seawifs/nasa jsc