Speakers Bank facts for kids
Speakers Bank is a very large coral atoll structure. It is found in the northwestern part of the Chagos Archipelago. Think of an atoll as a ring-shaped coral reef, island, or group of islands surrounding a lagoon. An archipelago is a group of islands.
Speakers Bank is the most northern part of the Chagos Archipelago. It is located at about 4 degrees South and 72 degrees East. This huge area is 44 kilometers long from northeast to southwest and 24 kilometers wide. Most of its total area of 582 square kilometers is water.
What is Speakers Bank Like?
Most of the edge of the reef is underwater. It is usually between 5.5 and 14.5 meters deep. In the southern part, some coral areas are very shallow. They are only about 0.5 meters deep during low tide. The ocean waves crash heavily over these shallow parts when the strong southeast trade winds blow.
In the northeast part of Speakers Bank, there are some small, sandy islands called cays. These cays can dry out and be seen above water. The largest of these is called Big Speaker Reef. It just reaches the high water mark, meaning it is barely above the water when the tide is high. The amount of land area on Speakers Bank is very small.
History of Speakers Bank
Speakers Bank was first explored in 1856. A British captain named J. Speaker surveyed it using his ship, HMS Wallerup. This is how the bank got its name.
Over the years, many ships have been wrecked at Speakers Bank. Some of these shipwrecks happened a very long time ago. The shallow reefs and strong currents can make it a dangerous place for ships.
