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Corals, Kingman Reef
Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic
Shallow-water corals in Kingman Reef, 2007
The remoteness of the Line Islands' Kingman Reef, which barely breaks the ocean’s surface, has kept it relatively unspoiled and removed from the overfishing and pollution affecting more easily reached locales. Within Kingman’s massive lagoon, water quality is exceptional, allowing reef systems to thrive, and in every corner, wildlife teems. In the handful of places like this that remain, we can learn how coral reefs were meant to function, and create models for conservation elsewhere.
(From the National Geographic book Ocean Soul by Brian Skerry)