The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centered on , on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll covers an area of around within the rim of the reef, including the lagoons, while the land areas are negligible. They belong to Western Australia. They all rise steeply from the surrounding ocean floor. To the northeast lie the Scott and Seringapatam Reefs which are located on the same undersea platform. Naming and history The Rowley Shoals were so named by Captain Phillip Parker King in 1818 in honour of Captain Rowley who first sighted the Imperieuse Reef in 1800. It is believed that the Rowley Shoals reefs have been visited by fishermen from Indonesia, from at least the mid-18th century. The fishermen were also collecting or hunting for Trepang (holothurians or sea cucumbers), turtle shell, trochus shell and shark fin. These early visitors apparently knew the Rowley Shoals as Pulau Pulo Dhaoh. In later years, fishermen from Roti Island, south of Timor, also visited the Rowley Shoals, which they knew as Pulau Bawa Angin. The individual reefs were also given names, Mermaid Reef being called Pulau Manjariti, Clerke Reef was Pulau Tengah and Imperieuse Reef was Pulau Matsohor. Description Mermaid Reef, the northeastern one of the three reefs at , is an atoll with a large lagoon enclosed by a rim of coral, which falls dry. There are many drying patches in the lagoon. On the northeast side of the reef, there is a passage, about 60 m wide, leading into the lagoon. Mermaid Reef rises steeply from the surrounding ocean floor, which is 440 m deep. The atoll was named in 1818 by Captain Philip Parker King, who discovered the reef and named it after his ship . Clerke Reef (also called Minstrel Shoal), at , lies about 23 km southwest of Mermaid Reef. The reef has a length of about 15 km north–south, and a width of about 6 km. Near the northern end of the reef lies Bedwell Islet, a bare sand cay about 2 m high. On the eastern and western sides of the reef there are a number of boulders which fall dry. A narrow passage leads to a lagoon, with many detached coral patches within the reef. Clerke Reef rises