Pacific Coastal & Marine Science Center
USGS Pacific Coral Reefs Website
Panorama created with photos taken from the Kawela ahupua‘a on the south coast of Molokaʻi.
Use the arrows at the bottom of your browser's window to scroll left and right to view the entire image.
This is a flattened representation of the full 360° panorama. The USGS logo is centered in the direction of south-southeast. From this vantage point, you can see the complex structure of the reef flat in this area. The inner and middle portions of the reef flat at Kawela are a mixture of terrestrial mud, algae-covered platform, and uncolonized sand (light blue areas). A few live corals grow on ridges (brown linear features) near the seaward edge of the reef flat. The dark blue water offshore from where the waves break on the reef crest is where the fore reef drops off into the Kalohi Channel.
The island of Lānaʻi can be seen south of Molokaʻi across the channel. Just visible to the east of Molokaʻi, with its summit obscured by the clouds, is Haleakalā on the island of Maui. Almost invisible through the haze, to the southeast of Molokaʻi between Maui and Lānaʻi, is the tiny low-lying island of Kahoʻolawe.
Pan and zoom around the 360° panorama here. (1.9 Mb)