Sunday 12 June 2016

Pulau Layang Layang,Spratly Islands


Swallow Reef, known as Pulau Layang-Layang  in Malaysia, Danwan Jiao  in China, Celerio in the Philippines and Đá Hoa Lau in Vietnam, is an oceanic atoll of the Spratly Islands administered by Malaysia which is situated approximately 300 km northwest of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Swallow Reef had an original land area of approximately 6.2 hectares (15 acres), but with reclaimed land now covers 35 hectares (86 acres), measuring over 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long and 200 m (656 ft) wide.

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has maintained a presence on the reef since 1983, but as with all of the Spratly Islands, the ownership is disputed, and it is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam. The Philippines does not lay claim to Swallow Reef.
Layang Layang is situated in very deep waters with the drop off outside the island's reef falling away to approximately 2000 metres. Given its location in the middle of nowhere, the ocean waters are clear and unpolluted. Deep water marine species such as Hammerhead sharks visit this location. Whale Sharks also frequent the atoll. The corals are in pristine condition and with no fishing permitted, the fish life is abundant.
Source: Wikipedia and Wikitravel

Special thanks to Arhnue for the special card sent from the deepest underwater
post office of Malaysia, (40metres deep!) You can see the Special Postmark
on the card above :D
Sent: 18 May 2016    Received: 23 May 2016   Travelled: 5 days

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