31. The reef, which stretches from Msambweni to Malindi in the north, is the world's largest continuous fringing reef . 32. It is surrounded by Macarite, Cagnipa, Talisay, Magesang and other smaller unnamed islands and is protected by fringing reefs . 33. A "'fringing reef "'is one of the three main types of coral reefs recognized by most coral reef scientists. 34. Orpheus, though a continental island, has a fringing reef that features 340 of the 350 known species of coral. 35. Bleaching in 1998 reduced average hard coral cover on Frankland Is . fringing reefs from 67 % to 37 %. 36. A fringing reef surrounds the whole island, which makes local fishing and transport into and out of the island difficult. 37. This also resulted in the natural fringing reef system seen today, in which the coral formations start at the shoreline. 38. The fringing reef of the atoll is pear-shaped in an east-west direction with its greatest width at the eastern end. 39. Together these islands form the Lizard Island Group and their well-developed fringing reef encircles the 10 metre deep Blue Lagoon. 40. The lagoon is too salty to support marine life, but fish are abundant around the fringing reef and offshore waters.
