Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has a newly named reef, Monument Reef, gazetted by the Queensland Government on 31 Oct 2025. This 500m-tall reef was named for the towering limestone (monument-like) monolith.

Many thanks to Kari and the team from Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development, for facilitating the reef naming process and community consultation.

This 500m-tall reef was discovered in 2020 during the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s RV Falkor expedition to the northern Great Barrier Reef.

Here, Monument Reef (artificially coloured) is scaled in height against the Brisbane government building at 1 William Street, which is 260m-tall by comparison.