Behold the Al Wadj Bank, located along the northern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, photographed from the International Space Station, December 30, 2007. The Al Wadj Bank includes “a healthy and diverse reef system, extensive seagrass beds, and perhaps the largest population of dugong—a marine mammal similar to the North American manatee—in the eastern Red Sea. The portion of the Bank in this image illustrates the complex form and topography of the reef system. Several emergent islands (tan) are visible, surrounded primarily by dark green seagrass; the largest is at top left. Only the islands are above the waterline; over the reefs, the water color ranges from light teal (shallow) to turquoise (increasing depth). The southern edge of the reef is well defined by the deep, dark blue water of the Red Sea (top).”
(NASA/Earth Observatory)