Nukunono (now called Nukunonu) or Duke of Clarence Island is the center atoll of the Tokelau or Union group. According to the charts it lies 546 to 554 nautical miles north of the equator, 45 miles southeast of Atafu, and 35 miles W.N.W. of Fakaofu (now called Fakaofo). Gordon Macgregor states that it is 60 miles N.W. of Fakaofu, and that local ship captains say the map position is from 14 to 16 miles too far east, as they have to make a correction accordingly when laying a course for the island. However, this may be due to the swift and variable ocean currents in the vicinity, it being thought that the charts are correct. The island is a low coral atoll, the reef of which shaped like a conventional shield, measuring 8 miles north and south by 7 miles greatest width. Along this reef are scattered 24 islets. Nine of these, including the largest, which is nearly 4 miles long by 1/4 to 1/3 mile wide, are on the eastern side; another 9 are on the west, and the remaining 6, all small, are on the south. There are no islets on the north, which is a bare reef, awash at low tide. The atoll is said to have a land area of 1,350 acres. Most of the islets are covered with groves of coconut palms and low trees and shrubs, of kinds listed for Atafu. The sea birds, hermit crabs, rats, and insects are thought to be about the same as on other similar central Pacific islands; and there is abundant marine life about the fringing reef, and in the shallow lagoon, which contains reefs and coral heads.