But, if the tides pushed the Electra around on the reef for a few days before an outgoing tide took it over the edge, could the plane have done enough damage to the coral that the results could still be seen over a year later?
That's an interesting question. I'm not up on coral reef wear patterns and such, but I'm guessing that the angle and altitude of the relevant photos would have a bearing on what might/might not have been scraped on the fringing reef. Directly overhead and from a medium altitude, any such scratchs or wear on the reef
might be visible. From a lower oblique angle, which seems to be how most of the 1938 photos were taken, probably not due to reflections of the water and such.
LTM, who likes to imagine images,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER