It's completely harmless. Just stay away from the dunes Northwest of the reef (EXTREMELY DANGEROUS) you'll also encounter the blood kelp trench northwest of it (dangerous and leading to the lost river) and the grand reef South of it (highly dangerous. Beware the ghost leviathan lurking there) if you head west you'll find the Sea Treader's path, don't go too far or you'll reach the dead zone and be swarmed be ghost leviathans.
So @Breadhouse22 there's your tactical analysis.
One last thing: the dunes have a similar yellowish orange water color. DO NOT confuse the two. The dunes have 8 reapers