Babel Island

Last updated

Babel Island
Babel Island Aerial.jpg
An aerial photo of Babel Island, with the smaller Cat and Storehouse islands, as viewed from the south east.
Relief Map of Tasmania.png
Red pog.svg
Babel Island
Location of Babel Island in Bass Strait
Geography
Location Bass Strait
Coordinates 39°56′24″S148°19′48″E / 39.94000°S 148.33000°E / -39.94000; 148.33000 Coordinates: 39°56′24″S148°19′48″E / 39.94000°S 148.33000°E / -39.94000; 148.33000
Archipelago Furneaux Group
Area440 ha (1,100 acres)
Length3 km (1.9 mi) [1]
Width2.8 km (1.74 mi) [1]
Highest elevation197 m (646 ft) [1]
Administration
Australia
State Tasmania

The Babel Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 440-hectare (1,100-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, Australia. [2] [1] The privately owned [3] island was named by Matthew Flinders from the noises made by the seabirds there. [4]

In 1995 freehold title to Babel Island was vested in the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, on behalf of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, under the Aboriginal Lands Act 1995 (Tas). [5]

Besides Babel Island, other islands as part of the Babel Group include the Cat and Storehouse islands and Fifty Foot Rock.

Fauna

Many seals were reported here in 1817. [6] The Babel Island group is classified as an Important Bird Area. [7] Babel island is home to the largest colony of short-tailed shearwaters in the world, with an estimated 2.8 million pairs, or about 12% of the whole population of this species, and is subject to annual muttonbirding. It also has a major colony of little penguins, with 20,000 pairs. As well as the shearwaters and penguins, other seabirds and waders recorded as breeding on the island include silver gull, Pacific gull, sooty oystercatcher and crested tern. White-bellied sea-eagles breed on the island and peregrine falcons nest on the eastern cliffs. [3]

Mammals found there are the red-necked wallaby and Tasmanian pademelon as well as the introduced house mouse and Tasmanian devil. Resident reptiles include the metallic skink, three-lined skink, White's skink, eastern blue-tongued lizard and tiger snake. [3]

Related Research Articles

The Goose Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 109-hectare (270-acre) unpopulated elongated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

The Oyster Rocks are a close pair of small granite islands, with a combined area of about 6 ha, in south-eastern Australia. They are part of Tasmania’s Tin Kettle Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in the Furneaux Group. They are a conservation area. The islands are part of the Franklin Sound Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because it holds over 1% of the world populations of six bird species.

Hogan Island

Hogan Island, the largest island of the Hogan Group, is a 232-hectare (570-acre) granite island, located in northern Bass Strait, that lies between the Furneaux Group in north-east Tasmania, and Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Australia. The island has a maximum elevation of 116 metres (381 ft) AHD .

Long Islet (Tasmania) Island of Tasmania, Australia

The Long Islet, part of the Hogan Group, is a 22.85-hectare (56.5-acre) unpopulated long, narrow granite island, located in northern Bass Strait, lying north of the Furneaux Group in Tasmania and south of Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

Passage Island (Tasmania) Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Passage Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 253-hectare (630-acre) granite and dolerite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.

Forsyth Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Forsyth Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 167-hectare (410-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. With the Passage and Gull islands, the Forsyth Island forms part of the Forsyth, Passage and Gull Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports over 1% of the world populations of little penguins and black-faced cormorants.

The Little Badger Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 2.5-hectare (6.2-acre) unpopulated low-lying granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

The Mount Chappell Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 323-hectare (800-acre) unpopulated granite island with a distinctive central hill, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

The Little Goose Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 3.6-hectare (8.9-acre) unpopulated flat, round granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. The island is contained within a nature reserve and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

Anderson Island (Tasmania) Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Anderson Island, also known as Woody Island, part of the Tin Kettle Island Group of the Furneaux Group, is a 166-hectare (410-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying northeast of Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. Anderson Island lies between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands and is partly a pastoral lease used for grazing sheep and cattle. The island is joined at low tide to nearby Little Anderson and Tin Kettle Islands by extensive intertidal mudflats. The island is supposed to be named after John Anderson, a sealer living on the island by 1842.

Great Dog Island (Tasmania) Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Great Dog Island, also known as Big Dog Island, and part of the Great Dog Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 354-hectare (870-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying south of the Flinders Island and north of the Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.

Cat Island (Tasmania) Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Cat Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 39-hectare (96-acre) unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

Storehouse Island Granite island in Tasmania, Australia

The Storehouse Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 20-hectare (49-acre) unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

Inner Sister Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

Inner Sister Island, part of the Sister Islands Conservation Area, is a granite and dolerite island, with an area of 748 hectares (2.89 sq mi), located in Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia.

The East Kangaroo Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 157-hectare (390-acre) unpopulated limestone island with granite outcrops and dolerite dykes, located in the Bass Strait, west of the Flinders Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.

The Big Green Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 122-hectare (300-acre) granite island with limestone and dolerite outcrops, located in Bass Strait west of Flinders Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The island is partly contained within a nature reserve with the rest being used for farming; and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

The Little Chalky Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 5-hectare (12-acre) unpopulated granite island, located in the Bass Strait, west of the Flinders Island and south of Chalky Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The island is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

Chalky Island (Tasmania) Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Chalky Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 41-hectare (100-acre) unpopulated granite island with limestone outcrops and dolerite dykes, located in the Bass Strait, west of the Flinders Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The island is contained within a conservation area and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

The Mile Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait west of Flinders Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The island is partly contained within a conservation area; and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

The Isabella Island, part of the Big Green Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 11.4-hectare (28-acre) unpopulated granite island, located in the Bass Strait, west of the Flinders Island and south of Chalky Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia. The island is a nature reserve and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Towney, G.; Skira, I. J. (May 1985). "Seabird islands No 139, Babel Island, Furneaux Group, Tasmania" (PDF). Corella. 8 (5): 103–104. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Babel Island (TAS)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  3. 1 2 3 Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN   0-7246-4816-X
  4. ↑ Flinders, Matthew (1814). A Voyage to Terra Australis . London: G. and W. Nicol., entry for 9 February 1798
  5. ↑ "Babel Island Land Transfer". Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Project. Indigenous Studies Program, The University of Melbourne. 30 June 2006. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Parry Kostoglou, “Sealing in Tasmania historical research project,” Parks and Wildlife Service, Hobart, 1996, p.115.
  7. ↑ "IBA: Babel Island Group". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.