Cat Island (Tasmania)

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Cat Island
Babel Island Aerial.jpg
An aerial photo of Cat Island, bottom right; with the much larger Babel Island pictured in the background. Storehouse Island is pictured bottom centre.
Relief Map of Tasmania.png
Red pog.svg
Cat Island
Location of the Cat Island in Bass Strait
Geography
Location Bass Strait
Coordinates 39°57′S148°21′E / 39.950°S 148.350°E / -39.950; 148.350 Coordinates: 39°57′S148°21′E / 39.950°S 148.350°E / -39.950; 148.350
Archipelago Babel Group, part of the Furneaux Group
Area39 ha (96 acres)
Administration
Australia
State Tasmania
Demographics
Populationunpopulated

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. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Cat Island is part of the Babel Island Group Important Bird Area. [4]

Fauna

Cat Island used to be an important breeding site for Australasian gannets. Australian Gannet 2.jpg
Cat Island used to be an important breeding site for Australasian gannets.

Seabirds and waders recorded as breeding on the island include little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, silver gull, Pacific gull, crested tern, sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher and Australasian gannet. Resident reptiles include White's skink and tiger snake. The rakali has also been recorded on the island. [3]

The historically important breeding colony of Australasian gannets, with an estimated 5,000-10,000 birds at the beginning of the 20th century, declined to extinction by the mid-1980s as a result of, at first, human intrusion, followed by fires, disturbance and, finally, predation by white-bellied sea-eagles. [3]

See also

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Gull Island (Tasmania)

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Passage Island (Tasmania)

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Forsyth Island

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.

Battery Island

The Battery Island, part of the Passage Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 2-hectare (4.9-acre) granite island, located in Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island, in Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.

Night Island (Tasmania)

Night Island is a small granite island, with an area of 2.59 ha, is part of the Preservation Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait south of Cape Barren Island in the Furneaux Group, Tasmania, Australia.

Big Black Reef

The Big Black Reef, part of the Long Island Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 0.54-hectare (1.3-acre) unpopulated small, flat dolerite island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of Cape Barren Island, Tasmania, in south-eastern Australia.

Badger Island

Badger Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 1,242-hectare (3,070-acre) unpopulated low-lying granite and limestone island, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia.

Little Badger Island

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.

North West Mount Chappell Islet

The North West Mount Chappell Islet, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a 7,100-square-metre (76,000 sq ft) unpopulated mainly granite islet, in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia. The island is located within a conservation area and is part of the Chalky, Big Green and Badger Island Groups Important Bird Area.

Great Dog Island (Tasmania)

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.

Babel Island

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. The privately owned island was named by Matthew Flinders from the noises made by the seabirds there.

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.

East Kangaroo Island

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.

Big Green Island

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.

Chalky Island (Tasmania)

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.

Isabella Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

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. ↑ "Cat Island (TAS)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  2. ↑ "Small Bass Strait Island Reserves. Draft Management Plan". Department of Primary Industries,Water and Environment, Tasmanian Government. October 2000. Archived from the original on 30 March 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  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. ↑ "IBA: Babel Island Group". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-10.


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