Cleft Island (Victoria)

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Cleft Island
Nickname: Skull Rock
Cleft Island (Skull Rock) - Cavity.jpg
Cleft Island (Skull Rock) - Cavity
Australia Victoria South Gippsland Shire location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cleft Island
Geography
Location Bass Strait
Coordinates 39°9′27″S146°17′42″E / 39.15750°S 146.29500°E / -39.15750; 146.29500 Coordinates: 39°9′27″S146°17′42″E / 39.15750°S 146.29500°E / -39.15750; 146.29500
Length300 m (1000 ft)
Width200 m (700 ft)
Administration
Australia
State Victoria

Cleft Island, also known as Skull Rock, is a small, rugged, granite island in the Anser group of islands to the south-west of Wilsons Promontory, Victoria, Australia.

The island is within Wilsons Promontory National Park. The surrounding waters to the mean high-water mark are within Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park. [1] It is part of the Wilsons Promontory Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for breeding seabirds. [2]

It is partially hollowed out by ancient waves, creating a cave 130 metres (430 ft) wide and 60 metres (200 ft) tall. [3]

Only 9 people have ventured into the cavern, finding "old cannon balls left by passing ships practicing their aim"[ citation needed ]. Adventurers had to land on the top of the rock by helicopter, then they shimmied down ropes to gain entrance to the cave. The Australian defence force have been blamed for the other holes in the rock, being used for target practice in the past[ citation needed ].

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Wattle Island, is a small, granite island located approximately 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) south of Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Australia.

Granite Island is a small, uninhabited granite island in Corner Inlet near the northern coast of Wilsons Promontory, in Victoria, Australia.

References

  1. Parks Victoria (2006), Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park and Wilsons Promontory Marine Park Management Plan (PDF), p. 1, ISBN   0731183460, archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2012, retrieved 24 July 2017
  2. "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Corner Inlet". BirdLife International. 2017.
  3. "Neil Oliver shares new Coast stories and goes places few others have ever ventured". 11 January 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2017.