The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall area is 372 km2 (144 sq mi) and it has 101.9 km (63 mi) of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947. They contain Australia's only two active volcanoes. The summit of one, Mawson Peak, is higher than any mountain in all other Australian states or territories, except Dome Argus, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Perth is the capital and largest city of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.2 million living in Greater Perth. Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of the metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River, upon which the city's central business district and port of Fremantle are situated. Perth is located on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 45,000 years.
Western Australia is a state of Australia occupying the western third of the land area of Australia, excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia's largest state, with a total land area of 2,527,013 square kilometres (975,685 sq mi). It is the second-largest country subdivision in the world, surpassed only by Russia's Sakha Republic. As of 2021, the state has 2.76 million inhabitants—11 percent of the national total. The vast majority live in the south-west corner; 79 percent of the population lives in the Perth area, leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated.
Rottnest Island, often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a 19 km2 (7.3 sq mi) island off the coast of Western Australia, located 18 km (11 mi) west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class reserve, the highest level of protection afforded to public land.
Elephant seals are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga. Both species, the northern elephant seal and the southern elephant seal, were hunted to the brink of extinction for oil by the end of the 19th century, but their numbers have since recovered. They are the largest extant carnivorans, weighing up to 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb). Despite their name, elephant seals are not related to elephants, and the large proboscis or trunk that males have was convergently evolved.
Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning "beautiful view".
Perth Zoo is a 17-hectare (41-acre) zoological park in South Perth, Western Australia. The zoo first opened in 1898 and by 2011 housed 1258 animals of 164 species and an extensive botanical collection. It is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
The Australian sea lion, also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that is the only endemic pinniped in Australia. It is currently monotypic in the genus Neophoca, with the extinct Pleistocene New Zealand sea lion Neophoca palatina the only known congener. With a population estimated at around 14,730 animals, the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia (1950) has listed them as “in need of special protection”. Their Conservation status is listed as endangered. These pinnipeds are specifically known for their abnormal breeding cycles, which are varied between a 5-month breeding cycle and a 17-18 month aseasonal breeding cycle, compared to other pinnipeds which fit into a 12-month reproductive cycle. Females are either silver or fawn with a cream underbelly and males are dark brown with a yellow mane and are bigger than the females.
Penguin Island is a 12.5-hectare (31-acre) island off the coast near Perth, approximately 660 metres (722 yd) from Shoalwater. It is home to a colony of 300 little penguins, the largest population of the birds in Western Australia. Since 2007, the island had experienced an 80 percent decline in penguin numbers in 2019 from a peak of 1,600 that year.
Safety Bay is an outer southern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, located on the coast within the City of Rockingham.
Shoalwater is an outer southern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, located within the City of Rockingham.
Shoalwater Bay is a large bay on the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland, Australia 100 km north of the coastal town of Yeppoon and 628 km north-north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Since 1966, the land surrounding Shoalwater Bay has been under the ownership of the Australian Defence Force, for the purpose of military training exercises. Shoalwater Bay is also a noted dugong habitat and is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The bay is bounded by the Torilla Peninsula to the west and the Warginburra Peninsula and Leicester and Townshend islands to the east.
The Shoalwater Islands Marine Park is a protected marine park located in Western Australia and stretches from the northern point of the Garden Island Causeway to the southern point of Becher Point. The 6,540-hectare (16,200-acre) marine park is located offshore from the suburban locality of Shoalwater.
Seal Island, Seal Islands and similar may refer to:
The southern elephant seal is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its name from its massive size and the large proboscis of the adult male, which is used to produce very loud roars, especially during the breeding season. A bull southern elephant seal is about 40% heavier than a male northern elephant seal, which is nearly twice the weight of a male walrus, or 6–7 times heavier than the largest living mostly terrestrial carnivorans, the Kodiak bear and the polar bear.
Rockingham is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 47 km south-south-west of the city centre. It acts as the primary centre for the City of Rockingham. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and Henderson. Offshore to the north-west is Australia's largest naval fleet and submarine base, Garden Island, connected to the mainland by an all-weather causeway. To the west and south lies the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park.
The Cervantes Islands are a small group of islands in Western Australia, found to the south west of the locality of Cervantes. They are approximately 180km north west of Perth. They are 2 km (1.2 mi) from Thirsty Point which is at the southern side of the locality.
Australian marine parks are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the outer limit of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone at 200 nautical miles while marine protected areas located closer in-shore are the responsibility of the states or the Northern Territory.
The Macquarie Island Marine Park is an Australian marine park near Macquarie Island in the southwest Pacific. The marine park covers an area of 162,000 km2 (63,000 sq mi) and is assigned IUCN category IV. It is the largest of the 14 parks managed under the South-east Marine Parks Network. In June 2023, the federal government announced that the park would triple in size, adding an extra 385,000 km2 (149,000 sq mi) of water to the marine park.
