Swan Island (Tasmania)

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Swan Island
Swan Island Aerial.jpg
Swan Island, viewed from the east.
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Swan Island
Location of Swan Island off the coast of Tasmania
Geography
LocationBanks Strait, Bass Strait
Coordinates 40°44′S148°06′E / 40.733°S 148.100°E / -40.733; 148.100 Coordinates: 40°44′S148°06′E / 40.733°S 148.100°E / -40.733; 148.100
Archipelago Waterhouse Island Group
Area239 ha (590 acres)
Administration
Australia
State Tasmania

Swan Island, part of the Waterhouse Island Group, is a 239-hectare (590-acre) granite island situated in Banks Strait, part of Bass Strait, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia.

Contents

Part of the island is privately owned and it contains an automated lighthouse, several houses and an airstrip. It has previously been subject to grazing by livestock. [1] Several shipwrecks have been recorded here of vessels passing through Banks Strait; Brenda (1832), Mystery (1850), Union (1852).

Other islands in the Waterhouse Group include [1] the Ninth, Tenth, Waterhouse, Little Waterhouse, Maclean, Baynes, Cygnet, Foster, Little Swan, Bird Rock, George Rocks, St Helens, and Paddys islands.

History

Seal hunting took place here from at least 1805 when a sealing party of nine men were put ashore from the British whaler Ceres (Captain Thompson). [2]

Fauna

Swan Island forms part of the Cape Portland Important Bird Area. [3] Recorded breeding seabird and wader species are little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher, hooded plover, Caspian tern and crested tern. Cape Barren geese also nest on the island. Reptiles present include the metallic skink, White's skink, Bougainville's skink and tiger snake. European rabbits and house mice are present. [1]

See also

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East Kangaroo Island

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Little Chalky Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

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Baynes Island

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Cygnet Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

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Foster Islands (Tasmania) Island in Tasmania, Australia

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Little Swan Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Little Swan Island, part of the Waterhouse Island Group, is a 12.64-hectare (31.2-acre) uninhabited granite island situated in Banks Strait, part of Bass Strait, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia.

George Rocks

The George Rocks, also historically known as King George's Rocks, is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, a group of three adjacent uninhabited granite islets and associated reefs with a combined area of 7 hectares, situated in Banks Strait, part of Bass Strait, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia.

Paddys Island Island in Tasmania, Australia

The Paddys Island, part of the Waterhouse Island Group, is a 4.6-hectare (11-acre) uninhabited granite island situated in the Tasman Sea, lying close to the north-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia.

References

  1. 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
  2. ↑ Kostoglou, Parry (1996). Sealing in Tasmania historical research project (First ed.). Hobart: Parks and Wildlife Service. p. 78.
  3. ↑ "IBA: Cape Portland". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 12 June 2011.


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