Houtman Abrolhos Islands
   HOME
*



picture info

Houtman Abrolhos Islands
The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral reef in the Indian Ocean, and one of the highest latitude reef systems in the world. It is one of the world's most important seabird breeding sites, and is the centre of Western Australia's largest single-species fishery, the western rock lobster fishery. It has a small seasonal population of fishermen, and a limited number of tourists are permitted for day trips, but most of the land area is off limits as conservation habitat. It is well known as the site of numerous shipwrecks, the most famous being the Dutch ships , which was wrecked in 1629, and , wrecked in 1727. The islands are an unincorporated area with no municipal government, subject to direct administration of the Government of Western Australia. In July 2019, the Houtman Abrolh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea. Etymology The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515 when the Latin form ''Oceanus Orientalis Indicus'' ("Indian Eastern Ocean") is attested, named after Indian subcontinent, India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the ''Eastern Ocean'', a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century (see map), as opposed to the ''Western Ocean'' (Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic) before the Pacific Ocean, Pacific was surmised. Conversely, Ming treasure voyages, Chinese explorers in the Indian Oce ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Marooning
Marooning is the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area, such as a desert island, or more generally (usually in passive voice) to be marooned is to be in a place from which one cannot escape. The word is attested in 1699, and is derived from the term maroon, a word for a fugitive slave, which could be a corruption of Spanish ''cimarrón'' (rendered as "symeron" in 16th–17th century English), meaning a household animal (or slave) who has "run wild". The practice was a penalty for crewmen, or for captains at the hands of a crew in cases of mutiny. Generally, a marooned man was set on a deserted island, often no more than a sand bar at low tide. He would be given some food, a container of water, and a loaded pistol so he could die by suicide if he desired. The outcome of marooning was usually fatal, but William Greenaway and some men loyal to him survived being marooned, as did pirate captain Edward England. The chief practitioners of marooning were 17th and 1 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mutiny
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members of the military against an internal force, but it can also sometimes mean any type of rebellion against any force. Mutiny does not necessarily need to refer to a military force and can describe a political, economic, or power structure in which there is a change of power. During the Age of Discovery, mutiny particularly meant open rebellion against a ship's captain. This occurred, for example, during Ferdinand Magellan's journeys around the world, resulting in the killing of one mutineer, the execution of another, and the marooning of others; on Henry Hudson's ''Discovery'', resulting in Hudson and others being set adrift in a boat; and the notorious mutiny on the ''Bounty''. Penalty Those convicted of mutiny often faced capital punis ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Morning Reef
Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning strictly ends at noon, which is when afternoon starts. Morning can also be defined as starting from midnight to noon. Morning precedes afternoon, evening, and night in the sequence of a day. Originally, the term referred to sunrise. Etymology The Modern English words "morning" and "tomorrow" began in Middle English as , developing into , then , and eventually . English, unlike some other languages, has separate terms for "morning" and "tomorrow", despite their common root. Other languages, like Dutch, Scots and German, may use a single wordto signify both "morning" and "tomorrow". Significance Greeting Some languages that use the time of day in greeting have a special greeting for morning, such as the English good morning. The appropriat ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Batavia (1628 Ship)
''Batavia'' () was a ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Built in Amsterdam in 1628 as the company's new flagship, she sailed that year on her maiden voyage for Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies. On 4 June 1629, ''Batavia'' was wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of small islands off the western coast of Australia. As the ship broke apart, approximately 300 of the ''Batavias 341 passengers made their way ashore, the rest drowning in their attempts. The ship's commander, Francisco Pelsaert, sailed to Batavia to get help, leaving in charge Jeronimus Cornelisz, a senior VOC official who, unbeknownst to Pelsaert, had been plotting a mutiny prior to the wreck. Cornelisz sent about 20 men under soldier Wiebbe Hayes to nearby islands under the pretense of having them search for fresh water, abandoning them there to die. With the help of other mutineers, he then orchestrated a massacre that, over the course of several weeks, resulted in the murder of approximately ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Beacon Island (Houtman Abrolhos)
Beacon Island, also known as Batavia's graveyard, is an island on the eastern side of the Wallabi Group at the northern end of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia. Description The J-shaped coral island has an area of , length of approximately , with approximately of shoreline. The island has a low elevation, mostly less than , and is part of the Morning Reef complex composed of coral shingle. The surface is mostly sandy but has some pockets of guano and some exposed coral. History The island is best known as the location of the wreck and mutiny. ''Batavia'' was wrecked on Morning Reef in June 1629. Most of the 316 passengers and crew were washed ashore on the smaller islands on the eastern side of the Wallabi Group. The commander, Francisco Pelsaert, and 47 other crew and passengers set off in one the longboats in search of water but ended up sailing to Indonesia. When Pelsaert returned to the Abrolhos he found that ''Batavia''s ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


East Wallabi Island
East Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia. History East Wallabi Island played an important role in the story of the shipwreck and massacre. Following the shipwreck, a group of soldiers under the command of Wiebbe Hayes were put ashore on West Wallabi Island to search for water. The mutineers who took control of the ship left them there in the hope that they would starve or die of thirst. However, the soldiers discovered that they were able to wade to East Wallabi Island, where they eventually discovered a fresh water spring. Furthermore, West and East Wallabi Island are the only islands in the group upon which the tammar wallabi lives. Thus the soldiers had access to sources of both food and water that were unavailable to the mutineers. In the context of the ''Batavia'' mutiny and massacre, East Wallabi Island is often referred to as "High island". This was the name given it ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




West Wallabi Island
West Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia. History West Wallabi Island was important in the story of the ''Batavia'' shipwreck and massacre. Following the shipwreck in 1629, a group of soldiers under the command of Wiebbe Hayes were put ashore there to search for water. A group of mutineers who took control of the other survivors left them there in the hope that they would starve or die of thirst. However the soldiers discovered that they could wade to East Wallabi Island, where there was a fresh water spring. Furthermore, West and East Wallabi Islands are the only islands in the group upon which the tammar wallaby lives. Thus the soldiers had access to sources of both food and water that were unavailable to the mutineers. Later the mutineers mounted a series of attacks, which the soldiers beat off. The Wiebbe Hayes Stone Fort, remnants of improvised defensive walls and stone shel ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

North Island (Houtman Abrolhos)
North Island is the northernmost island in the Houtman Abrolhos, a coral reef archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mid West Western Australia. Located about 14 km (9 mi) from the nearest island group, it is one of the largest islands in the Houtman Abrolhos, and one of the few to support dune systems. It has relatively diverse flora dominated by chenopod shrubs and fauna that includes the introduced tammar wallaby, around seven species of reptile, and about 15 resident bird species. First recorded and surveyed in 1840, North Island has been a seasonal camp for western rock lobster fishermen since the beginning of the 20th century, and this remains the principal focus of human activity on the island. There is also a small amount of tourism, though for the most part it is reserved as conservation habitat for vegetation communities and rare birds. History Discovery The earliest recorded sighting of North Island occurred in May 1840, during the third survey ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Pelsaert Group
The Pelsaert Group is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain. it consists of a number of islands, the largest of which are Gun Island, Middle Island, and Pelsaert Island. The group is named after a Dutch "opperkoopman" who stranded nearby with the VOC-ship "Batavia" in 1629. The group contains the most southerly true coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. The group is part of the Houtman Abrolhos Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for supporting large numbers of breeding seabirds. A great many ships have been wrecked in the Pelsaert Group. The most notable wreck is the ''Zeewijk'', which was wrecked on the Half Moon Reef in 1727, the survivors staying on Gun Island for some time afterwards. Other wrecks include the '' Ocean Queen'', wrecked on the Half Moon Reef in 1842; the ''Ben Ledi'', wrecked off Pelsaert Island in 1879; and the ''Windsor'', wrecked on the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Easter Group
The Easter Group is the central of three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain. The group measures about 20 kilometres by 12 kilometres, and consists of a number of islands including * Rat Island * Wooded Island * Morley Island * Suomi Island * Alexander Island. Unlike the other groups the Easter Group has few shipwrecks. The group is part of the Houtman Abrolhos Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for supporting large numbers of breeding seabirds. The group was discovered and named in April 1840 by the crew of HMS ''Beagle'', under the command of John Clements Wickham. Stoke's journal, published as ''Discoveries in Australia'' in 1846, records the following for April 11: See also * Wallabi Group * Pelsaert Group * List of islands of Western Australia For lists of islands of Western Australia, please see: * List of islands of Western Australia, 0–9, A–C *Islands of La ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]