Cap Island Conservation Park is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
in the Australian state of
South Australia located about offshore, west of Mount Misery,
Eyre Peninsula. The park covers Cap Island's 8ha surface. The island consists of a granite base and a calcarenite mantle; its margins steeply over-hanging and eroded. Typical vegetation is a low Nitre Bush (''Nitraria billardierei'') shrubland. Cap Island Conservation Park was constituted by statute in 1972 to conserve a sea bird breeding area and
Australian Sea-lion (''Neophoca cinerea'') and
New Zealand Fur-seal (''Arctocephalus forsteri'') haul-out areas.
Cap Island also bears the alternative name of Gap Island and historically was also known as Rocky Island.
History
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...
named the island on 16 February 1802, alluding to the island's topography, geology and cap-like profile. The island was proclaimed a Fauna Conservation Reserve in 1967.
and gazetted as the Cap Island Conservation Park in 1972. The conservation park is classified as an
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Category Ia protected area.
Fauna
In addition to marine mammals, at least nine species of birds have been recorded on Cap Island.
These include:
# ''Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae'': Silver Gull
# ''Haematopus fuliginosus fuliginosus'': Sooty Oystercatcher
# ''Hirundo (Hirundo) neoxena neoxena'': Welcome Swallow
# ''
Neophema (Neonanodes) petrophila'': Rock Parrot
# ''Pelagodroma marina'': White-faced Storm-petrel
# ''Sterna (Sterna) striata'': White-fronted Tern
# ''Sternula nereis nereis'': Fairy Tern
# ''Sturnus (Sturnus) vulgaris vulgaris'': Common Starling
# ''Thalasseus bergii'': Crested Tern
Flora
At least eight species of plants have been recorded on Cap Island.
They include:
# ''Apium prostratum var. prostratum'': Sea Celery
# ''Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum'': Rounded Noon-flower
# ''Frankenia pauciflora var. fruticulosa''
# ''Frankenia pauciflora'': Australian Sea-heath
# ''Lawrencia squamata'': Thorny Lawrencia
# ''Mesembryanthemum crystallinum'': Common Ice plant
# ''Nitraria billardierei'': Dillon Bush
# ''Zygophyllum apiculatum'': Callweed
References
External links
Cap Island Conservation Park webpage on protected planet
{{Protected areas of South Australia
Conservation parks of South Australia
Protected areas established in 1967
1967 establishments in Australia
Great Australian Bight
Islands of South Australia