Eba 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 South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It comprises of land, proclaimed in 1972 to conserve island habitat within

Streaky Bay Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Su ...

and sea bird breeding colonies. Eba Island is located offshore and south of Perlubie Hill. It is entirely composed of

calcarenite Calcarenite is a type of limestone that is composed predominantly, more than 50 percent, of detrital (transported) sand-size (0.0625 to 2 mm in diameter), carbonate grains. The grains consist of sand-size grains of either corals, shells, ooi ...

, often overlaid with a limestone capping.

Nomenclature

Eba Island may have been named after a clerk in the South Australian Department of Lands or after an acquaintance of Governor MacDonnell.

Geography

On the south-western, more exposed flanks of the island, waves have undercut the wall and carved blowholes, scalloped ridges and blades of jagged rock into the limestone. On the better-protected northern sides the calcarenite bed is softened by sandy coves, with rock appearing through as headlands.

Flora and fauna

Creeping Boobialla (''Myoporum parvifolium'') is found on Eba Island and is listed under the ''

National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 sepa ...

'' as Rare. The island is also infested with the introduced

African Boxthorn ''Lycium ferocissimum'', the African boxthorn or boxthorn, is a shrub in the nightshade family ( Solanaceae). The species is native to the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Free State provinces in South Africa and has become naturalised in Aus ...

Red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

tracks have been found on Eba Island. A connecting sandbar at low tide allows terrestrial animals to cross from the mainland to the island. A species list of flora and fauna can be found in the Island Parks of Western Eyre Peninsula Management Plan.

History

The island was once used for agriculture. An abandoned house and several broken fence lines are testaments to the endeavor's failure. Native vegetation is slowly reclaiming the cleared grasslands. The island was proclaimed a Fauna Reserve in 1966. Eba Island conservation park was constituted by statute in 1972 and 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.

References

External links