Escape Island is an island near
Jurien Bay in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent 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 th ...
.
Description
The island has an area of , is located from the mainland, at the southern end of Jurien Bay, and has a maximum elevation of .
[
The island is part of the Turquoise Coast islands nature reserve group, a chain of 40 islands spread over a distance of .]
Lighthouse
Geology
The islands were formed approximately 10,000 years ago after large fluctuations in sea levels caused erosion on large areas of the continental shelf during periods of glaciation. Large parallel sand dunes then formed and hardened into limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, forming islands, most of which have been separated from the mainland for 6,500 years.[
Well preserved ]Tamala limestone
Tamala Limestone is the geological name given to the widely occurring eolianite limestone deposits on the western coastline of Western Australia, between Shark Bay in the north and nearly to Albany in the south. The rock consists of calcarenit ...
geological features can be found on the islands, including the fragile fossil root networks known as rhizolith
Rhizoliths are organosedimentary structures formed in soils or fossil soils (paleosols) by plant roots. They include root moulds, casts, and tubules, root petrifactions, and rhizocretions. Rhizoliths, and other distinctive modifications of carbo ...
s that are found on Escape Island.[
]
Fauna
The Jurien Bay skink is found on the island, inhabiting the crevices in the limestone rocks. The bull skink is also found but lives in shallow burrows in the sandy soil. King's skinks are also found on the island but tend to inhabit the petrel
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes.
Description
The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...
burrows that are also found on the island.
In 1999, 40 dibbler
Dibbler (''Parantechinus apicalis'') is an endangered species of marsupial. It is an inhabitant of the southwest mainland of Western Australia and some offshore islands. It is a member of the order Dasyuromorphia, and the only member of the g ...
s that were bred at Perth Zoo
Perth Zoo is a 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 Ass ...
were released on the island under the wildlife recovery program Western Shield
Western Shield, managed by Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife, is a nature conservation program safeguarding Western Australia's animals and protecting them from extinction. The program was set up in 1996 and as of 2009 was th ...
.
See also
* 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 Lake Argyle
* List of islands of Western Australia, D–G
* List of islands of Western Australia, H–L
* List of islands of W ...
References
{{coord, 30, 20, 03, S, 114, 59, 05, E, display=title, region:AU_type:isle_source:GNS-enwiki
Islands of the Mid West (Western Australia)
Nature reserves in Western Australia
Turquoise Coast (Western Australia)