Flinders Island, the largest island in the

Furneaux Group The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of th ...

, is a

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

, northeast of the island of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal

Tasmanian ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

population were exiled by the colonial British government. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is from

Cape Portland Cape Portland, officially Luemerrernanner / Cape Portland, is both a geographical feature and a locality near the north-eastern tip of Tasmania, Australia. The cape points west across Ringarooma Bay, where the Ringarooma River empties into the ...

and is located on 40° south, a

zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

known as the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S. The strong west-to-east air currents are caused by the combination of air being displaced from the Equator ...

History

Prehistory

Flinders Island was first inhabited at least 35,000 years ago, when people made their way from Australia across the then land-bridge which is now

. A population remained until about 4,500 years ago, succumbing to thirst and hunger following an acute

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date L ...

climate shift.

European discovery

Some of the south-eastern islands of the

were first recorded in 1773 by British navigator

Tobias Furneaux Captain Tobias Furneaux (21 August 173518 September 1781) was an English navigator and Royal Navy officer, who accompanied James Cook on his second voyage of exploration. He was one of the first men to circumnavigate the world in both direction ...

, commander of , the support vessel with

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

on Cook's second voyage. In February 1798, British navigator

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 ...

charted some of the southern islands, using one of the schooner ''

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

''' open boats. Later that year, Flinders returned and finished charting the islands in the ''

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

''; he then went on to complete the first circumnavigation of Tasmania (1798–99), accompanied by

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

, proving Tasmania to be an island separated from the Australian mainland by Bass Strait, later named in honor of George Bass.

Etymology

James Cook named the islands Furneaux's Islands, after Tobias Furneaux. Flinders named the largest island in the group "Great Island". He also named a group of mountains on Flinders Island, the "Three Patriarchs". The small island just to the east, Flinders named "

Babel Island The Babel Island, part of the Babel Group within the Furneaux Group, is a granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying off the east coast of Flinders Island, Tasmania, south of Victoria, Australia. The privately owned island was named by Mat ...

" from the noises made by the seabirds there.

Phillip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Jo ...

later named the largest island Flinders Island, after Matthew Flinders. Flinders named

Mount Chappell Island The Mount Chappell Island, part of the Badger Group within the Furneaux Group, is a unpopulated granite island with a distinctive central hill, located in Bass Strait, lying west of the Flinders and Cape Barren islands, Tasmania, south of Vi ...

after his wife Ann née Ann Chappelle. There are three islands named "Flinders' Island"—the large island on the east side of Bass Strait, named by Phillip Parker King; an island in the

Investigator Group The Investigator Group is an archipelago in South Australia that consists of Flinders Island and five island groups located off the western coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It is named after by her commander, Matthew Flinders when he explore ...

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 ...

, named by Matthew Flinders after his young brother Samuel Flinders (midshipman on the ); and an island in the Flinders Group north of

Cooktown, Queensland Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

was named after Matthew Flinders.

Settlement

In the late 18th century, the island was often frequented by

sealers Sealer may refer either to a person or ship engaged in seal hunting, or to a sealant; associated terms include: Seal hunting * Sealer Hill, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica * Sealers' Oven, bread oven of mud and stone built by sealers around 180 ...

and Aboriginal women, the majority of whom had been kidnapped from their mainland tribes. Seal stocks soon collapsed, causing the last sealing permit to be issued in 1828. Many sealers' families chose to stay in the Furneaux Group, subsisting on cattle grazing and

muttonbirding Muttonbirding is the seasonal harvesting of the chicks of petrels, especially shearwater species, for food, oil and feathers by recreational or commercial hunters. Such hunting of petrels and other seabirds has occurred in various locations since p ...

. From 1830, the remnants of the Tasmanian Aboriginal population were exiled to Settlement Point (or ''Wybalenna'', meaning "Black Man's House" in the language of the Ben Lomond people) on Flinders Island. These 160 survivors were deemed to be safe from white settlers here, but conditions were poor, and the relocation scheme was short-lived. In 1847, after a campaign by the Aboriginal population against their Commandant, Henry Jeanneret, which involved a petition to Queen Victoria, the remaining 47 Aboriginal people were again relocated, this time to Oyster Cove Station, an ex-convict settlement 56 kilometres south of Tasmania's capital,

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

. Land on the neighbouring

Cape Barren Island Cape Barren Island, officially truwana / Cape Barren Island, is a island in the Bass Strait, off the north east coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the second largest island of the Furneaux Group; Flinders Island lies to the north, with the s ...

was formally reserved for the Aboriginal community in 1881. From the late 19th century freehold land was given out, but it was not until the 1950s that a proper settlement scheme was initiated, mainly drawing settlers from mainland Tasmania and central

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to Flinders Island's eastern shore. The Municipality of Flinders Island was instituted in 1903.

Geography and nature

The island forms part of the state of Tasmania, and part of the Municipality of Flinders Island

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Flinders Island is only one of the many islands included in the Municipal area. Of these islands Flinders Island is the only island with more than one permanent settlement, and is by far the largest in the Furneaux Group. The island is about from north to south, and from east to west. with a total land area of . Mount Strzelecki in the south west is the island's highest peak at . About a third of the island is mountainous and rugged with ridges of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

running the length of the island. The coastal areas are dominated by sandy deposits often taking the shape of

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s. Many coastal

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

s punctuate the eastern shore, formed by dunes blocking further drainage. This

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

is mainly provided by many small streams, few of them permanently flowing directly leading to the waters of Bass Strait or such a lagoon. The coastal areas are mainly covered in scrub or

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, whereas the vegetation at a higher elevation consists of woodland, mainly

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

species. The total number of plant species in the Furneaux Group well exceeds 800, showing the great

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of its

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

. Native bird species include the

Cape Barren goose The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'') is a large goose resident in southern Australia. Etymology The species' common name is derived from Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers. It is known ...

(''Cereopsis novaehollandiae'') and the

short-tailed shearwater The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in A ...

(''Puffinus tenuirostris''). Marsupial mammals are represented by

Bennett's wallaby The red-necked wallaby or Bennett's wallaby (''Notamacropus rufogriseus'') is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Red-necked wallabies have been ...

(''Macropus rufogriseus''),

brushtail possum The brushtail possums are the members of the genus ''Trichosurus'' in the Phalangeridae, a family of marsupials. They are native to Australia (including Tasmania) and some small nearby islands. Unique among marsupials, they have shifted the hypax ...

(''Trichosurus vulpecula''),

eastern pygmy possum The eastern pygmy possum (''Cercartetus nanus'') is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania, it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, sc ...

(''Cercartetus nanus''),

potoroo Potoroo is a common name for species of ''Potorous'', a genus of smaller marsupials. They are allied to the Macropodiformes, the suborder of kangaroo, wallaby, and other rat-kangaroo genera. All three extant species are threatened by ecological c ...

(''Potorous apicalis''),

common ringtail possum The common ringtail possum (''Pseudocheirus peregrinus'', Greek for "false hand" and Latin for "pilgrim" or "alien") is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, ...

(''Pseudocheirus peregrinus'') and

Tasmanian pademelon The Tasmanian pademelon (''Thylogale billardierii''), also known as the rufous-bellied pademelon or red-bellied pademelon, is the sole species of pademelon found in Tasmania, and was formerly found throughout southeastern Australia. This pademelo ...

(''Thylogale billardierii''). The

cape fur seal The brown fur seal (''Arctocephalus pusillus''), also known as the Cape fur seal, South African fur seal and Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal. Description The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust member of the fur seals. ...

(''Arctocephalus pusillus'') is the sole placental mammal commonly found on Flinders. It is the only remaining habitat of a subspecies of common wombat, V. u. ursinus, which is listed as vulnerable by the

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

and

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

.Vombatus ursinus ursinus – Common Wombat (Bass Strait)
/ref> The area surrounding Mount Strzelecki in the south west of the island constitutes

Strzelecki National Park Strzelecki National Park is a national park on Flinders Island, Tasmania (Australia), 307 km north of Hobart. The park is home to abundant wildlife including more than one hundred bird species, wombats, and potoroos. It is named after Sir P ...

. The island also supports a population of feral

turkeys The turkey is a large bird in the genus ''Meleagris'', native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocellat ...

(''Meleagris gallopavo'').

Climate

Flinders Island has a mild

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(''Cfb'') that is strongly moderated by the Bass Strait. The summers are drier and less cloudy than the winters, and annual average rainfall totals less than .

Central Flinders Island Important Bird Area

A 30 km² tract of land on the island, lying mainly to the north and east of Whitemark, has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it contains three breeding colonies of the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

forty-spotted pardalote The forty-spotted pardalote (''Pardalotus quadragintus'') is one of Australia's rarest birds and by far the rarest pardalote, being confined to a few colonies in the south-east corner of Tasmania, mainly on Maria Island and Bruny Island. Desc ...

and habitat used by

flame robin The flame robin (''Petroica phoenicea'') is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two red-breasted ''Petroica'' robins&md ...

s. It also supports populations of several of Tasmania's restricted-range

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

bird species, including the

green rosella The green rosella or Tasmanian rosella (''Platycercus caledonicus'') is a species of parrot native to Tasmania and Bass Strait islands. It was described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, and named on the mistaken ass ...

yellow-throated honeyeater The yellow-throated honeyeater (''Nesoptilotis flavicollis'') is a species of passerine bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. It is similar in behaviour and appearance to the white-eared honeyeater and is endemic to Australia's island state ...

black-headed honeyeater The black-headed honeyeater (''Melithreptus affinis'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is one of two members of the genus '' Melithreptus'' endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and Mediterranean-typ ...

strong-billed honeyeater The strong-billed honeyeater (''Melithreptus validirostris'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is one of two species of the genus '' Melithreptus'' endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitat is temperate forest. Taxonomy The str ...

Tasmanian thornbill Tasmanian thornbill (''Acanthiza ewingii'') is a small bushland member of the Acanthizidae (Australian warbler) family, endemic to Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands. It is a common bird in these regions and is often found occupying the colder, ...

black currawong The black currawong (''Strepera fuliginosa''), also known locally as the black jay, is a large passerine bird endemic to Tasmania and the nearby islands within the Bass Strait. One of three currawong species in the genus ''Strepera'', it is clos ...

and

dusky robin The dusky robin (''Melanodryas vittata'') is a small passerine bird native to Tasmania. A member of the Australian robin family Petroicidae, it is known by many other names such as Dozey, Sad, Sleepy, Stump, Tasmania/Wood Robin; Native Sparrow o ...

Eastern Flinders Island Important Bird Area

A 187 km² strip of land extending the full 70 km length of Flinders Island's eastern coastline has also been identified as an IBA. it supports small numbers of

fairy tern The fairy tern (''Sternula nereis'') is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as " Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is " Critically Endangered". There are three subspecies: * Australian f ...

s, large numbers of

hooded plover The hooded dotterel or hooded plover (''Thinornis cucullatus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons. There are two recognised subspecies whic ...

s and over 1% of the world populations of

chestnut teal The chestnut teal (''Anas castanea'') is a dabbling duck found in Australia. It is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Taxonomy The chestnut teal was described by the English naturalist Thomas Campbell Eyton in 1838 under ...

pied oystercatcher The pied oystercatcher (''Haematopus longirostris'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island pied oystercatcher (''H. finschi'') occurs in New Zealand. ...

s and

sooty oystercatcher The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fea ...

Demographics

The population in 2011 was 700 people; the median age being 45. Settlements include

Whitemark Whitemark is a rural residential locality on Flinders Island in the local government area (LGA) of Flinders in the North-east LGA region of Tasmania. The 2016 census recorded a population of 301 for the state suburb of Whitemark. It is the mai ...

(which has the island's main airstrip and about 155 inhabitants (2011) and Lady Barron (approx. 110 inhabitants), Blue Rocks, Killiecrankie, Wingaroo and Wybalenna (all below Lady Barron's population figure). The 2016 census shows that the population is rising. The population of the Local Government Area, i.e. Flinders and Cape Barren Islands is 906; up from 776 in the 2011 Census and to 1010 in 2019. The population of the 7255 postal code area, i.e. Flinders, is 833 up from 702 in 2011, a rise of over 16% for the Municipality and over 18% for Flinders over the 5-year period. The median age of people in the Municipality has risen from 52 to 53, and the number of families has increased from 218 to 243.

Communications

As of 4 October 2010,

Sharp Airlines Sharp Airlines is a regional airline founded in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia in 1990. Sharp operates scheduled airline services in the southern states of Australia. Its main bases are Essendon Airport, Adelaide Airport and Launceston Airport. ...

has been operating services between Essendon, Flinders Island and Launceston. Using 19-seat Metroliners, they fly between

Essendon Airport Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarine ...

and

Flinders Island Airport Flinders Island Airport is a small regional airport located northwest of Whitemark on Flinders Island off the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. The airport is owned and operated by the Flinders Council. The airport site has a total ar ...

three return flights a week (65 minutes) and

Launceston Airport Launceston Airport is a regional airport on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania. The airport is located in the industrial area of Western Junction from Launceston city centre. It is Tasmania's second busiest after Hobart Airport; it can als ...

and

at least daily (25 minutes). Th
Tasmanian AeroclubKirkhope Aviation
an
Vortex Air
also offer charter services between Launceston, Flinders Island and Victoria (as well as surrounding Islands). A ferry service delivering food and perishable goods is operated to the island weekly by Furneaux Freight between Bridport, Tasmania and

Lady Barron, Tasmania Lady Barron is a small settlement on the southern end of Flinders Island, in the local government area of Flinders in the North-east region of Tasmania. It is located about south-east of the town of Whitemark. The 2016 census determined a popu ...

and also monthly from

Port Welshpool, Victoria Port Welshpool is a town in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is located 191 km south-east of Melbourne, on Corner Inlet and in 2006 had a population of 191. Jetty The jetty was reconstructed prior to World War II to ...

. Australian telecom provider Telstra offers the only mobile phone service on the island, providing 3G & 4G coverage across both Flinders and Cape Barren Island. Internet access is limited to either a satellite dish connection or to use the 3G/4G network.

References

{{Authority control Important Bird Areas of Tasmania Islands of Bass Strait Islands of North East Tasmania