Owen Island, formerly known as Rabbit Island and also known as Little Taylor Island, is an

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 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 ...

located in

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...

off the east coast of

Jussieu Peninsula __NOTOC__ Jussieu Peninsula is a peninsula located at the south east end of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by Proper Bay and Spalding Cove within the natural harbour known as Port Lincoln to the north, Spencer Gulf to the e ...

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

approximately south-east of

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

. Since 1972, the island has been part of the

Lincoln National Park Lincoln National Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located about west of the state capital of Adelaide and about south of the municipal seat of Port Lincoln. It consists of a mainland area on the Jussieu Pe ...

Description

Owen Island which is located approximately south-east of Port Lincoln and is located north of

Taylor Island Taylor Island, also known as Taylor's Island, is the largest in a group of seven islands located between the Eyre Peninsula mainland and Thistle Island in the mouth of Spencer Gulf, South Australia. It was named by British explorer Matthew Fli ...

, has a maximum height of . Sandy beaches exist on the island’s west side with a submerged

sand spit A spit or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift by longshore currents. The drift occurs due t ...

near the island’s south-western point. Sand dominates the island with wind-blown

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 extending beyond the limits of

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

and

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

s which was reported in 1996 as ‘providing a bed for a high diversity of plants’. It is reported that the island is sheltered from the impact of the sea due to the closeness of the much larger Taylor Island plus the additional shelter offered by the mainland and other islands to the south. As of 1996, it is reported as being accessible by boat.

Formation, geology and oceanography

Owen Island was formed about 6000 years ago when sea levels rose at the start of the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

. The island is a

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 ...

outcrop capped with a residual layer 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 ...

. The island rises from the seabed at within to on its east side while on its west and south side while the same transition occurs over a distance of approximately . The passage between the island’s south coast and Taylor Island is relatively shallow with a maximum charted depth of due to both islands sharing the same geological base strata.

Flora and fauna

As of 1996, the flora is reported as consisting of two distinct areas. The coastal sand supports plants such as

grey saltbush ''Atriplex cinerea'', commonly known as grey saltbush, coast saltbush, barilla or ''truganini'', is a plant species in the family Amaranthaceae. It occurs in sheltered coastal areas and around salt lakes in the Australian states of Western Aust ...

sea spurge ''Euphorbia paralias'', the sea spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. The species is widely naturalised in Australia. It invades coastal areas, displacing local ...

and two-horned sea rocket. The rest of the island supports a

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

dominated by nitre bush and saltbush. Other species observed in the shrubland included Australian hollyhock, black-anther flax lily,

bower spinach ''Tetragonia implexicoma'', commonly known as bower spinach, is a species of plant in the Aizoaceae, or ice-plant family. A similar species is ''Tetragonia tetragonioides'', however this species has larger leaves and a shorter flowering time. Di ...

, coastal lignum, karkalla, native juniper and

variable groundsel ''Senecio pinnatifolius'' is a species of herb native to Australia. Common names include coast groundsel, dune groundsel and variable groundsel. Description It grows as an erect herb up to a metre in height, with yellow flowers. Taxonomy The na ...

. As of 1996, the fauna was reported as consisting of the following

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

s: five species of birds including

Pacific gull The Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus'') is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a re ...

rock parrot The rock parrot (''Neophema petrophila'') is a species of grass parrot native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1841, it is a small parrot long and weighing with predominantly olive-brown upperparts and more yellowish underparts. Its h ...

s and a breeding colony of

white-faced storm petrel The white-faced storm petrel (''Pelagodroma marina''), also known as white-faced petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Pelagodroma''. Description The white-faced ...

s, and one species of reptile, the

southern grass skink There are two species of skink named southern grass skink: * ''Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii The southern grass skink (''Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii)'' is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia, where it is ...

Naming

The island was formerly known as Rabbit Island, however it was renamed under "the Crown Lands Act" around about 1960 in order to reportedly avoid confusion with the Rabbit Island located in

Louth Bay Louth Bay (formerly Laurence) is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after the bay named by Matthew Flinders on 26 February 1802 which itself is derived from a place in Lincolnshire. At the 2006 census, L ...

. The new name acknowledged the Owen family who was leasing Taylor Island at the time of the name change. The island is known "locally known as Little Taylor Island due to its close proximity to Taylor Island."

Protected areas status

Owen Island first obtained

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 ...

status as a fauna conservation reserve declared under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1966'' on 16 March 1967. Since 1972, it has been part of the

References

{{Islands of South Australia , state=collapsed Islands of South Australia Uninhabited islands of Australia Spencer Gulf