Rodondo Island is a granite island, part of the Rodondo Group, lying in northern

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 ...

, within the state boundaries of Tasmania, Australia. The island is located only south of Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, and 2' of latitude () south of the Victoria-Tasmania border at latitude 39°12'S. Rodondo Island is ringed by steep cliffs up to high, with an area of and a maximum elevation of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

Flora and fauna

It is a nature reserve with a breeding colony of over one million mutton birds or

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 ...

s. Rodondo's vegetation communities include ''

Disphyma ''Disphyma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae that are native to New Zealand, Australia and southern Africa. Plants in this genus are prostrate, annual or short-lived perennial shrubs with succulent leaves and daisy-like flo ...

'' herbfield, '' Stipa''

tussock Tussock may refer to: * Tussock grass, a group of species in the family Poaceae *Floating island * Lymantriinae, called tussock moths or tussocks See also * Hassock (disambiguation) Hassock may refer to: * Kneeler, a cushion or a piece of f ...

grassland, '' Poa poiformis'' tussock grassland, '' Melaleuca armillaris'' low closed forest, '' Allocasuarina verticillata'' low open forest, clifftop shrubland, and '' Eucalyptus globulus'' open forest. As well as the shearwaters, recorded breeding seabird and wader species include

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian lit ...

, fairy prion, Pacific gull and sooty oystercatcher. White-bellied sea-eagles have nested on the island. The island is part of the Wilsons Promontory Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because of its importance for breeding seabirds.

Reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s present include the metallic skink, White's skink and southern water skink, Rodondo being the only place the latter has been recorded on Tasmanian territory.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart.

History

The island was sighted by Lieutenant

James Grant James Grant may refer to: Politics and law *Sir James Grant, 1st Baronet (died 1695), Scottish lawyer *Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet (1679–1747), Scottish Whig politician *Sir James Grant, 8th Baronet (1738–1811), Scottish member of parliament * ...

on 9 December 1800 from the survey brig and named ''"from its resemblance to that rock, well known to all seamen in the West Indies"'', presumably Redonda, between the islands of

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

and Nevis. The first landing was in January 1947 when a party led by John Béchervaise spent a week exploring the island and surveying its natural history.

References

{{Islands of Tasmania Islands of Northern Tasmania Protected areas of Tasmania Important Bird Areas of Tasmania Islands of Bass Strait