Smooth 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 off the west coast of

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 ...

about south west of the town of

Ceduna Ceduna may refer to: *Ceduna, South Australia, a town and locality *Ceduna Airport Ceduna Airport is a public airport in Ceduna, South Australia. The airport, which is owned by the District Council of Ceduna is located adjacent to the Eyre ...

. It is both part of a local group of islands known as the Isles of St Francis group and a larger group known as the

Nuyts Archipelago The Nuyts Archipelago is an island group located in South Australia in the Great Australian Bight to the south of the town of Ceduna, South Australia, Ceduna on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It consisting of mostly granite, grani ...

. It has enjoyed

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 since the 1960s and since 2011, it has been part of the Nuyts Archipelago Wilderness Protection Area.

Description

Smooth Island is an island located within the Isles of St Francis group, which itself is part of the Nuyts Archipelago. It is located about south west of the town of Ceduna on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.Robinson et al, 1996, page 158DMH, 1985, chart 43 Several sources states that the island is located about north of

St Francis Island St Francis Island (originally in Dutch: ''Eyland St. François'') is an island on the south coast of South Australia near Ceduna. It is part of the Nuyts Archipelago. It was one of the first parts of South Australia to be discovered and named ...

while the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

and charts published by the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

respectively state and show that the island is located "almost N of the NE extremity of St. Francis Island".DEH, 2006, page 3 The island is predominantly dome shaped with a summit at a height of with steep sides rising from the surrounding waters. The island is described as having a "teardrop" plan with its long axis oriented in a south easterly direction with overall length of about and a width of .Robinson et al, 1996, pages 473 The island is considered to be difficult to access via

watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...

in "normal conditions" on the basis of "impressions from a brief flyover" in a helicopter during 1982.

Formation, geology and oceanography

Smooth Island was formed about 7700 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's geology consists of a "granite base and thin calcarenite mantle" that is "likely to be fragmented into jagged rocks and shingles, with a sandy, skeletal soil filling depressions" in areas that are "beyond the reach of storm waves". The island's steep sides drop into water of depth equal or greater than .

History

European discovery and use

Smooth Island is reported as being named by

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 ...

in 1802 and was so named because of the "island's shape". The

Baudin expedition to Australia The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1803 was a French expedition to map the coast of New Holland (now Australia). Nicolas Baudin was selected as leader in October 1800. The expedition started with two ships, '' Géographe'', captained by Baudin, an ...

named the island as ''Ile Malesherbes'' later in 1802.

Flora and fauna

Flora

As of 1996, the literature suggests that no onsite flora survey had been carried out and accordingly, contains the following description based on an extrapolation of observations carried out on nearby Egg Island.

Saltbush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...

and nitre-bush should be present where soil pockets exist in the calcarenite capping while an open heath of twiggy daisy-bush should be present over the central part of the island.Robinson et al, 1996, pages 473

Sub tidal flora

A survey carried out in 2002 found that

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwat ...

from the genus ''

Ecklonia ''Ecklonia'' is a genus of kelp (brown algae) belonging to the family Lessoniaceae. The genus name of ''Ecklonia'' is in honour of Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1795–1868), who was a Danish botanical collector and apothecary. The genus was circu ...

'' was the dominant plant cover on reef substrate at a depth of while a community of ''Cystophora'' and ''

Sargassum ''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae (seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral re ...

'' species were dominant on reef substrate at a depth of .

Fauna

As of 1996, the literature suggests that no onsite fauna survey had been carried out as the following list is an extrapolation of species present on nearby Egg Island. Seabird species are likely to be represented by

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 ...

crested tern The greater crested tern Retrieved 28 February 2012 (''Thalasseus bergii''), also called crested tern or swift tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World ...

and

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 ...

as well as visitors such as

white-bellied sea-eagle The white-bellied sea eagle (''Haliaeetus leucogaster''), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related t ...

. Land bird species that are likely to visit the island are the

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 ...

and the

richard's pipit Richard's pipit (''Anthus richardi'') is a medium-sized passerine bird which breeds in open grasslands in the East Palearctic. It is a long-distance migrant moving to open lowlands in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is a rare but ...

. Reptilian species are likely to include the

marbled gecko ''Christinus'' is a genus of Gekkonidae geckos found in southern regions of Australia. It contains species and subspecies that are regionally termed as marbled geckos. The contrasted patterns of these geckos, marbling, are found in a variety of ...

, the

four-toed earless skink The four-toed earless skink (''Hemiergis peronii''), also known commonly as Péron's earless skink, the lowlands earless skink, or the four-toed mulch skink, is a viviparous earless skink endemic to southern Australia. Etymology The specific ...

and the bull skink.

Protected area status

Smooth Island first received

status as a fauna reserve declared under the ''Fauna Conservation Act 1964'' and then as a fauna conservation reserve declared under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1966'' on 16 March 1967. In 1972, it became part of the Isles of St Francis Conservation Park, which was declared 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 ...

'' to "conserve island populations and habitat for endangered species". On 25 August 2011, it and the rest of the Isles of St Francis Conservation Park was transferred to the newly created Nuyts Archipelago Wilderness Protection Area. As of 2012, the waters adjoining Smooth Island are part of a sanctuary zone within the

Nuyts Archipelago Marine Park Nuyts may refer to: People * Pieter Nuyts (1598–1655), Dutch explorer and diplomat * Pieter Nuyts (writer) (1640–1709), Dutch poet and playwright Places * Nuyts Archipelago (disambiguation), places associated with the island group in South A ...

.DEWNR, 2012, page 29

Citations and references

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smooth Island (South Australia) Islands of South Australia Uninhabited islands of Australia Great Australian Bight