The Pages is an island group in the

Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...

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 ...

consisting of two small islands and a reef located in

Backstairs Passage The Backstairs Passage is a strait in South Australia lying between Fleurieu Peninsula on the Australian mainland and Dudley Peninsula on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. The western edge of the passage is a line from Cape Jervis on Fleurieu ...

, a

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

separating

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

and the

Fleurieu Peninsula The Fleurieu Peninsula () is a peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia located south of the state capital of Adelaide. History Before British colonisation of South Australia, the western side of the peninsula was occupied by the ...

. The island group has been located with the

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 ...

known as

The Pages Conservation Park The Pages Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia which is associated with the island group known as The Pages located in Backstairs Passage about south-east of Cape Jervis and about south south-west o ...

since 1972.

Etymology

The islands were known to the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Kaurna people The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna ...

as ''Metalong''. In Aboriginal lore the islands are those of two women that Nurunderi had saved, but who had subsequently eaten forbidden food and fled him. Nurunderi tracked them for days to the Fleurieu Peninsula where they tried to enter the spirit land, but Nurunderi chanted the song of the winds to raise the sea and sweep the women into the ocean. Nepelle then turned the women to stone and their petrified bodies remain as a warning to women to never eat forbidden food. They were named “The Pages” 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 ...

on 7 April 1802 from their fancied resemblance to

pages Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

guarding their strategic position at the eastern entrance to the strait.

Description

The Pages consist of two main islands, lying about apart, are similar in size. North Page is about long, wide and high while South Page is about long, wide and high. A reef which is located south-west of South Page includes two adjacent wave-washed islets, rising or so above sea level, with a combined length of . Geologically, The Pages are constituted of

phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliated metamorphic rock created from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. It is primarily compo ...

s of the

Brukunga Brukunga is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, located approximately east of Adelaide and north of the town of Nairne. History Its name, derived from ''Barrukungga'' in the local Kaurna language, means "place of fire stone" or the "place ...

Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

, formed from

metamorphosed Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s. The islands are rugged; they contain no beaches and access by sea is difficult. There is a

navigational aid Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

on the top of South Page Island.

Flora and fauna

Small pockets of soil on the tops of the islands support patches of vegetation. Recorded plants include

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 ...

, bulbine lily, round-leaved pigface,

ruby saltbush ''Enchylaena tomentosa'', commonly known as barrier saltbush or ruby saltbush, is a small native shrub of Australia. Description ''Enchylaena tomentosa'' grows as a small perennial shrub, up to a meter in diameter. Leaves are slender and cylindr ...

and an '' Atriplex'' saltbush.

Silver gull The silver gull (''Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae'') is the most common gull of Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus''), which ...

s breed on the islands, which also support a breeding colony of Australian sea lions. A

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 ...

colony existed on the South Page island, with an estimated population of 200-400 birds in 1992. In 2009, the population had declined to "few". An account of the island's fauna from 1884 described little penguins as being "very plentiful" on the South Page island, and mentioned the nesting site of a large eagle which was discovered at an "almost inaccessible" location.

Protected area status

The Pages has enjoyed protected area status since 29 April 1909 starting with declaration as part of a Bird Protection District under the ''Birds Protection Act 1900'' followed by declaration as a closed area under the ''Animals and Birds Protection Act 1919-1938'' in 1955, proclamation as a Fauna Reserve under the ''Fauna Conservation Act 1964-1965'' in 1966, proclamation as a Fauna Conservation Reserve under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1967'' in 1967, and concluding with proclamation as The Pages Conservation Park following the enactment of 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 ...

'' in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pages Islands of South Australia Backstairs Passage

Etymology

Description

Flora and fauna

Protected area status

See also

References