Chinamans Hat Island is an

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

located off the south coast of

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Str ...

Investigator Strait Investigator Strait is a body of water in South Australia lying between the Yorke Peninsula, on the Australian mainland, and Kangaroo Island. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his ship, HMS ''Investigator'', on his voyage of 1801–1802 ...

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 ...

about south-west of Stenhouse Bay and within of the shore. As of 2014, it is located within the Innes National Park.

Description

Chinamans Hat Island is located about from the shoreline and about south-west of Stenhouse Bay. The islet is a remnant piece of cliff line which rises to a height of and sits on an intertidal rock platform that joins the mainland at the west and extends past the island to the east. The islet is named due to the similarity of its shape to a

conical Asian hat A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines co ...

. Access is reported as being ‘best gained by small boat, taking care to avoid the shallow rocks and reefs in the surrounding waters.’ The name ‘Chinamans Hat’ is also informally used for other features near the islet such as the small bay located between it and the mainland, the intertidal reef that connects it to the mainland and facilities on the mainland provided as part of the Innes National Park.

Formation, geology and oceanography

Chinamans Hat Island was formed between 7500 and 8900 years ago after 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 togeth ...

thereby separating

from

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 ...

. Chinamans Hat Island is reported as being entirely composed of a Bridgewater Formation

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 ...

rock with ‘distinct horizontal layers of hard calcrete’. The islet rises from a depth of .

Flora and fauna

Flora

A survey conducted in 1996 found eleven species of plants including sea celery,

marsh saltbush ''Atriplex paludosa'', commonly known as marsh saltbush, is a species of saltbush endemic to Australia. Description It grows as an erect shrub up to a metre high. Leaves are oval in shape, one to four centimetres long, and 2 to 15 millimetres wi ...

, 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 ...

, grey samphire, nitre-bush,

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

and common iceplant.

Fauna

As of 1996,

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, with c ...

animals were represented by bird species such as little penguins,

feral pigeon Feral pigeons (''Columba livia domestica'' or ''Columba livia forma urbana''), also called city doves, city pigeons, or street pigeons,Nagy, Kelsi, and Johnson, Phillip David. ''Trash animals: how we live with natures filthy, feral, invasive, an ...

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 ...

Protected areas status

Chinamans Hat Island has been reported as being part of the Innes National Park by 1980. Since 2012, the waters surrounding its shores are located in a sanctuary zone within the boundaries of the South Spencer Gulf Marine Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinamans Hat Island Islands of South Australia Uninhabited islands of Australia Yorke Peninsula Investigator Strait Penguin colonies