The St Helens Island, part of the Waterhouse Island Group, 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 ...

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 ...

situated in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

, lying close to the north-eastern coast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. Other islands in the Waterhouse Group include

Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

, Tenth,

Waterhouse Waterhouse may refer to: People *Waterhouse (surname) Places * Waterhouse, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Waterhouse Island (disambiguation) * Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica ** Waterhouse F.C., a football club based in the Waterho ...

, Little Waterhouse,

Maclean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John). The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Gille Eathai ...

Baynes Baynes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Baynes, English politician * Aron Baynes (born 1986), New Zealand-born Australian basketball player * Helton Godwin Baynes, (1882–1943), analytical psychologist, author, transl ...

Foster Foster may refer to: People * Foster (surname) * Foster Brooks (1912–2001), American actor * Foster Moreau (born 1997), American football player * Foster Sarell (born 1998), American football player * John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), American ...

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

, Little Swan,

Cygnet A cygnet is a young swan. Cygnet may also refer to: Places *Cygnet Island, a small islet in south-eastern Australia *Cygnet, Ohio, a village in the United States *Cygnet River, South Australia, a locality on Kangaroo Island *Cygnet, Tasmania, a ...

and Paddys islands and Bird Rock and

George Rocks The George Rocks, also historically known as King George's Rocks, is part of the Waterhouse Island Group, a group of three adjacent uninhabited granite islets and associated reefs with a combined area of , situated in Banks Strait, part of Bass ...

islets.

History

Three applications were made to the colonial government in 1841, each for three acres, to operate shore-based whaling stations on the island. It is not clear if all or any of these was taken up.

Fauna

The island is a conservation area, though it has been burnt in the past and is still subject to severe rabbit grazing. The island forms part of the

St Helens Important Bird Area St Helens Important Bird Area comprises four separate sites, with a collective total area of 24 km2, in the vicinity of the town of St Helens on the northern part of the east coast of Tasmania, south-eastern Australia. Description The sit ...

, 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 as a breeding site for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s and

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s. Recorded breeding

species are

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 ...

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 ...

common diving-petrel The common diving petrel (''Pelecanoides urinatrix''), also known as the smaller diving petrel or simply the diving petrel, is a diving petrel, one of four very similar auk-like small petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to South Atlanti ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

European rabbit The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...

s have been introduced. The

metallic skink :''"Metallic skink" may also refer to the garden skink (Lampropholis delicata)''. ''Carinascincus metallicus'', the metallic cool-skink or metallic skink is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to Australia, found in south ...

is present.

References

Waterhouse Island group Important Bird Areas of Tasmania Islands of North East Tasmania Islands of the Tasman Sea {{Tasmania-geo-stub

History

Fauna

See also

References