Waterhouse Island (Tasmania)
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Waterhouse 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 under ...
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 Banks Strait, part of Bass Strait, 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. The Waterhouse Island Group includes the Waterhouse, Little Waterhouse, Swan, 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, ...
, Foster, St Helens, Ninth, Tenth, Paddys,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
islands and the 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 with their associated reefs.


Location and features

The large inland portion of Waterhouse Island is privately owned under freehold tenure. On 28 September 2011, of the island was proclaimed as the Waterhouse Island Conservation Area. This conservation area surrounds almost all of the island from the low-water mark to approximately inshore, as well as a region at the northern tip. A small sandy spit on the eastern coastline does not appear to be encapsulated by this conservation area and the tenure of this sandy spit remains uncertain. A lighthouse is located on of crown land at the northern point of the island. Waterhouse Island has an equable
Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
with warm summers and cooler winters. Rainfall, averaging approximately per annum, is relatively evenly spread throughout the year, however with a bias to late winter months. Waterhouse Island has extensive white sand beaches on the eastern and south eastern shores. West and northern coasts are primarily rocky. The island is used as a haven for sheltering yachts and other small boats as they travel through Bass Strait. Surrounding waters are popular for fishing, both finfish and various shellfish.


History and use

Sealing is known to have taken place here from at least 1802. For the past 150 years the island has mostly been farmed, with sheep grazing the most prominent pursuit. The island has a house and a cottage, a four stand wool shed and implement shed, and a machine shed. The two dwellings are located in the lee of the prevailing westerly winds, on the eastern side, above sandy beaches. The island has a working wharf and two airstrips, one east–west and the other intersecting it. Freight boats, including Bass Strait trading vessels, also can beach on protected East and southeast sand beaches. Until the 1970s, grazing activity led to some degradation of vegetation. The present owners, who have had it since that time, have fenced off vulnerable areas and have undertaken an extensive revegetation program. The grazing land vegetation primarily consists of introduced pasture
grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...
es.
Livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
grazing had previously caused
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
which had affected the shearwater
colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. These are now stabilised and the fairy penguin and the shearwater rookeries are thriving.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart.


Etymology

The island is named after Captain
Henry Waterhouse Captain Henry Waterhouse (13 December 1770 – 27 July 1812) was an English naval officer of the Royal Navy who became an early settler in the Colony of New South Wales, Australia. He imported to Australia the continent's first Spanish merino sh ...
of the '' Reliance''. Nicholas Baudin stopped at the island in 1802 mistakenly thinking the name meant fresh water could be found there, which was not the case.


Fauna

Recorded breeding
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 ...
species are the little penguin and short-tailed shearwater. Introduced mammals include
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...
,
cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
s,
fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...
and
house mice The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the order Rodentia, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus ''Mus''. Although ...
. Reptiles present include 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 sout ...
, spotted skink,
three-lined skink The eastern three-lined skink (''Acritoscincus duperreyi''), also known commonly as the bold-striped cool-skink, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia. ''A. duperreyi'' has been extensi ...
,
Bougainville's skink Bougainville's skink (''Lerista bougainvillii'') is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. This species is also commonly called the south-eastern slider and Bougainville's lerista. Etymology The specific name, ''bougainvillii ...
,
White's skink White's skink (''Liopholis whitii)'', also known commonly as White's rock skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Etymology The specific name, ''whitii'', is in honour of Irish surgeon and ...
and tiger snake.


See also

*
List of islands of Tasmania Tasmania is the smallest and southernmost state of Australia. The Tasmanian mainland itself is an island, with an area of - 94.1% of the total land area of the state. The other islands have a combined area of , for a cumulative total of 99.75% o ...


References

{{Islands of Tasmania Islands of North East Tasmania Bass Strait Waterhouse Island group Seal hunting Private islands of Tasmania