The Brush Island is a

continental 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 ...

, contained within the Brush Island Nature Reserve, a

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, known as Mit Island in the Dhurga language of the Murramamrang people of the Yuin nation see (http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p326831/html/ch01.xhtml) It is located off the south coast of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The island and reserve is situated within 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 ...

, approximately south-east of the coastal village of Bawley Point. The island was

gazetted A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

as a nature reserve in July 1963 and is important for 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 ...

s. The reserve is listed on Australia’s Register of the National Estate, and has an unmanned lighthouse.

Description

The island lies from the tip of Murramarang Point. It is long, with a maximum width of , and rises to about above sea level. Its shorelines are steep, rocky cliff faces with erosion gullies on the northern side. The gullies are both caused and used by the little penguins whose tracks and burrows cover most of the island.

History

The island was sighted by Captain James Cook on 22 April 1770 during his first voyage to the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. Cook had planned to shelter HMS '' Endeavour'' between the unnamed island and mainland but was prevented by high seas. Instead ''Endeavour'' continued its northward path along the coast, making her first Australian landfall a week later at

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

Flora and fauna

The island supports a coastal vegetation cover of herbs, low shrubs and stunted trees, including '' Carpobrotus glaucescens'', '' Lomandra longifolia'', '' Einadia hastata'', '' Myoporum insulare'', '' Enchylaena tomentosa'', '' Acacia longifolia'', '' Westringia fruticosa'', ''

Banksia integrifolia ''Banksia integrifolia'', commonly known as the coast banksia, is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely distributed ''Banksia'' species, it occurs between Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Cen ...

'' and ''

Casuarina glauca ''Casuarina glauca'', commonly known as the swamp she-oak, swamp oak, grey oak, or river oak, is a species of ''Casuarina'' native to the east coast of Australia. It is found from central Queensland south to southern New South Wales. It has becom ...

''. Seabird species nesting on the island include the

wedge-tailed shearwater The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...

, short-tailed shearwater, little penguin 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 ...

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 ...

s and

sooty shearwater The sooty shearwater (''Ardenna grisea'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori name , and as muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater (''A. pacificus ...

s were found there for the first time in 2008.

Rat eradication

The island became infested with black rats in 1932 after a steamer, the ''Northern Firth'', ran aground there. In 2005 the rats were eradicated after a poisoning campaign by the

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the ...

References

External links