Dassen Island is an uninhabited

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n island in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. It is situated about west of

Yzerfontein Yzerfontein, or Ysterfontein, is a small harbour town with about 1200 inhabitants on the west coast of South Africa about 90 km north of Cape Town. The name in Afrikaans means "Iron Fountain".The town started out when the farm 'Yzerfontein' ...

and north of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. The flat and low-lying

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

measures about long northwest–southeast and wide, with an area of . It is a proclaimed

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

. In Dutch "das", the plural being "dassen", is a badger ('' Meles meles''). In Dutch/Afrikaans the word "dassie" means "rock-hyrax" or "rock-badger" and the island is named after the colonies of hyraxes ('' Procavia capensis'') encountered there by the discoverers. Named Ilha Branca ('white island') by the early Portuguese mariners, it was renamed Elizabeth Eiland by Joris van Spilbergen in 1601. The form Dasseneiland (Dutch/Afrikaans) is preferred for official purposes. It was also occasionally referred to as Penguin Island. The island is underpinned by a fine-grained tourmaline

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

, with a few zones of biotite granite. The intrusive rocks (late Precambrian) are in part covered by sand. Along much of the shoreline large, rounded boulders protrude from the sand to heights just above the high water mark. Although temporary pans form during the wet season (winter) in the interior, there is in general little fresh water on the island. Except on its eastern side, Dassen Island is surrounded by

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s. Many ships have been shipwrecked here.

African penguin colony

Rocky paths on the island have been worn by generations of penguins coming ashore to roost and nest. The island is home to a breeding colony of

African Penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, ...

which is in decline. In the 1950s it was home to tens of thousands of the animals. In 1975 the population was an estimate 60,000 birds. In the year 2000, the population was an estimated 56,000. The population has been adversely impacted by the commercial exploitation of their eggs, collection of guano (which the birds require to burrow in), and the overfishing of prey species (including pilchard). Dassen Island is also on a major shipping route, and in 1975, roughly 650 oil tankers passed by each month. Oil pollution stemming from bilge dumping and occasional major oil spills (such as the MV Treasure oil spill) have also impacted the population. FMIB 36499 Jackass Penguins on Dassen Island.jpeg,

African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, ...

(''Spheniscus demersus''). AMH-5099-NA Map of Dassen Island.jpg, Nautical chart s. XVII

External links

Dassen Island Images and Animals

References

{{reflist Uninhabited islands of South Africa Atlantic islands of South Africa Ramsar sites in South Africa Penguin colonies