Jones Island is an
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 ...
in the Australian state of
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 ...
located at the mouth of Baird Bay in the north end of
Anxious Bay about south-southeast of the town of
Streaky Bay on the west coast of
Eyre Peninsula
The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north.
Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named af ...
. The island is notable as a breeding site for
Australian sea lions and
Australian pelican
The Australian pelican (''Pelecanus conspicillatus'') is a large waterbird in the family Pelecanidae, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand ...
s. The island has enjoyed
protected area status since 1967 and as of 1972, it has been part of the
Baird Bay Islands Conservation Park.
Description
Jones Island is an island located at the northern end of Anxious Bay at the mouth of Baird Bay about south of the town of
Baird Bay and about south-southeast of the town of Streaky Bay on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
[RAN, 1979] The island is about long with a maximum width of .
[Robinson et al, 1996, page 477] The island is reported as having a perimeter consisting of “sharp cliffs” to its south eastern coast which is exposed to the ocean and a “ledge” on its sheltered north western side.
[ Access to the island is reported as being weather dependent due to the absence of a suitable landing point (i.e. beach or inlet) on its sheltered side and the presence of adverse sea conditions caused by waves diffracted around its shoreline.][Robinson et al, 1996, page 180]
Formation, geology and oceanography
Jones Island was formed about 6000 years ago following the rise of sea levels 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 ...
. Jones Island consists of a 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 ...
layer over 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 ...
base. It is reported as being the remnant of a “calcarenite wall that once held back the ocean from the low-lying valley to the north”. Jones Island is the permanently exposed part of a submerged reef system extending from the southern headland of Baird Bay across the south side of the mouth of the bay in a south-southwest direction for a distance of about .[DMH, 1985, chart 39]
Flora and fauna
Flora
A survey carried out during 1983 on Jones Island found that its vegetation consisted of the following five groupings: coast daisy-bush, nitre-bush, Austral stork's bill, introduced pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...
mainly on the north western side of the island and round-leaved pigface.[Robinson et al, 1996, page 178][
]
Fauna
Vertebrate animals are represented by mammals, birds and reptiles. As of 1996, mammals are represented exclusively by the Australian sea lion which uses the island both as a haul out and as a breeding colony.[ As of 2006, the following bird species have been observed on the island: ]white-faced heron
The white-faced heron (''Egretta novaehollandiae'') also known as the white-fronted heron, and incorrectly as the grey heron, or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Ind ...
, 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 ...
, welcome swallow
The welcome swallow (''Hirundo neoxena'') is a small passerine bird in the swallow family.
It is a species native to Australia and nearby islands, and self-introduced into New Zealand in the middle of the twentieth century. It is very similar ...
, 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 ...
, little grassbird
The little grassbird (''Poodytes gramineus'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in Australia and in West Papua, Indonesia. These sexually monomorphic birds are found in reed beds, rushes, lignum swamps an ...
, rock parrot, osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
, Australian pelican, black cormorant, black-faced cormorant, willie wagtail
The willy (or willie) wagtail (''Rhipidura leucophrys'') is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Eastern Indonesia. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, ...
, crested tern, common starling, and masked plover. While most of the bird species are reported as using the island as a roost, the Australian pelican also uses it as a breeding colony.[ As of 2006, only one species of reptile, the bull skink, has been observed.
]
History
European discovery and use
Jones Island is one of the islands off the west coast of Eyre Peninsula where native vegetation was cleared for “grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...
by early pastoralists”.
The island was named in 1908 after James W. Jones, secretary to the Commissioner of Public Works and (briefly) Premier of South Australia
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
, Sir Richard Butler.
Protected areas status
Jones Island first received protected area status along with the unnamed island in Baird Bay as a fauna conservation reserve declared under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1966'' on 16 March 1967.Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (DIWA) is a list of wetlands of national importance to Australia published by the governmental agency Environment Australia. Intended to augment the list of wetlands of international importance under t ...
.[DOE, 2010]
See also
*List of islands of Australia
This is a list of selected Australian islands grouped by State or Territory. Australia has 8,222 islands within its maritime borders.
Largest islands
The islands larger than are:
* Tasmania (Tas) ;
* Melville Island, Northern Territory (NT ...
Citations and references
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones Island (South Australia)
Islands of South Australia
Uninhabited islands of Australia
Great Australian Bight