The Pelsaert Group is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the
Houtman Abrolhos
The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral ...
island chain.
it consists of a number of islands, the largest of which are
Gun Island,
Middle Island, and
Pelsaert Island
Pelsaert Island is one of the islands of the Pelsaert Group, which is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain in Western Australia.
Nominally located at , it consists of a numbe ...
. The group is named after a Dutch "opperkoopman" who stranded nearby with the VOC-ship "
Batavia" in 1629. The group contains the most southerly true
coral reefs
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
...
in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
.
The group is part of the Houtman Abrolhos
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...
, 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 for supporting large numbers of breeding seabirds.
A great many ships have been
wrecked in the Pelsaert Group. The most notable wreck is the ''
Zeewijk
The ''Zeewijk'' (or ''Zeewyk'') was an 18th-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company ( nl, Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, commonly abbreviated to VOC) that was shipwrecked at the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Austr ...
'', which was wrecked on the
Half Moon Reef
One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, di ...
in 1727, the survivors staying on
Gun Island for some time afterwards.
Other wrecks include the ''
Ocean Queen'', wrecked on the Half Moon Reef in 1842; the ''
Ben Ledi
Ben Ledi (Beinn Leitir in Scottish Gaelic) is a mountain in Stirling, Scotland. It is high, and is therefore classified as a Corbett. It lies about northwest of Callander, near the village of Kilmahog. It is situated in the Trossachs, an area ...
'', wrecked off Pelsaert Island in 1879; and the ''Windsor'', wrecked on the Half Moon Reef in 1908.
[Australia 1:100000 Topographic Survey, Map sheet 1640 (Edition 1): Abrolhos Special]
See also
*
Wallabi Group
*
Easter Group
*
List of islands of Western Australia
For lists of islands of Western Australia, please see:
* List of islands of Western Australia, 0–9, A–C
*Islands of Lake Argyle
* List of islands of Western Australia, D–G
* List of islands of Western Australia, H–L
* List of islands of W ...
References
Important Bird Areas of Western Australia
Islands of the Mid West (Western Australia)
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