Bluff Island, indigenously known as Sha Tong Hau Shan (), also known as Ung Kong (), is an island in
Port Shelter
Port Shelter, known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi (), is a harbour south of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter (known in Cantonese as Sai Kung Hoi; ), as well as Hebe Haven (), Rocky Harbour (Hong Kong) ...
, south of
Sai Kung Peninsula
The Sai Kung Peninsula () is a peninsula in the easternmost part of the New Territories in Hong Kong. Its name comes from Sai Kung Town in the central southern area of the peninsula. The southern part of the peninsula is administered by Sai ...
of Hong Kong. It is an important area for
coral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
s and other marine life. The island is zoned as
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
since 1979. The surrounding water has not yet been legally protected and thus the corals are damaged by anchors of holiday visitors.
Geography
The elongate Bluff Island, which is oriented northeast to southwest, reaches a maximum
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
of a little over 140 meters. The island is asymmetrical, forming a high ridge on the south-eastern side with a cliffed coastline. In contrast, the north-western aspect of the island slopes more gently towards a rocky coastline. The 140-meter high cliffs that fringe the south-eastern-facing coast of Bluff Island are the highest
sea cliffs
A cliffed coast, also called an abrasion coast, is a form of coast where the action of marine waves has formed steep cliffs that may or may not be precipitous. It contrasts with a flat or alluvial coast.
Formation
In coastal areas in whic ...
in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
.
Fan Tap Pai () in the south of the Island is one of the most spectacular coastal scenes in Hong Kong. This huge
sea cave
A sea cave, is also known as a littoral cave, a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion. Sea caves are found throughout the world, actively forming along present coastlines and as re ...
cuts right through the island and it is just wide enough for a boat to sail past.
An open U-shaped bay, Ung Kong Wan (), is located at the north of the island.
Conservation
Together with
Basalt Island and
Wang Chau, Bluff Island forms the Ung Kong Group () and is part of
Hong Kong National Geopark
Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark (), formerly Hong Kong National Geopark (), was inaugurated on 3 November 2009. It is a single entity of land area over 150 km2 across parts of the eastern and northeastern New Territories. On 18 September 2 ...
.
The
Ung Kong Group Special Area () covers 176.8 hectares and was designated in 2011. It consists of
Basalt Island, Bluff Island,
Wang Chau, their surrounding islets, and Kam Chung Ngam () in the southern part of
Jin Island. The geology of the area is characterised by
volcanic rock
Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...
s of the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
periods.
See also
*
List of islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong
Hong Kong comprises Kowloon (including the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon), the mainland of the New Territories, and 263 nearby islands over — the largest being Lantau Island and the second-largest being Hong Kong Island. Ap Lei Chau is ...
*
Outlying Islands
References
External links
Magnificent sea stacks–Bluff Island
{{coord, 22.320609, 114.350834, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title
Uninhabited islands of Hong Kong
Sai Kung District
Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark