Arctocephalus pusillus basking in the morning sun - SE Tasmania

Phalacrocorax fuscescens roost - Hippolyte Rock

Hippolyte Rocks consists of a small

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island with an area of 5.3 ha ("Big Hippolyte", or "Greater Hippolyte"), and adjacent rocks and reefs ("Little Hippolyte" or "Lesser Hippolyte"; the Needle, and the Pie),Below the Hippolyte Rocks on the Tasman Peninsula lies a colourful reef full of coral, sponges and fish
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ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

'', 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024. in south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. They are part of the Tasman Island Group, lying close to the south-eastern coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

around the

Tasman Peninsula The Tasman Peninsula, officially Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula, is a peninsula located in south-east Tasmania, Australia, approximately by the Arthur Highway, south-east of Hobart. The Tasman Peninsula lies south and west of Forestier Peninsu ...

. The island has a flat top and is surrounded by steep cliffs up to 65 m in height, and is part of the

Tasman National Park The Tasman National Park is a national park in eastern Tasmania, Australia, approximately east of Hobart. The park is situated on part of both the Forestier and Tasman peninsulas and encompasses all of Tasman Island. History Whaling acti ...

.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). ''Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features''. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. The waters surrounding the islands, including the nearby Trident Reef, are part of the

Great Southern Reef The Great Southern Reef is a system of interconnected reefs that spans the southern coast of continental Australia and Tasmania and extends as far north as Brisbane to the east and Kalbarri, Western Australia, Kalbarri to the west. It covers of ...

, and have been described as being the best, though among the most challenging, dive sites in Tasmania. There are two shipwrecks between the Hippolytes, including the 1883 ''Tasman'', which lies at a depth of 70 metres, and the 1915 ''Nord'', which lies at a depth of 40 metres.

Fauna

Recorded breeding

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

species are

little penguin The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is the smallest species of penguin. It originates from New Zealand. It is commonly known as the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, owing to its slate-blue plumage and is also known by ...

short-tailed shearwater The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in A ...

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 language, Māori name , and is harvested by Māori people for muttonbirding, muttonbird, l ...

, fairy prion, common diving-petrel, silver gull and black-faced cormorant. Australian fur seals use the island as a hauling-out, haul-out site. The metallic skink is present. Together, Hippolyte rocks and the nearby The Thumbs (Tasmania), Thumbs have been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because they support over 1% of the world population of black-faced cormorants.

References

Islands of Tasmania Important Bird Areas of Tasmania Seabird colonies {{Tasmania-geo-stub