Pigeon Island (Houtman Abrolhos)

Pigeon Island is a small island located need the middle of the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. It is almost entirely given over to western rock lobster fishers' camps, and as a result is far more disturbed than most other islands in the archipelago. A nearby island also seasonally populated by fishers is named Little Pigeon Island, hence Pigeon Island is sometimes referred to as "Big Pigeon Island".

Pigeon Island
Map of Pigeon Island
Geography
LocationIndian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia
Coordinates28°27′18″S 113°43′34″E[1][2]
ArchipelagoHoutman Abrolhos
Area4.3 ha (11 acres)
Length430 m (1,410 ft)
Width140 m (460 ft)
Highest elevation3 m (10 ft)
Administration
Australia
StateWestern Australia
Demographics
PopulationSeasonally inhabited by lobster fishers (2006)

History

The geographic location of Pigeon Island suggests that it might have been visited by survivors of the 1629 Batavia shipwreck, but there is no surviving evidence of this, either documentary or archaeological. It was mined for guano in the 20th century.

Geography

Pigeon Island is roughly triangular in shape, with a short side on the south west, and two long sides coming together at a point in the north east. The island is covered with infrastructure, with a high density of huts covering the entire island, right down to the water line; in total there are 54 camps, a school and a pub. There are also around 20 jetties, mainly along the northwest side, as this is the only direction from which the island may be approached by boat. The island is surrounded by reef to the south and east, but a passage known as Pigeon Island Anchorage runs along the northwest side.

Geology and physiography

The basement of Pigeon Island is the Wallabi Limestone, a dense calcretised, coral limestone platform that underlies the entire Wallabi Group. This platform, which arises abruptly from a flat shelf, is about 40 metres thick, and is of Quaternary origin. Reef that formed during the Eemian interglacial (about 125,000 years ago), when sea levels were higher than at present, are now emergent in places, and constitute the basement of the group's "central platform" islands, of which Pigeon Island is one.[3][4]

Flora

71 species of plant have been recorded on Pigeon Island, of which 45 are native and 29 introduced. These are:[5]

Fauna

The island's fauna includes the rare spiny-tailed skink, the Abrolhos painted button-quail and the brush bronzewing.[6] The black rat (Rattus rattus) was previously present but has been eradicated.[7]

Human uses

The Houtman Abrolhos is wholly vested in Western Australia's Minister for Fisheries for purposes of "Conservation of Flora and Fauna, Tourism, and for Purposes Associated with the Fishing Industry".[8] Pigeon Island is one of a small number of islands given over almost entirely to the last of these. As a result of guano mining in the 19th century, and the development of fishing infrastructure in the 20th century, the island has very little conservation value.

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See also

References
  1. Gazetteer of Australia (1996). Belconnen, ACT: Australian Surveying and Land Information Group.
  2. "Pigeon Island". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  3. Collins, Lindsay B.; Zhu, Zhong Rong; Wyrwoll, Karl-Heinz (1998). "Late Tertiary-Quaternary Geological Evolution of the Houtman Abrolhos Carbonate Platforms, Northern Perth Basin". In Purcell, R.; Purcell, P. (eds.). The sedimentary basins of Western Australia. 2. Perth, Western Australia: Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia. pp. 647–663. Archived from the original on 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  4. Collins, Lindsay B.; Zhu, Zhong Rong; Wyrwoll, Karl-Heinz (2004). "Geology of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands". In Vacher, Leonard; Quinn, Terrence (eds.). Geology and hydrogeology of carbonate islands (Developments in Sedimentology 54). Elsevier Science. pp. 811–834.
  5. Harvey, J. M., Alford, J. J., Longman, V. M. and Keighery, G. J. (2001). "A flora and vegetation survey of the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia". CALMScience. 3 (4): 521–623.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. "Inventory of the Land Conservation Values of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands" (Fisheries Management Paper No. 151 ed.). Department of Fisheries, Government of Western Australia. October 2003. ISSN 0819-4327. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Burbidge, A. A. (2004). "Introduced mammals on Western Australian islands: Improving Australia's ability to protect its island habitats from feral animals" (Final report for the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage ed.). Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2007-12-21. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. "Management of the Houtman Abrolhos System: A Draft Review 2007–2017" (PDF). Fisheries Management Paper No. 220. Department of Fisheries, Government of Western Australia. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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