St Alouarn Islands
St Alouarn Islands 34°24′S 115°12′E / 34.4°S 115.2°E are a group of islands and rocks south east of Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia.
In 1772 Louis de St Alouarn in the Le Gros Ventre was in the region as part of the expedition of Kerguelen, and subsequently the islands were named in 1792, after Captain de St Alouarn, by French navigator Antoine d'Entrecasteaux.[1]
The Point Matthew lookout on the road between Augusta and Cape Leeuwin, that has the islands identified in a brass compass plate that also identifies distances.[2]
The best-known wreck near the islands was that of the Pericles on an unnamed rock in 1910, within sight of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse in daylight hours.
Whale watching boats leaving from Augusta or Barrack Point (Flinders Bay) tend not to venture into this group of islands and rocks, but travel around Flinders Bay to the east of the islands.
The islands are significant for their bird colonies - with Seal Island and St Alouarn Island being reserves for that purpose.
The named islands, in order of distance from mainland are:
Contents |
[edit] Named island
- Seal Island - a large flat brownish rock, 1.5 km south of Point Matthew.
- Seal Island Nature Reserve - National Parks and Nature Conservation Authority
- approx 4 ha in area - Conservation of Fauna reserve
- Saint Alouarn Island 34 24 15 115 11 30
- - 5.5 km south east of Point Matthew
- Created as an A class reserve - May 1960
- Named a Wildlife Sanctuary - December 1972
- Named a Nature Reserve - May 1979
- Saint Alouarn Island Nature Reserve - NPNCA
- approx 8.5 ha in area - Conservation of Fauna reserve
- Flinders Islet - 34 21 00 115 20 00
(also identified by some sources as Flinders Island)
-
- Named Island in Admiralty Chart 1037 of 1878
- - 7 km south east of Point Matthew
- Square Rock - 7.5 km south east of Point Matthew
- South-West Breaker - approximately 9 km ssw of Point Matthew is the farthest rock from the mainland.
Unnamed rocks run parallel to the line of named islands above, between Cape Leeuwin and South-West Breaker, with one exception - Spout Rock, west of Flinders Islet.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Murray, Ian and Hercock, Marion (2008) Where on the Coast is That? Carlisle, Western Australia Hesperian Press ISBN 978-085905-452-2
- ^ First on Admiralty charts in 1878 - probably named after Matthew Flinders - p.234 Murray, Ian and Hercock, Marion (2008) Where on the Coast is That? Carlisle, Western Australia Hesperian Press ISBN 978-085905-452-2
[edit] Further reading
- Edward Duyker & Maryse Duyker, ed. & trans) Bruny d’Entrecasteaux: Voyage to Australia and the Pacific 1791—1793, Miegunyah/Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2001, ISBN 0 522 84932 6, p. 108.
- Fornasiero, Jean; Monteath, Peter and West-Sooby, John. Encountering Terra Australis: the Australian voyages of Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders, Kent Town, South Australia,Wakefield Press,2004. ISBN 1-86254-625-8
- Godard, P. & Kerros, T. de, Louis de Saint-Aloüarn, Lieutenant des vaisseaux du Roy: Un marin breton à la conquête des Terres Australes, Les Portes du Large, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, 2002.
- CALM/DOLA 1996. Land Management Series Map Sheet 1929-3 Leeuwin Edition 11:50000.
- DLI Geographic Names Card Index
