Buccaneer Archipelago

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Buccaneer Archipelago
Buccaneer Archipelago.jpg
Waters Indian Ocean
Geographical location 16 ° 10 ′  S , 123 ° 27 ′  E Coordinates: 16 ° 10 ′  S , 123 ° 27 ′  E
Buccaneer Archipelago (Western Australia)
Buccaneer Archipelago
Number of islands 800–1000 mostly small islands
Main island Hidden Island

The Buccaneer Archipelago ( English Buccaneer Archipelago , German  " Buccaneer Archipelago " ) is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean in the Western Australian region of Kimberley .

geography

The approximately 800 to 1000 mostly small islands are located on the northern coast of Western Australia, east of Cape Leveque on the Dampier Peninsula , west and north of a peninsula between King Sound and Collier Bay . The largest islands are Hidden Island (19.01 km²), Lachlan Island (11.81 km²), Long Island (11.36 km²) and Irvine Island (8.93 km²).

The Sunday Islands with Sunday Island (11.98 km²) and East Sunday Island (3.17 km²) no longer belong to the Buccaneer Archipelago because they are west of the Sunday Strait.

The comparatively large Koolan Island is also located in the east outside the archipelago. Sometimes Koolan Island is counted as part of the Buccaneer Archipelago and would then be the largest island in the archipelago.

History and population

The islands have been settled by Australian natives for a long time , and there are still some settlements today. The archipelago is named after the English privateer William Dampier , who discovered the archipelago on January 15, 1688. The islands were important for Australian pearl fishing in the 19th century , which was centered in the port city of Derby at the southern end of King Sound . Even today there are pearl farms in the bays on the coast. In the first half of the 20th century, large iron ore deposits were discovered on some islands. The dismantling continues to this day. Tourism is also gaining in importance.

nature

The islands are characterized by sandstone cliffs and are strongly structured. They are a continuation of the coastal mountains. They are quite sparsely vegetated, but in some places there is tropical rainforest and on the coasts there is mangrove forests .

Wildlife

There is a great diversity of species in the archipelago . The marine region of the islands is also characterized by a strong tidal range . Because of the dangerous flow conditions and the large number of dangerous animal species (snakes, saltwater crocodiles) and the great remoteness, the islands are considered dangerous for individual travelers.

List of some islands and archipelagos

Individual islands

Cockatoo Island

On the island to the north of the Yampi Sound (16 ° 05 'S., 123 ° 37' E) there is an iron ore mine founded in the 1940s and now depleted in the east, as well as a tourist resort in the west, which serves the Part of the former miners' town uses. Most of the 35 residents work for the mining company BHP Billiton .

swell

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 14, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / conservation.wa.gov.au
  2. ↑ oceandots: Buccaneer Archipelago ( Memento of 23 December 2010 at the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Sue O'Connor: New Radiocarbon Dates from Koolan Island, West Kimberley, Wa . Australian Archeology, No. 28 (Jun. 1989), pp. 92-104
  4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Side of the Derby Visitor Center  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.derbytourism.com.au
  5. ↑ [1] Cockatoo Island - perfect world? . Detailed travel report by Jürgen Albrecht, (2000)

Web links