King Island (Tasmania)
| King Island | ||
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| Waters | Bass Street | |
| Archipelago | New Year Island Group | |
| Geographical location | 39 ° 52 ′ S , 143 ° 59 ′ E | |
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| surface | 1 098 km² | |
| Highest elevation |
Mount Stanley 213 m |
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| Residents | 1570 (2005) 1.4 inhabitants / km² |
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| main place | Currie | |
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King Island is an island that belongs to the Australian state of Tasmania . It is located at the western end of the Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia . With an area of 1,098 km², it is by far the largest and only inhabited island in the New Year Island group . Together with the Furneaux Group on the east side of Tasmania, these islands form visible remnants of the former land bridge to the Australian mainland.
The island is named after Philip Gidley King , a former governor of New South Wales to which Tasmania was once part. The island is administratively part of the Local Government Area King Island Municipality .
The southernmost point of the island is Stokes Point , the northernmost Cape Wickham .
history
→ see also: History of Tasmania
There are different reports about the discovery of the island for Europeans; the official website of the island gives the first sighting for the year 1797 by a Captain Campbell, another source 1791. In 1801 King Island was visited by the brig Harbinger , after whom the dangerous Harbinger Rocks off the northwest coast of the island are named.
It was found that the island was rich in fur seals and elephant seals ; these were soon exploited to the brink of extinction. In 1802 the French explorer Nicolas Baudin visited the islands with his flotilla. As a result, a ship was sent from Sydney to formally claim the island for Great Britain and to forestall French settlement. As a result, British settlements were established at Port Phillip Bay, Port Dalrymple and the Derwent River.
In 1825, Van Diemen's Land , the name of Tasmania at that time (until 1856), including King Island and others, was declared an independent colony. In the decades that followed, King Island was occasionally visited by hunters, but more often by castaways, until permanent use as pastureland began in the 1880s. The settlement of farmers marked the beginning of cultural development in the European sense: in the 1890s there were the first commercial ship connections, in 1896 the first shop opened, seven years later the first hotel and in 1905 the first local newspaper. The first flight connection was made in 1932.
climate
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Climate data from Currie (King Island)
Source:
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Flora and fauna
Soon after it was settled, the island became known for its seals , which were once almost extinct after years of hunting. The fishing grounds are also rich in large lobsters , lobsters and abalons .
Along the coast, which is still untouched km to over 100, and hatch, numerous colonies of shearwaters . Similarly, albatrosses , sea eagles , sea gulls and penguins to watch.
The terrestrial fauna is rich in native and introduced species. There are Bennet wallabies , peacocks , pheasants , platypuses , echins and turkeys . The animals find protection in the extensive bushland that covers about half of the island. Originally there was an endemic emu species, the black emu ( Dromaius ater ). However, shortly after its discovery, this was exterminated through hunting and repeated slash and burn to convert forest and scrubland into pastureland. In 2016, conservationists sounded the alarm because the distribution area of the subspecies Acanthornis magna greeniana of the parent house had shrunk to 1 km² and this taxon is therefore acutely threatened with extinction.
In the vicinity of Surprise Bay (in the south) lies a calcified forest, the origin of which is still puzzled today.
Shipping accidents
The rough seas around the island have often taken their toll throughout history. To date, over 60 wrecks have been found along the coast. These accidents cost over 700 lives. Due to the dangerous sea, there are a total of four lighthouses on the island .
The largest shipping disaster occurred on August 4, 1845. When the British emigrant ship Cataraqui ran aground , 399 passengers and crew members died, only nine survivors were able to save themselves.
Other shipwrecks on the island were:
- 1801, large three-masted full ship , possibly a whaler, no survivors known.
- 1835, Neva , convict ship , 327 tons, 225 dead.
- 1840, Isabella , full ship, 287 tons, no dead.
- 1845, Cataraqui , full ship, 802 tons, 399 dead.
- 1854, Brahmin , full ship, 616 tons, 17 dead.
- 1854, Waterwitch , schooner , 134 tons, no dead.
- 1855, Whistler , American clipper , 942 tons, 2 dead.
- 1855, Maypo , Brigg , 174 tons, no dead.
- 1865, Arrow, schooner, 166 tons, 1 dead.
- 1866, Netherby , full ship, 944 tons, no dead.
- 1871, Loch Leven , iron clipper, 1868 tons, 1 dead.
- 1874, British Admiral , iron clipper, 79 dead.
- 1875, Blencathra , iron barque, 933 tons, no dead.
- 1910, Carnarvon Bay , full steel ship, 1932 tons, no dead.
The sometimes easily accessible shipwrecks off the coast of the island are now a popular destination for wreck diving .
Settlements
The population was 1,566 in 2011 with a median age of 43.1 years.
The largest city on the island is Currie on the west side of the island. Grassy on the east side was once a mining town. Here, Scheelite was mined in an open pit. After the mine was closed, the city became almost a ghost town , but the population has been increasing again in recent years. Grassy is also known for the penguin colonies at the harbor.
Economy and culture
The island is known among gourmets for its milk products, especially the hand-made cheeses .
The industrial production of tungsten represented an important branch of production until 1990 , until the Scheelite mine and the factory were closed in December of that year.
Other products include lobster , mineral water , kelp and beef . The island serves as a safe haven for passing yachts and has Hydro Tasmania wind turbines .
swell
- ↑ King Island Dairy website
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2007 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.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Station Currie Post Office
Web links
- Website of the island (English)