Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park

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Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park
Michaelmas Cay
Michaelmas Cay
Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park, Queensland
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 16 ° 36 ′ 30 ″  S , 145 ° 58 ′ 21 ″  E
Location: Queensland , Australia
Specialty: Coral islands, birds
Next city: Cairns
Surface: 3 ha
Founding: 1975
Noddis (Anous stolidus)
Noddis ( Anous stolidus )
Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
Turnstone ( Arenaria interpres )
i2 i3 i6

The Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park (English: Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park ) is a national park in the northeast of the Australian state of Queensland , which consists of two small coral islands .

location

It is 1,409 kilometers northwest of Brisbane and 33 kilometers northeast of Cairns .

The national parks Green Island , Fitzroy Island and Hope Islands are in the vicinity ; on mainland Kuranda , Gray Peaks and Dinden .

geography

The two small coral islands Michaelmas Cay in Michaelmas Reef and Upolu Cay in the southern Arlington Reef are part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site . The islands are about eight and a half kilometers apart.

geology

Michaelmas Cay was created by an accumulation of broken corals , mussel shells and the remains of calcareous algae . It is stabilized by the formation of beach rock , sand and other reef debris are cemented to rock by algae, but has two wandering sand peaks on either side. The cay continues to erode and re-emerge elsewhere, depending on the wind and water currents. In this way, Michaelmas Cay wanders about a meter every year.

Michaelmas Reef forms the northeast section of the Arlington Reef Complex, which sits on a foundation 30 meters below sea level.

In 1926, geologists drilled a hole on Michaelmas Cay to a depth of 182.8 meters. Reef rocks reached a depth of 115.3 meters, followed by quartz sand.

Upolu Cay is not stabilized by beach rock and therefore changes both shape and size more quickly.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation on Michaelmas Cay is characteristic of a coral island. The low fouling consists of beach bluegrass ( Spinifex sericeus ), Stem grass ( lepturus repens ), Ipomoea pes-caprae ( Ipomoea pes caprae ) Burzeldorn ( Tribulus cistoides ) Sesuvium portulacastrum and Boerhavia diffusa . The nutrients for fertilizing the vegetation come from the sea birds. The smaller island of Upolu Cay has no vegetation.

Michaelmas Cay fulfills an important role as a breeding ground for a number of species of tern . BirdLife International has designated the area as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it provides habitat for over one percent of the world's common tern and black tern population .

23 species of birds have been counted on Michaelmas Cay, including the endangered little tern ( Sternula albifrons ), rose tern ( Sterna dougallii ) and chin tern ( Onychoprion anaethetus ). It is an important breeding ground for four species: noddi ( Anous stolidus ), black tern ( Onychoprion fuscata ), white-bellied booby ( Sula leucogaster ) and turnstone ( Arenaria interpres ). Herring-headed gull ( Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae ), black-naped tern ( Sterna sumatrana ) and reef heron ( Egretta sacra ) also breed on the island. In the summer at the height of the breeding season, over 20,000 bird nests were counted.

The green turtle also occasionally lays eggs on the coral island. The surrounding reefs have a rich marine fauna, including giant clams .

Facilities

Camping and fishing are not permitted on and around the two coral islands, but diving and snorkeling are. There are no facilities with the exception of anchorages.

getting there

Both islands are easily accessible from Cairns by private boat. Two anchorages are on Michaelmas Cay and one is designated on Upolu Cay. Only there you should anchor so that the coral banks are not unnecessarily damaged. Michaelmas Cay may be entered in a restricted area at certain times.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Australian Government - CAPAD 2010 ( MS Excel ; 170 kB), DSEWPaC , accessed on October 7, 2012 (English)
  2. ↑ Australian Government - CAPAD 1997 ( MS Excel ; 93 kB), DSEWPaC , accessed on October 7, 2012 (English)
  3. ^ A b Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007, ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 , p. 14
  4. ↑ a b c d Management Plan 1998 (PDF; 3.6 MB), Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service , accessed on October 7, 2012 (English)
  5. ↑ a b c d Official Park Website - Culture , Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service , accessed October 7, 2012
  6. ↑ a b c d Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park . Department of Environment and Resource Management. Retrieved November 23, 2012
  7. ↑ IBA: Michaelmas Cay . In: Birdata . Birds Australia. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  8. ↑ Official Park Website - Species List , Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service , accessed October 7, 2012
  9. ↑ Important Bird Areas factsheet - Michaelmas Cay . BirdLife International, Retrieved August 15, 2011