{{Short description|Pair of islets in South Australia}} {{About|the islets in South Australia|the associated conservation park | Beatrice Islet Conservation Park}} {{Use Australian English|date= December 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox islands | name = Beatrice Islets | map = South Australia | location = [[Nepean Bay]] | area_ha = 10 | area_footnotes =<ref name=CoA1995>C of A, 1995</ref> | elevation_m = 0 | elevation_footnotes =<ref name=CoA1995/> | country = Australia | coordinates = {{coord|-35.64057|137.68208|type:isle_region:AU-SA|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | population = 0 }}
'''Beatrice Islets''' are pair of [[islet]]s in the [[Australia|Australian state]] of [[South Australia]] located in [[Nepean Bay]] on the north coast of [[Kangaroo Island]] about {{convert|4|km|abbr=off}} east of [[Kingscote, South Australia|Kingscote]]. The islets and adjoining [[intertidal]] areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet pair has enjoyed [[protected area]] status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the [[Beatrice Islet Conservation Park]]. During either the 1960s or the 1970s, the islets were extensively damaged by an exercise to remove an infestation of [[Lycium ferocissimum|South African boxthorn]].
==Description== Beatrice Islets are pair of islets located in Nepean Bay about {{convert|4|km|abbr=off}} east of [[Kingscote, South Australia|Kingscote]] on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.<ref name=DMH>DMH, 1985, Charts 11 & 12</ref><ref name=BIA>BIA, 2005, page 185</ref> The Beatrice Islets along with Busby Islet are three high points on the southern edge of a [[Spit (landform)|spit]] that is exposed at low water. The spit which is named ‘The Spit’ extends from Cape Rouge about {{convert|5|km|abbr=off}} north of Kingscote in a south easterly direction across the opening of the [[Bay of Shoals]] for a distance of about {{convert|5|nmi|abbr=off}}. The islets which are separated by a distance of about {{convert|1.25|km|abbr=off}}, have a north-south alignment.<ref name=DMH/><ref>{{cite enroute|175|2017|216}}</ref> The islets historically consisted of sand dunes that were permanently above high water. However, an exercise to remove South African boxthorn, an introduced species considered to an infestation risk, which occurred either during the 1960s or the 1970s and which resulted in the islets becoming ‘susceptible to erosion, and tides and rough weather’ thereby reducing the ‘once stable vegetated islets to bare, wave-washed sand spits’. Subsequent attempts to stabilise the islets and encourage the deposition of sand were unsuccessful.<ref name=DMH/><ref name=BIA/><ref name=NPWSpage25>NPWS, 1987, page 25</ref><ref name= Robinson301>Robinson et al, 1996, page 301</ref> As of 1987, the islets were reported as existing "only as a mudflat and cocklebed which emerges above the sea at low tide."<ref name=NPWSpage25/>
==Formation, geology and oceanography== The conditions for the creation of The Spit and therefore Beatrice Islets and Busby Islet became possible about 7500 years ago when sea levels reached current levels.<ref>Robinson & Armstrong, 1999, page 26</ref> The islets are composed of sand and sand grit.<ref name=CoA1995/> The islets is part of a drying spit at low water which falls to a depth of {{convert|5|m|abbr=on}} within about {{convert|0.6|-|1.25|km|abbr=on}} to the west.<ref name=DMH/>
==Flora and fauna==
===Flora=== As of 1987 and again in 1996, the Beatrice Islets were reported as having no vegetation as a result of an exercise to remove the infestation of [[Lycium ferocissimum|South African boxthorn]].<ref name=NPWSpage25>NPWS, 1987, page 25</ref><ref name= Robinson301/>
===Fauna=== While sources dated 1987 and 1996 do not explicitly list fauna for Beatrice Islets, it is likely that fauna species which are exclusively birds reported as being present on The Spit and Busby Island such as the following will be observed on the Beatrice Islets: [[White-bellied sea eagle|white-bellied sea-eagle]], [[Far Eastern curlew|eastern curlew]], [[fairy tern]], [[little egret]], [[Australian pied cormorant|pied cormorant]], [[little pied cormorant]], [[black-faced cormorant]], [[Australian pelican]], [[Australian white ibis]], [[grey plover]], [[greater sand plover]], whimbrel, [[grey-tailed tattler]], [[bar-tailed godwit]], [[red knot]], [[red-necked stint]], [[red-capped plover]], [[sooty oystercatcher]], [[pied oystercatcher]], [[curlew sandpiper]], [[sharp-tailed sandpiper]] and [[ruddy turnstone]].<ref name=CoA1995/><ref name=NPWSpage25/><ref name= Robinson301/>
==History==
===European discovery and use=== Beatrice Islets are reported as probably being named after [[HMS Beatrice (1860)|HMS ''Beatrice'']], a schooner which conducted coastal survey operations in South Australia during the 1870s.<ref name=Robinson302>Robinson et al, 1996, page 302</ref> Beatrice Islets are one of the island sites from which [[guano]] was mined under licence from the [[Government of South Australia|South Australian Government]] prior to 1919.<ref>Robinson et al, 1996, page 134</ref>
==Protected areas status== {{further|Beatrice Islet Conservation Park}} The Beatrice Islets first received [[protected area]] status on 13 May 1909 under the ''Birds Protection Act 1900''. The islets were subsequently proclaimed as a fauna reserve under the ''Fauna Conservation Act 1964'', dedicated again in 1967 ‘for the conservation of wildlife habitat’ and then as a conservation park under the ''[[National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972]]'' in 1972.<ref name=NPWSpage25/><ref>Robinson et al, 1996, pages 138, 140 & 147</ref><ref name=FCR-1967>{{cite web|title=CROWN LANDS ACT, 1929-1966: FAUNA CONSERVATION RESERVES DEDICATED.|url=http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1967/11.pdf |website=THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT GAZETTE |publisher=Government of South Australia|access-date=5 February 2018|pages=961–962|date=16 March 1967}}</ref> As of 2012, the waters adjoining the islets are within the Encounter Marine Park.<ref>DEWNR, 2012, page 2 of 6</ref> Beatrice Islets is also part of a larger area that includes the extent of The Spit within Nepean Bay including Busby Islet and which was included in a non-statutory listing of nationally important wetlands located in South Australia as part of ''[[A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia]]''.<ref name=CoA1995/><ref>Eyles et al, 2001, page 77</ref>
==See also== *[[List of islands of Australia]]
==Citations and references==
===Citations=== {{reflist|30em}}
===References=== *{{Citation | author1=Boating Industry Association of South Australia (BIA) | author2=South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage | title=South Australia's waters an atlas & guide | publication-date=2005 | publisher=Boating Industry Association of South Australia | isbn=978-1-86254-680-6 }} *{{Citation | author1=South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (DMH)| title=The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs | publication-date=1985 | publisher=Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia |isbn=978-0-7243-7603-2}} *{{cite book| author1= National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS)| title= Conservation Parks of Kangaroo Island Management Plan|date=1987|publisher=National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment and Planning, South Australia|isbn=0-7243-8983-0|url= http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/e41e4e27-da1d-4a81-970a-9e4f00b185f9/PARKS_PDFS_CP_OF_KI_MP.pdf|access-date=23 December 2014}} *{{cite web|author1=A.C. Robinson|author2= P. Canty|author3=T. Mooney|author4=P. Rudduck|title=South Australia's offshore islands|url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf|publisher=Australian Heritage Commission|access-date=13 December 2013|year=1996| isbn=978-0-644-35011-2 }} *{{cite book|title= A biological survey of Kangaroo Island South Australia in November 1989 and 1990 |publisher=Heritage and Biodiversity Section, Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, South Australia|location=Adelaide, SA|isbn=978-0-7308-5862-1 |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/fb13b9bf-5c8e-445c-9c3c-a1c600c14815/ki-biological-survey-climate-geology-landuse-gen.pdf|editor1=Robinson, A. C. |editor2=Armstrong, D. M. |date=1999|access-date=1 May 2014}} *{{cite web |url= http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/wetlands/report.pl|title= Australian Wetlands Database - Directory Wetland Information Sheet: Busby and Beatrice Islets - SA023|access-date=24 December 2014 |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia (C of A), Department of the Environment|date= 1995}} *{{Citation | author1=Eyles, Kathy | author2=Larmour, Geoff | author3=Young, Sarah | author4=Australia. Environment Australia | author5=Natural Heritage Trust (Australia). National Wetlands Program | title=A Directory of important wetlands in Australia | url= http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/18f0bb21-b67c-4e99-a155-cb5255398568/files/directory.pdf |publication-date=2001 | publisher=Environment Australia | edition=3rd | isbn=978-0-642-54721-7 }} *{{cite web|title=Encounter Marine Park Management plan summary|url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/a27fabf3-c4fc-4b93-85b4-a11f00f2f772/mp-gen-mgmtplansumm-15-encounter.pdf|publisher=Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR)|date=2012 |access-date=17 June 2014}} {{Kangaroo Island}} {{Islands of South Australia |state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrice Islets}} [[Category:Islands of South Australia]] [[Category:Uninhabited islands of Australia]] [[Category:Kangaroo Island]]