Wallabi Group

{{Short description|Islands in Western Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{coord|28|28|S|113|42|E|display=title|region:AU-WA_dim:25km_type:isle}}

The '''Wallabi Group''' is the northernmost group of islands in the Houtman Abrolhos off the western coast of Western Australia.<ref name="GA 283552">{{Gazetteer of Australia | name = Wallabi Group | id = 283552}}</ref> It is located {{convert|58|km|mi|abbr=off}} from the Australian mainland and about {{convert|9|km|mi|abbr=off}} from the Easter Group.<ref name="OceanDots">{{cite web|title=Houtman Abrolhos |work=oceandots.com |url=http://www.oceandots.com/indian/houtman/ |accessdate=2007-10-13 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223015139/http://www.oceandots.com/indian/houtman/ |archivedate=23 December 2010 }}</ref>

{{Image label begin|image=Houtman Abrolhos.jpg|width=300|float=right}} {{Image label|x=0.16|y=0.30|scale=300|text='''Wallabi Group'''}} {{Image label|x=0.39|y=0.87|scale=300|text=Easter Group}} {{Image label|x=0.62|y=1.32|scale=300|text=Pelsaert Group}} {{Image label end}} {{Image label begin|image=Wallabi Group.jpg|width=300|float=right}} {{Image label|x=0.4|y=0.5|scale=300|text='''Wallabi Group'''}} {{Image label|x=0.19|y=0.17|scale=300|text=North I.}} {{Image label end}} {{Image label begin|image=Wallabi Group (excluding North Island).jpg|width=300|float=right}} {{Image label small|x=0.5|y=0.22|scale=300|text='''•''' East Wallabi I.}} {{Image label small|x=0.33|y=0.37|scale=300|text='''•''' West Wallabi I.}} {{Image label small|x=0.76|y=0.42|scale=300|text='''•''' Long I.}} {{Image label small|x=0.82|y=0.47|scale=300|text='''•''' Beacon I}} {{Image label small|x=0.87|y=0.55|scale=300|text='''•''' Morning Reef}} {{Image label end}}

The group consists of a number of islands arising from a carbonate platform {{convert|17|km|mi|abbr=off}} long and up to {{convert|10|km|mi|abbr=off}} wide, and also the outlying North Island, located {{convert|14|km|mi|abbr=off}} to the northwest of the main platform. They are the most southerly well-established coral reef in the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=J. |date=1989 |title=The loss of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie retourschip Batavia |series=British Archaeological Reports |volume=489 |location=Oxford |publisher=BAR Publishing}}</ref>{{rp|3}} The main islands are North Island, West Wallabi Island, East Wallabi Island, Long Island and Beacon Island.<ref name="OceanDots"/> The group is part of the Houtman Abrolhos Important Bird Area, recognized by BirdLife International for its importance to large numbers of breeding seabirds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |title=IBA: Houtman Abrolhos |accessdate=2011-08-12 |work=Birdata |first= |last= |publisher=Birds Australia |date= |archive-date=13 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013083216/http://birdata.com.au/iba.vm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Wallabi Group is best known for the shipwreck of the ''Batavia'' on Morning Reef near Beacon Island in 1629,<ref name="WASD 1316">{{Western Australian Shipwrecks Database | name = Batavia | id = 1316}}</ref> and the subsequent mutiny and massacres that took place among the survivors.<ref name="Dash 2002">{{cite book | first = Mike | last = Dash | year = 2002 | title = Batavia's Graveyard | location = Great Britain | publisher = Weidenfeld & Nicolson | isbn = 0-575-07024-2}}</ref> Another wreck for which the location is known is the ''Hadda'', which wrecked off Beacon Island in April 1877<ref name="WASD 1269">{{Western Australian Shipwrecks Database | name = Hadda | id = 1269}}</ref> and now lies about a kilometre north of it.<ref name="Wallabi">Australia 1:100000 Topographic Survey, Map sheet 1641 (Edition 1): Wallabi</ref>

==Components of the island group== *Acute Bank *Assail Bank *Beacon Island *East Wallabi Island *Long Island *North Island *North East Reef *Pigeon Island (Houtman Abrolhos) *Shag Rock (Houtman Abrolhos) *South Passage (Houtman Abrolhos) *Suda Bay Passage *The Flat (Houtman Abrolhos) *Traitors Island *West Wallabi Island

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Wallabi Group Category:Islands of the Houtman Abrolhos Category:Important Bird Areas of Western Australia Category:Cenozoic Oceania Category:Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company