The Lowendal Islands comprise an archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

, with a total area of about 160 ha of land lying off the coast of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. It is important for breeding seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

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Description

The archipelago lies 10 km north-east of the much larger Barrow Island

Barrow Island (Western Australia)

Barrow Island is a island located northwest off the coast of Western Australia. The island is the second largest in Western Australia after Dirk Hartog Island.-Discovery and early history:...

, and 15 km south of the Montebello Islands

Montebello Islands

The Montebello Islands, also known as the Monte Bello Islands, are an archipelago of around 174 small islands lying north of Barrow Island and off the Pilbara coast of north-western Australia. Montebello is Italian for "beautiful mountain"...

, about 120 km west of the port of Dampier

Dampier, Western Australia

Dampier is a major industrial port in the north-west of Western Australia. The Dampier Port is part of the Dampier Archipelago. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. Rio Tinto exports large volumes of iron ore through the port, and in September 2010...

. Of the 34 islands, the largest is 83 ha Varanus Island

Varanus Island

Varanus Island is the largest of the Lowendal Islands, an archipelago off the north west coast of Western Australia, near Karratha in the Pilbara region...

, 2.5 km long by 600 m wide. Other large islands are Bridled (27 ha), Abutilon (27 ha), Parkinsonia (10 ha) and Beacon (1.5 ha). Geologically, the islands are formed of uplifted and sparsely vegetated limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

. The inshore waters of the archipelago support coral reef

Coral reef

Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...

s as well as beds of seagrass

Seagrass

Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...

 and seaweed

Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...

. Varanus Island houses a gas separation

Gas separation

Gas mixtures can be effectively separated by synthetic membranes. For other methods see adsorption, absorption, cryogenic distillation.Membranes are employed in:* separation of nitrogen or oxygen out of air...

 plant, oil storage tanks and a pipeline

Pipeline

-Science and industry:* Pipeline transport, a conduit made from pipes connected end-to-end for long-distance fluid transport* Plastic Pressure Pipe Systems, for fluid handling* Milking pipeline, used on a dairy farm to transport fluid milk...

 for loading offshore tankers

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...

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Birds

The archipelago has been identified by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 as an Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 (IBA) because it regularly supports over 1% of the world populations of Crested and Bridled Tern

Bridled Tern

The Bridled Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans.-Description:...

s. Other seabirds recorded as having bred on the islands include Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

The Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a Muttonbird, like the Sooty Shearwater of New Zealand and the Short-tailed Shearwater of Australia...

s, Pied Cormorant

Pied Cormorant

The Australia Pied Cormorant , Phalacrocorax varius, also known as the Pied Cormorant or Pied Shag, is a medium-sized member of the cormorant family. It is found around the coasts of Australasia. In New Zealand it is usually known either as the Pied Shag or by its Māori name of Karuhiruhi...

s, Roseate

Roseate Tern

The Roseate Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in bill colour and minor plumage details....

, Lesser Crested

Lesser Crested Tern

The Lesser Crested Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae...

 and Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...

s, and Silver Gull

Silver Gull

The Silver Gull also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas. The South African Hartlaub's Gull and the New Zealand Red-billed Gull The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus...

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