Sunday Island is a small island, lying about 15 km south-east of the Muiron Islands, in the Exmouth Gulf

Exmouth Gulf

Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the region of the North West Shelf and in the Canning Basin area.-Environment:...

 of north-western Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Description

Sunday is a low, sand and 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....

, 11 ha island vegetated mainly with Beach Spinifex

Spinifex longifolius

Spinifex longifolius, commonly known as Beach Spinifex, is a perennial grass that grows along the northern and eastern rim of the Indian Ocean.-Description:It grows as a tussock from 30 centimetres to a metre high, and up to two metres wide...

, Pigface

Carpobrotus

Carpobrotus is a genus of ground-creeping plants, with succulent leaves and large daisy-like flowers. The name refers to the edible fruits. It comes from the Greek "karpos" and "brota" .There are about 25 species in this genus, having a disperse distribution worldwide...

 and low shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s. Other recorded plants include Large Pigweed

Portulaca intraterranea

Portulaca intraterranea, large pigweed, is a succulent herb native to deserts of central Australia.The leaves are succulent, with flowers 2.5-3.5 cm wide. Aborigines eat the thick tap-root which tastes like potato....

, Caperbush

Capparis spinosa subsp. nummularia

Wild passionfruit, or "caperbush" is an Australian native plant. It is a subspecies of the caper.Its name in the Arrernte language of Central Australia is Merne arrutnenge....

, Limestone Wattle

Acacia sclerosperma

Acacia sclerosperma, commonly known as limestone wattle or silver bark wattle, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs on floodplains and along water-courses throughout the arid north-west corner of the State.Limestone wattle grows as a spreading, tall shrub up to...

 and Goat's Foot

Ipomoea pes-caprae

Ipomoea pes-caprae, also known as Beach Morning Glory or Goat's Foot, is a common pantropical creeping vine belonging to the family Convolvulaceae. It grows on the upper parts of beaches and endures salted air. It is one of the most common and most widely distributed salt tolerant plants and...

. The average annual rainfall is about 300 mm. The island’s high conservation value is recognised by its inclusion in the Muiron Islands Marine Management Area.

Birds

The island has been identified 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) 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...

 because it supported about 2000 breeding pairs of Roseate Tern

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....

s, well over 1% of the world population, when it was surveyed in 1997.