Troubridge Island is a small sandy island lying about 7 km east of Sultana Point on the Yorke Peninsula

Yorke Peninsula

The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. It has geographic coordinates of...

 at the south-western end of Gulf St Vincent, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. It is important as a seabird colony site.

Description

Troubridge is a low island with a maximum height of about 5 m above sea level. Its land area is only about 3 ha at high tide but expands to about 8 ha of exposed sand flats at low tide. Apart from an automated lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 with two associated cottages

Holiday cottage

A holiday cottage is a cottage used for accommodation, which has become common in the United Kingdom and Canada. They are typically small homes that vacationers can rent and run as if it were their own home for the duration of their stay. This gives them the freedom to eat in, eat out, stay in bed...

 used for tourist accommodation, the island is designated as a conservation park. Access is only by permit or with an approved commercial tour operator.

Plants

Most of the 31 plant species recorded from the island are introduced

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

. The vegetation consists of low shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

 dominated by Nitre Bush

Nitraria billardierei

Nitraria billardierei is a perennial salt tolerant shrub. It is often found in saline areas or areas that have been overgrazed. Nitre Bush flowers mainly in spring with small ovoid or oblong fruit that are purple, red or golden...

, Grey Saltbush

Atriplex cinerea

Atriplex cinerea is a species of plant in the Chenopodiaceae family. It occurs in sheltered coastal areas and around salt lakes in the Australian states of Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales....

 and African Boxthorn

Lycium ferocissimum

Lycium ferocissimum is a shrub in the nightshade family . The species is native to Cape Province and Orange Free State in South Africa and has become naturalised in Australia and New Zealand. It is listed on the Noxious Weed List for Australian States and Territories and is a declared noxious weed...

. Other prominent plants present are Tree Mallow

Lavatera

Lavatera is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, central and eastern Asia, and Australia. A number of species previously listed in this genus have now been transferred to the related genus Malva...

, Sea Rocket

Cakile

Cakile is a genus within the flowering plant family Brassicaceae. Species in this genus are commonly known as searockets, though this name on its own is applied particularly to whatever member of the species is native or most common in the region concerned, the European searocket Cakile maritima...

, Marram Grass and Hairy Spinifex.

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 supports over 1% of the world populations of Black-faced Cormorant

Black-faced Cormorant

The Black-faced Cormorant , also known as the Black-faced Shag, is a medium-sized member of the cormorant family. Upperparts, including facial skin and bill, are black, with white underparts. It is endemic to coastal regions of southern Australia.-Ecology:The Black-faced-Cormorant feeds largely on...

s (with up to 4000 individuals) 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...

s (with up to 10,000 breeding pairs. It also supports breeding colonies of Little Penguin

Little Penguin

The Little Penguin is the smallest species of penguin. The penguin, which usually grows to an average of in height and in length , is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile.Apart from Little Penguins, they have several common names...

s, Caspian

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...

, Crested and Fairy Tern

Fairy Tern

The Fairy Tern is a small tern which occurs in the southwestern Pacific.There are three subspecies:* Australian Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis nereis - breeds in 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 and, sometimes, small numbers of Pacific Gull

Pacific Gull

The Pacific Gull is a very large gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the south-east, as a result of competition from the Kelp Gull, which has "self-introduced" since...

s. It provides foraging habitat for Red-necked Stint

Red-necked Stint

The Red-necked Stint is a small migratory wader.- Description :These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the Little Stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific...

s. Rock Parrot

Rock Parrot

The Rock Parrot , also known as the Rock Elegant, is a parrot which is endemic to coastal South Australia, southern Western Australia, and that continent's offshore islands, including Rottnest Island. It is a small, predominantly olive-green parrot...

s have been recorded.

Troubridge Shoals

Troubridge Island is part of Troubridge Shoals, which extend across much of Investigator Strait to Yorke Peninsula, and constitutes a hazard to shipping, and has been the cause of over 33 wrecks and groundings. In 1850, at least seven vessels ran aground, precipitating the erection of a lighthouse in 1855. One notable wreck was the Clan Ranald of 2,258 tons which, fully loaded with bagged wheat and flour destined for London, was wrecked off Troubridge Hill and sank on the night of 31 January 1909 with the loss of 40 men.

External Links

• Troubridge Island Lighthouse