18-605: The Investigator Group is an archipelago in South Australia that consists of Flinders Island and five island groups located off the western coast of the Eyre Peninsula . It is named after HMS Investigator by her commander, Matthew Flinders when he explored the area in 1802. The Group lies within the Great Australian Bight . All the islands except Flinders Island, and a part of Pearson Island, are within
36-411: A pair of rocks that are spaced about 1.9 kilometres (1 nmi) apart and which are located about 3.1 kilometres (1.7 nmi) west of Little Waldegrave Island. The western rock has a charted height of 7 metres (23 feet) and is reported in another source as being 7.3 metres (24 feet). The eastern rock is charted as an intertidal reef. Flinders Island , which is 28 km offshore and at 36 km
54-649: A portion of land on Pearson Island which is held by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority for "lighthouse purposes". The Waldegrave Islands Conservation Park occupies the Waldegrave Island, Little Waldegrave Island and the Watchers. A heritage agreement has been in force on Flinders Island since 1995 in respect to a strip of land along the north coast of the island extending west from the island’s most northerly headland, Point Malcolm. As of 2012,
72-561: Is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands , or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Archipelagos are sometimes defined by political boundaries. For example, while they are geopolitically divided, the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands geologically form part of a larger Gulf Archipelago. The word archipelago is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄρχι-( arkhi- , "chief") and πέλαγος ( pélagos , "sea") through
90-495: Is the largest island in the Investigator Group. Flinders Island is leasehold land used for grazing. It has sandy, calcarenite soils, is mainly vegetated with pasture grasses, and has some remnant patches of heathland and Melaleuca woodland . Topgallant Islands are located 6 km to the east of Flinders Islands and is a small island with steep cliffs and some stunted shrubland. Ward Islands are located 16 km to
108-697: The Investigator Group Wilderness Protection Area and the Waldegrave Islands Conservation Park . The Investigator Group is a group of islands and associated landforms that are located within an area extending for a distance of about 70 kilometres (38 nmi) south west from Cape Finniss on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The group consists of the following islands and island groups placed in order of increasing distance from Cape Finniss:
126-731: The Investigator Marine Park includes the waters adjoining Flinders Island, Topgallant Isles, the Ward Islands and the Pearson Isles. The group was identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) known as the Investigator Islands (sic) Important Bird Area in 2009, because of its population of the vulnerable species , the fairy tern , as well as significant populations of Cape Barren geese , Pacific gull and black-faced cormorant . Other birds for which
144-473: The IBA is significant include large numbers of breeding short-tailed shearwaters and white-faced storm-petrels . The biome -restricted rock parrot has been recorded from most islands in the group. The islands met the IBA criteria in 2009. Archipelago An archipelago ( / ˌ ɑːr k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə ɡ oʊ / AR -kə- PEL -ə-goh ), sometimes called an island group or island chain ,
162-757: The Italian arcipelago . In antiquity , "Archipelago" (from Medieval Greek * ἀρχιπέλαγος and Latin archipelagus ) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea . Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands). Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland, which form an archipelago. Archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots , but may also be
180-813: The Veteran Isles is Dorothee Island, the most southerly of the Investigator Group. On Saturday, 13 February 1802, Flinders gave the name Investigator Group to the group of islands consisting of Flinders Island, the Pearson Islands, the Topgallant Islands, the Waldegrave Islands and Ward Islands. Protected area status has been conferred to all islands within the group with exception of the majority of Flinders Island and part of Pearson Island. The Investigator Group Wilderness Protection Area comprises Ward Islands, Top Gallant Isles, Pearson Isles with exception of
198-504: The Waldegrave Islands, The Watchers, Flinders Island, Topgallant Islands, the Ward Islands and the Pearson Isles. The northernmost group lies 3 km offshore near the small town of Elliston . It consists of Waldegrave (292 ha) and Little Waldegrave (32 ha) Islands. They have calcarenite soils and were grazed by sheep until 1967. The vegetation is mainly regenerating pasture, with patches of native shrubland dominated by Native Juniper and Coast Daisy-bush . The Watchers are
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#1732880609485216-730: The coastland of Eyre Peninsula from Point Drummond in the south-east to just south of Elliston in the north-west including Cap Island, the second part surrounding Flinders Island and the Topgallant Islands and the third and fourth parts respectively surrounding the Ward Islands and the Pearson Isles . The marine park is divided into zones to managing the marine environment to ensure varying degrees of “protection for habitats and biodiversity” and varying levels of “ecologically sustainable development and use” as follows: As of 2016,
234-460: The result of erosion , deposition , and land elevation . Depending on their geological origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as oceanic islands , continental fragments , or continental islands . Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, and widely separated from any adjacent continent. The Hawaiian Islands and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific , and Mascarene Islands in
252-646: The shelf. The islands of the Inside Passage off the coast of British Columbia and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago are examples. Artificial archipelagos have been created in various countries for different purposes. Palm Islands and The World Islands off Dubai were or are being created for leisure and tourism purposes. Marker Wadden in the Netherlands is being built as a conservation area for birds and other wildlife. The largest archipelago in
270-432: The south Indian Ocean are examples. Continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. The Farallon Islands off the coast of California are an example. Sets of islands formed close to the coast of a continent are considered continental archipelagos when they form part of the same continental shelf, when those islands are above-water extensions of
288-524: The west coast of Eyre Peninsula and islands in the Investigator Group respectively to the south-east and south-west of the town of Elliston . The marine park was established on 29 January 2009 by proclamation under the Marine Parks Act 2007 . The Investigator Marine Park consists of four parts which extend from ‘median high water’ to the edge of coastal waters. The first part extends along
306-626: The west of Flinders Island and is covered with shrubland and heathland. The southernmost group consists of Pearson Island (213 ha), the Veteran Isles (14 ha) and Dorothee Island (56 ha). Pearson Island, the second largest of the whole Investigator Group, and containing its highest point at 231 m above sea level , is vegetated with shrub and heathland with patches of Casuarina and Melaleuca woodland. The Veteran Isles support low shrubland dominated by Twiggy Daisy-bush and Marsh Saltbush . Lying 3 km south-south-west of
324-544: The world by number of islands is the Archipelago Sea , which is part of Finland . There are approximately 40,000 islands, mostly uninhabited. The largest archipelagic state in the world by area, and by population, is Indonesia . Investigator Marine Park Investigator Marine Park is a marine protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's coastal waters in its west adjoining
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