Gabo Island
Encyclopedia
Gabo Island is a 154 ha island
located off the coast of eastern Victoria, Australia, between Mallacoota
and Cape Howe
on the border with New South Wales
. It is separated from the mainland by a 500 m wide channel; access is available by arranged flights and boats. Gabo island is a shipping reference commonly referred to in Victorian weather warnings issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
, made from pink granite
quarried from the island itself. The lighhouse is Australia's second tallest. The focal plane of the light is situated at 55 m above sea level, the characteristic is a group of three flashes that occurs every twenty seconds. A keeper's house is occupied by a caretaker, another building may be rented for overnight stays.
s. Gabo, with the tiny associated islet of Tullaberga at its southern end, has been identified by BirdLife International
as an Important Bird Area
because of the numbers of breeding penguins (up to 20,000 pairs) and White-faced Storm Petrels (up to 20,000 pairs).
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
located off the coast of eastern Victoria, Australia, between Mallacoota
Mallacoota, Victoria
-External links:***...
and Cape Howe
Cape Howe
Cape Howe is a coastal headland in Australia, forming the south-eastern end of the Black-Allen Line, the border between New South Wales and Victoria.-History:...
on the border with New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. It is separated from the mainland by a 500 m wide channel; access is available by arranged flights and boats. Gabo island is a shipping reference commonly referred to in Victorian weather warnings issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Lighthouse
It is well known for its historic lighthouseLighthouse
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....
, made from pink granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
quarried from the island itself. The lighhouse is Australia's second tallest. The focal plane of the light is situated at 55 m above sea level, the characteristic is a group of three flashes that occurs every twenty seconds. A keeper's house is occupied by a caretaker, another building may be rented for overnight stays.
Birds
The island is home to the world's largest colony of Little PenguinLittle 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. Gabo, with the tiny associated islet of Tullaberga at its southern end, 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...
because of the numbers of breeding penguins (up to 20,000 pairs) and White-faced Storm Petrels (up to 20,000 pairs).