Ile des Phoques (also called Isle du Phoques) is a rugged granite island, with an area of 8 ha, part of the Schouten Island Group, lying close to the eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia near the Freycinet Peninsula.
 As seen from the north in 2021 | |
  Ile des Phoques | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | East coast of Tasmania |
| Archipelago | Schouten Island Group |
| Adjacent to | Tasman Sea |
| Area | 8 ha (20 acres) |
| Administration | |
Australia | |
| State | Tasmania |
| Local government area | Glamorgan Spring Bay Council |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| • Summer (DST) | |
Seal hunting took place here from at least 1805.[1] Captain James Kelly is recorded sealing here during his 1816 circumnavigation of Tasmania.[2]
It is a nature reserve.[3]
Fauna
editRecorded breeding seabird species are little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, fairy prion and common diving-petrel. White-bellied sea-eagles have nested on the island. Australian fur seals haul-out there and there is historical evidence that it was once a major breeding colony.[3]
References
edit- ^ Kostoglou, Parry (1996). Sealing in Tasmania historical research project. Hobart: Parks and Wildlife Service. pp. 72–4.
- ^ Kostoglou, p.73.
- ^ a b Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN 0-7246-4816-X
42°24′S 148°09′E / 42.400°S 148.150°E
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