Bass Pyramid (Bass Pyramid)
The Bass Pyramid, part of the Furneaux Group, is a small, two sectioned oval, steep-sided 100 m2 unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying north of the Flinders Island and south of the Kent Group, in Tasmania, Australia. A rock bridge connects the two sections.
The island was used intermittently from the 1940s until 1988 as a bombing and shelling target by the Australian airforce and navy. On 5 April 1978 the island was proclaimed part of a nature reserve.
Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include fairy prion, common diving-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull, Australasian gannet and sooty oystercatcher. It is also a haul-out site for Australian fur seals. The seals were hunted here in the 19th century. The dangers of the site resulted in at least three sealers losing their lives here.
* List of islands of Tasmania
The island was used intermittently from the 1940s until 1988 as a bombing and shelling target by the Australian airforce and navy. On 5 April 1978 the island was proclaimed part of a nature reserve.
Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include fairy prion, common diving-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull, Australasian gannet and sooty oystercatcher. It is also a haul-out site for Australian fur seals. The seals were hunted here in the 19th century. The dangers of the site resulted in at least three sealers losing their lives here.
* List of islands of Tasmania
Map - Bass Pyramid (Bass Pyramid)
Map
Country - Australia
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The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
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AUD | Australian dollar | $ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |