Capricornia Cays National Park
Encyclopedia
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
and a scientific national park in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
(Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), located 486 km and 472 km north of the state capital Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
respectively. Collectively they comprise 241 ha of coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
cay
Cay
A cay , also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people...
s.
Popular recreational activities in the park includes bird, whale and turtle watching as well as camping, walking, swimming, boating, snorkelling and diving. Capricornia Cays National Park is noted for its biological diversity, beauty and for provided habitat for a number of endangered plants and animals. In particular the cays are recognized as having the largest breeding population of endangered loggerhead turtles in the South Pacific
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
.
Access to the islands via boat is available from Gladstone
Gladstone, Queensland
- Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...
, Bundaberg and Town of 1770.
Birds
The cays form an Important Bird AreaImportant 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 they support more than 1% of the world populations of Black Noddies
Black Noddy
The Black Noddy or White-capped Noddy is a seabird from the tern family. It resembles the closely related Brown or Common Noddy , but is smaller with darker plumage, a whiter cap, a longer, straighter beak and shorter tail...
(with up to 300,000 nests) and Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
The Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a Muttonbird, like the Sooty Shearwater of New Zealand and the Short-tailed Shearwater of Australia...
s (up to 560,000 nests), making up the majority of the east Australian breeding populations of these species, and sometimes more than 1% of the world population of Brown Boobies
Brown Booby
The Brown Booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. The adult brown booby reaches about in length. Its head and upper body are covered in dark brown, with the remainder being a contrasting white. The juvenile form is gray-brown with darkening on the head, wings and tail...
(1000-4000 nests).
Seasonal closures in some areas is imposed to protect breeding seabirds.
The cays
Capricornia Cays National Park protects eight vegetated coral cays in the Capricorn and Bunker group of islands of the southern Great Barrier ReefGreat Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
:
- Broomfield IslandBroomfield IslandBroomfield Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in Hudson Bay, it is a member of the Belcher Islands group. Other islands in the immediate vicinity include:* O'Leary Island* Snape Island* Innetalling Island...
- Erskine IslandErskine IslandErskine Island is a small coral cay in the southern Great Barrier Reef, located 60 kilometres northeast of Gladstone, Queensland and 17 km west-south-west of Heron Island...
- Heron Island (eastern half)
- Lady Musgrave IslandLady Musgrave IslandLady Musgrave Island is a coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef, with a surrounding reef. The island is the second island in the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands , and is most easily reached from the town of 1770, Queensland, located on approximately 5 hours north of Brisbane...
- Open for visiting, capable of 50 campers. - Masthead IslandMasthead IslandMasthead Island is a coral cay located in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 60 kilometres northeast of Gladstone, Queensland. The island is a protected area and forms part of Capricornia Cays National Park. Masthead Island is one of the most undisturbed cays in the national park because human and...
- Open for visiting, capable of 60 campers, however this is limited to 30 from October to March each year to allow a less disrupted egg laying ground for turtles. - North West IslandNorth West IslandNorth West Island is a coral cay in the southern Great Barrier Reef, located 75 kilometres northeast of Gladstone, Queensland. North West Island forms part of Capricornia Cays National Park and with an area of 1.05 km², the island is the second largest coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef...
- Open for visiting, capable of 150 campers. - Tryon IslandTryon IslandTryon Island is a coral cay located in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 86 km northeast of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and 465 km north of the state capital Brisbane. The island is a protected area and forms part of Capricornia Cays National Park. It is part of the Capricornia Cays...
- Currently closed to public access due to a tree infection, the island has the capacity for 30 campers. - Wilson Island
The cays are completely built by corals. The area is also of significance as a fishery, particularly for King Prawns
Prawn
Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...
These eight islands are part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and all surrounded by reefs. Vegetation on the cays is dominated by the flowering tree species, Pisonia grandis
Pisonia grandis
Pisonia grandis is a species of flowering tree in the Bougainvillea family, Nyctaginaceae.-Description:The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that mature into sticky barbed seeds....
.
A further six cays form Capricornia Cays National Park (Scientific):
- One Tree IslandOne Tree Island (Queensland)One Tree Island is a small coral cay. It is located near the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 96 km due east nor east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and 450 km north of the state capital Brisbane...
- Wreck IslandWreck Island (Queensland)Wreck Island is a small coral cay. It is located near the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 93 km due northe east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and 460 km north of the state capital Brisbane....
- Fairfax Islands, (East Fairfax & West Fairfax)
- Hoskyn Islands (East and West Hoskyn islands)
There is no public access to these cays.
National Park
- Area: 1.78 km²
- Coordinates: 23°14′54"S 151°46′41"E
- Date of establishment: 1994
- Managing authorities: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
- IUCNWorld Conservation UnionThe International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...
category: II
Scientific National Park
- Area: 0.44 km²
- Coordinates: 23°20′07"S 151°57′24"E
- Date of establishment: ?
- Managing authorities: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
- IUCNWorld Conservation UnionThe International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...
category: Ia