Round Island is a small,
uninhabited islandAn uninhabited island is an island that has yet to be populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often used in movies or stories for shipwrecked people...
in the
Mississippi SoundThe Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from Waveland, Mississippi, to the Dauphin Island Bridge, a distance of about 145 kilometers...
, 6.5 kilometers (4 mi) south of
Pascagoula, MississippiPascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, U.S.A. The 0.26-km² (65 acre) island is a
coastal preserveA nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
, situated in
Jackson CountyJackson County is a county located at the south tip of the U.S. state of Mississippi, along the state line with Alabama. As of 2000, the population was 131,420. Its county seat is Pascagoula. Jackson County is named for U.S...
and managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. The relatively isolated terrain—consisting of
slash pineThe Slash Pine is a pine native to the southeast United States, from southern South Carolina west to southeastern Louisiana, and south to the Florida Keys. It is fast-growing, but not very long-lived by pine standards , and prefers humid climates and moist soil...
forest, interior
marshIn geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants. Woody plants will be low-growing shrubs. A marsh is different from a swamp,...
, and sandy beach—provides feeding, resting, and wintering habitat for migratory birds, including the
brown pelicanThe Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard...
,
white pelicanFor the North American bird also called "White Pelican," see American White Pelican.The Great White Pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus also known as the Eastern White Pelican or White Pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and in Africa in swamps and...
, and
cormorantThe bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s.
Discussion
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Round Island is a small,
uninhabited islandAn uninhabited island is an island that has yet to be populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often used in movies or stories for shipwrecked people...
in the
Mississippi SoundThe Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from Waveland, Mississippi, to the Dauphin Island Bridge, a distance of about 145 kilometers...
, 6.5 kilometers (4 mi) south of
Pascagoula, MississippiPascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, U.S.A. The 0.26-km² (65 acre) island is a
coastal preserveA nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
, situated in
Jackson CountyJackson County is a county located at the south tip of the U.S. state of Mississippi, along the state line with Alabama. As of 2000, the population was 131,420. Its county seat is Pascagoula. Jackson County is named for U.S...
and managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. The relatively isolated terrain—consisting of
slash pineThe Slash Pine is a pine native to the southeast United States, from southern South Carolina west to southeastern Louisiana, and south to the Florida Keys. It is fast-growing, but not very long-lived by pine standards , and prefers humid climates and moist soil...
forest, interior
marshIn geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants. Woody plants will be low-growing shrubs. A marsh is different from a swamp,...
, and sandy beach—provides feeding, resting, and wintering habitat for migratory birds, including the
brown pelicanThe Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard...
,
white pelicanFor the North American bird also called "White Pelican," see American White Pelican.The Great White Pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus also known as the Eastern White Pelican or White Pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and in Africa in swamps and...
, and
cormorantThe bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s. A number of rare or
endangered speciesAn endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. Also it could mean that due to deforestation there may be a lack of food and/or water...
, including the
American alligatorThe American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, is one of the two living species of Alligator, a genus within the family Alligatoridae. The American Alligator is native only to the Southeastern United States, where it inhabits wetlands that frequently overlap with human-populated areas...
, are found there.
The island had a
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework 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 and to pilots at sea....
as early as 1833. The original wooden structure was replaced in 1859 with a brick lighthouse at at the southern tip of the island. The lighthouse was destroyed by
Hurricane GeorgesHurricane Georges was the seventh tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical cyclone made seven landfalls on its long track through the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico during September, becoming the second most destructive...
in 1998.
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
in 2005 damaged Round Island, cutting channels partly or completely through from east to west. A $7.5 billion, ten-year Gulf Coast
environmental restorationEnvironmental restoration is a term common in the citizens’ environmental movement. Environmental restoration is closely allied with ecological restoration or environmental remediation...
initiative announced in December 2005 includes plans to restore Round Island.
Nearby islands
- Deer Island
Deer Island is a barrier island off the coast of Biloxi, Mississippi. It is the closest island to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and consists of approximately 400 acres.- History :...
- Horn Island
Horn Island is a long, thin barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, south of Ocean Springs. It is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Horn Island is several miles long, but less than a mile wide at its widest point...
- Petit Bois Island
Petit Bois Island is an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Mississippi, south of Pascagoula. It is part of Jackson County, Mississippi. Since 1971 it has been a part of Gulf Islands National Seashore, administered by the U.S. National Park Service....