Snake Island (Victoria)
Encyclopedia
Snake Island is a 35 km2 sand island, the largest in Corner Inlet
, Victoria
, Australia
. It lies within the Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park and is part of a complex of barrier islands that protect a large marine embayment from the pounding waves of Bass Strait
.
As the island is remote and relatively unspoilt it is popular for bushwalkers and many tracks criss cross the island. Care must be taken on the oceanic beaches as they have rapidly changing tides. A diverse range of flora and fauna makes the island particularly interesting for naturalists.
people, who named it "Negima". As well as being a place of refuge, it was used as a nuptial island for young couples. Since the 1880s the island has been used by South Gippsland
farmers to agist cattle in winter, swimming their stock over a narrow channel at low tide.
, scrubland, heath
, freshwater
swamp
s, mangrove
s and salt marsh
.
Mammals found on the island include the native Eastern Grey Kangaroo
, Swamp Wallaby
, Koala
and Swamp Antechinus
, as well as the introduced Hog Deer
. There are many birds present, including the Eastern Ground Parrot. Large numbers of migratory
wader
s roost along the coast after feeding on the inlet's extensive intertidal mudflat
s.
Corner Inlet
Corner Inlet is a 600 km2 bay, 200 km south-east of Melbourne, in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Of Victoria’s large bays it is both the easternmost and the warmest...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 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...
. It lies within the Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park and is part of a complex of barrier islands that protect a large marine embayment from the pounding waves of Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
.
As the island is remote and relatively unspoilt it is popular for bushwalkers and many tracks criss cross the island. Care must be taken on the oceanic beaches as they have rapidly changing tides. A diverse range of flora and fauna makes the island particularly interesting for naturalists.
History
Snake Island is part of the traditional territory of the Brataualung clan of the GunaiGunai
The Gunai or Kurnai is an Indigenous Australian nation of south-east Australia whose territory occupied most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The nation was not on friendly terms with the neighbouring Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations...
people, who named it "Negima". As well as being a place of refuge, it was used as a nuptial island for young couples. Since the 1880s the island has been used by South Gippsland
South Gippsland
South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promontory, the southernmost point of Victoria and mainland...
farmers to agist cattle in winter, swimming their stock over a narrow channel at low tide.
Flora and fauna
The vegetation communities of Snake Island include woodlandWoodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
, scrubland, heath
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
, freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s, mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s and salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
.
Mammals found on the island include the native Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is a marsupial found in southern and eastern Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Forester Kangaroo...
, Swamp Wallaby
Swamp Wallaby
The Swamp Wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the Black Wallaby, with other names including Black-tailed Wallaby, Fern Wallaby, Black Pademelon, Stinker , and Black Stinker...
, Koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
and Swamp Antechinus
Swamp Antechinus
The Swamp Antechinus , also known as the Little Tasmanian Marsupial Mouse, is a species of shrew-like marsupial of the Dasyuridae family and as such is related to dunnarts, quolls and the Tasmanian Devil.-Taxonomy:...
, as well as the introduced Hog Deer
Hog Deer
The Hog Deer is a small deer whose habitat ranges from Pakistan, through northern India, to mainland southeast Asia...
. There are many birds present, including the Eastern Ground Parrot. Large numbers of migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
wader
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s roost along the coast after feeding on the inlet's extensive intertidal mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s.