Hippolyte Rocks

Hippolyte Rocks is a small granite island, with an area of 5.3 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Tasman Island Group, lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania around the Tasman Peninsula. It has a flat top and is surrounded by steep cliffs up to 65 m in height. It is part of the Tasman National Park.[1]

Brown fur seals hauling-out on the Hippolyte Rocks off the east coast of Tasmania, Australia
The IBA is an important breeding site for black-faced cormorants

Fauna

Recorded breeding seabird species are little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, sooty shearwater, fairy prion, common diving-petrel, silver gull and black-faced cormorant. Australian fur seals use the island as a haul-out site. The metallic skink is present.[1] Together, Hippolyte rocks and the nearby Thumbs have been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because they support over 1% of the world population of black-faced cormorants.[2]

References
  1. 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
  2. "IBA: Hippolyte Rocks". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.


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