Mud Islands
 Mud Islands
|
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Port Phillip |
| Coordinates | 38°16′S 144°46′E / 38.267°S 144.767°ECoordinates: 38°16′S 144°46′E / 38.267°S 144.767°E |
| Administration | |
|
Australia
|
|
| State | Victoria |
The Mud Islands reserve is located within Port Phillip, about 90 km south-west of Melbourne, Australia, lying 10 km inside Port Phillip Heads, 7 km north of Portsea and 9 km east of Queenscliff. The land area of about 50 ha is made up of three low-lying islands surrounding a shallow tidal 35 ha lagoon connected to the sea by three narrow channels. The shapes and configuration of the islands change over the years due to movement of sand by tidal currents.
First sighted by Europeans in 1802, the islands were originally named Swan Isles because of the large number of swans on the surrounding waters. It was not until 1836 that Lt. T M Symonds and H R Henry of the HMS Rattlesnake surveyed the islands and renamed them Mud Islands.
In 1961, the area of the islands above high water was proclaimed a permanent reserve for the management of wildlife. It forms part of the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site, which was designated in 1982, as a wetland of international importance, and it is also included on the Register of the National Estate. Since 2002 it has been, with the adjacent waters, part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park.
Within the reserve there are nine native vegetation communities. Seagrass meadows, sand dunes, mudflats and salt marshes support a diversity of life ranging from marine invertebrates to fish and birds. Wind and tide are gradually changing the shape of the islands, although they are partly stabilised by a salt marsh of austral sea-blite and beaded and shrubby glasswort. The dense coastal scrub on the northern island has disappeared, apparently as a result of overgrazing by rabbits. Today only a single specimen of coastal teatree (Leptospermum laevigatum) remains.
...
Wikipedia