Tasman Island
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The Tasman Island circa 1987
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 Tasman Island
Location in Tasmania
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| Etymology | Abel Tasman |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Tasman Sea |
| Coordinates | 43°14′15″S 148°00′10″E / 43.23750°S 148.00278°ECoordinates: 43°14′15″S 148°00′10″E / 43.23750°S 148.00278°E |
| Archipelago | Tasman Island Group |
| Area | 1.2 km2 (0.46 sq mi) |
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Australia
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| State | Tasmania |
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| Time zone | |
| • Summer (DST) | |
The Tasman Island, part of the Tasman Island Group, is an oval island with an area of 1.2 square kilometres (0.46 sq mi), lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island is located in the Tasman Sea, situated off the Tasman Peninsula and is contained within the Tasman National Park.
The island is a plateau surrounded by steep dolerite cliffs, with its highest point 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level (asl) and an average plateau height of 280 metres (920 ft) asl. It is the site of the Tasman Island Lighthouse and weather station, which has been automated since 1976 and unmanned since 1977.
The island was once thickly forested. The forest has largely disappeared as a result of cutting the trees for firewood and of intense fires. When the lighthouse was manned the keepers kept , including cattle, sheep and draught horses, and maintained grassland for their grazing. Areas of grassland remain along with other vegetation communities of heathy scrub, regenerating scrub, sheoak woodland, sedgeland and coastal mosaic. An important plant present is the rare Cape Pillar Sheoak (Allocasuarina crassa).
Tasman Island is a very important breeding site for fairy prions, with an estimated 300,000-700,000 pairs, making it the largest such colony in Tasmania, and possibly in Australia. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports over 1% of the world population of the species. Other recorded breeding seabird species are little penguin (now extinct there as a breeding species), short-tailed shearwater and sooty shearwater. The swamp harrier has also bred on the island.
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Wikipedia