Haystack Island
{{Short description|Island in South Australia}}
{{About|the island in South Australia||Haystack (disambiguation){{!}}Haystack }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Haystack
| map = South Australia
| map_caption =
| length_m = 500
| width_m = 120
| elevation_m = 43
| location = Investigator Strait
| country = Australia
| coordinates = {{coord|-35.32191|136.9071|type:isle_region:AU-SA|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
}}
Haystack Island is an island located in Investigator Strait off the south coast of Yorke Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia about {{convert|6|km|abbr=off}} south-west of Stenhouse Bay. Since 1972, it has been part of the Althorpe Islands Conservation Park.
Description
Haystack Island is about {{convert|6|km|abbr=off}} south-west of Stenhouse Bay. It is described as ‘a narrow wall of sheer cliffs, undermined, indented and marked by fresh scars and rockfalls’ and that ‘has been eroded to a series of tall lobes connected by thin necks of rock that narrow to an almost knife-edge ridge’. It is surrounded by a ‘fringing wave-cut reef’. The island is about {{convert|500|m|abbr=off}} long by a maximum width of about {{convert|120|m|abbr=off}} and with the tallest lobe having a height of {{convert|43|m|abbr=off}}. Its long axis is aligned in a north-west to south-east direction.{{cite book | last1 = A.C. | first1 = Robinson | first2 = P.| last2 = Canty | first3 =T. | last3 = Mooney |first4=P. |last4= Rudduck | title = South Australia's offshore islands | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Heritage Commission |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf | page=500 | date = 1996| isbn = 0-644350-11-3 }}
Access is reported as best done in calm seas and that the summit ridge can be reached from the island’s east coast via a rubble cone of rubble, taking care when climbing the slope’s ‘loose and crumbling’ surface. A survey carried out in 1982 by the responsible government agency used a helicopter to access the island’s summit.
A number of sources consider Haystack Island along with the Althorpe Islands and Seal Island to be a group of islands known as the Althorpe Islands Group.{{cite book | last1 = A.C. | first1 = Robinson | first2 = P.| last2 = Canty | first3 =T. | last3 = Mooney |first4=P. |last4= Rudduck | title = South Australia's offshore islands | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Heritage Commission |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf | page=286 | date = 1996| isbn = 0-644350-11-3 }}{{cite enroute|175|2017|196}}
Formation, geology and oceanography
Haystack Island was formed about 7350 years ago after sea levels rose at the start of the Holocene thereby separating Yorke Peninsula from Kangaroo Island.{{cite book | last1 = A.C. | first1 = Robinson | first2 = P.| last2 = Canty | first3 =T. | last3 = Mooney |first4=P. |last4= Rudduck | title = South Australia's offshore islands | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Heritage Commission |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf | page=12 | date = 1996 | isbn = 0-644350-11-3 }}
Haystack Island consists of a seam of Bridgewater Formation calcarenite that sits on a largely submerged ridge of Gleesons Landing Granite.{{cite book |title= Management Plan - Althorpe Islands, Goose Island and Troubridge Island Conservation Parks |year=2009 |publisher= Department of Environment & Heritage |location=Adelaide |isbn= 978-1-921466-76-2 |page =13|url= http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/3fbcb962-2f67-4e9b-ae0d-9e4f00b16923/cons-gen-althorpe-goose-troubridge-parkmgmtplan-adopted.pdf }}{{cite journal| last =Fairclough| first =Martin C| title =KINGSCOTE Special 1:250 000 geological map| journal =MESA Journal| volume =47| pages =28–31| publisher =Government of South Australia, DMITRE| date =December 2007| url =http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/71034/MJ47_kingscote_map.pdf| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160527064406/http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/71034/MJ47_kingscote_map.pdf| url-status =dead| archive-date =27 May 2016| issn =1326-3544| access-date =18 May 2014}}
Haystack Island rises from a depth of {{convert|20|m|abbr=off}} within {{convert|300|m|abbr=off}} from its southern shore.{{Citation | author1=South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors | title=The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs | publication-date=1985 | publisher=Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia | pages= Chart 23|isbn=978-0-7243-7603-2 }}
Flora and fauna
= Flora =
A survey carried out in November 1982 found 11 species of plants making up a shrubland covering the island’s ridge including Grey Samphire, Marsh saltbush, and Nitre-bush in the deeper soils, and Cushion-bush, Round-leaved Pigface and Southern Sea-heath in the shallower soils.{{cite book | last1 = A.C. | first1 = Robinson | first2 = P.| last2 = Canty | first3 =T. | last3 = Mooney |first4=P. |last4= Rudduck | title = South Australia's offshore islands | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Heritage Commission |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf | pages=287–288 | date = 1996| isbn = 0-644350-11-3 }}{{cite book | last1 = A.C. | first1 = Robinson | first2 = P.| last2 = Canty | first3 =T. | last3 = Mooney |first4=P. |last4= Rudduck | title = South Australia's offshore islands | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Heritage Commission |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf | pages=445–451, 452 & 457 | date = 1996 | isbn = 0-644350-11-3 }}
= Fauna =
A survey carried out in November 1982 reported evidence of the presence of the following vertebrate animals - the White-faced storm petrel by the presence of ‘shallow burrows’ used during the ‘summer breeding season’, Pacific gull by the existence of a ‘large midden of shell fragments was found on the highest dome, indicating a feeding site…’, and the White-bellied sea eagle by the presence of a ‘maintained nest’.
Protected areas status
Since 1972, Haystack Island has been part of the Althorpe Islands Conservation Park. Since 2007, it has been a prohibited area where access is only allowed by permit in order to protect the breeding population of seabirds.{{cite book |title= Management Plan - Althorpe Islands, Goose Island and Troubridge Island Conservation Parks |year=2009 |publisher= Department of Environment & Heritage |location=Adelaide |isbn= 978-1-921466-76-2 |page =1|url= http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/3fbcb962-2f67-4e9b-ae0d-9e4f00b16923/cons-gen-althorpe-goose-troubridge-parkmgmtplan-adopted.pdf }}{{cite book |title= Management Plan - Althorpe Islands, Goose Island and Troubridge Island Conservation Parks |year=2009 |publisher= Department of Environment & Heritage |location=Adelaide |isbn= 978-1-921466-76-2 |page =28|url= http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/3fbcb962-2f67-4e9b-ae0d-9e4f00b16923/cons-gen-althorpe-goose-troubridge-parkmgmtplan-adopted.pdf }}{{cite book | last1 = A.C. | first1 = Robinson | first2 = P.| last2 = Canty | first3 =T. | last3 = Mooney |first4=P. |last4= Rudduck | title = South Australia's offshore islands | location = Canberra | publisher = Australian Heritage Commission |url=http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/5a7dbb25-70b9-4ceb-bbfd-a25800961994/offshore-islands-gen.pdf | page=146 | date = 1996 | isbn = 0-644350-11-3 }} Since 2012, the waters surrounding its shores are part of a habitat protection zone located within the boundaries of the Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park.{{cite web|title= Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park, Management plan summary |url= http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/files/699ad3dc-be2e-4ee6-9d89-a11f00f2f6d8/mp-gen-mgmtplansumm-12-southernspencergulf.pdf |publisher=Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources|access-date=13 July 2014|page =2|year=2012}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Islands of South Australia |state=collapsed}}
{{Yorke Peninsula}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haystack Island}}
Category:Islands of South Australia