Bass Pyramid

The Bass Pyramid, part of the Furneaux Group, is a small, two sectioned oval, steep-sided 100-square-metre (1,100 sq ft) unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying north of the Flinders Island and south of the Kent Group, in Tasmania, Australia.^[1] A rock bridge connects the two sections.

Key Information

Bass Pyramid Location of the Bass Pyramid in Bass Strait
Geography
Location	Bass Strait
Coordinates	39°49′12″S 147°14′24″E / 39.82000°S 147.24000°E / -39.82000; 147.24000
Archipelago	Furneaux Group
Area	21,600 m2 (233,000 sq ft)
Length	220 km (137 mi)
Width	140 km (87 mi)
Administration
Australia
State	Tasmania
Demographics
Population	unpopulated
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The island was used intermittently from the 1940s until 1988 as a bombing and shelling target by the Australian airforce and navy. On 5 April 1978 the island was proclaimed part of a nature reserve.

Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include fairy prion, common diving-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull, Australasian gannet and sooty oystercatcher. It is also a haul-out site for Australian fur seals.^[2] The seals were hunted here in the 19th century.^[3] The dangers of the site resulted in at least three sealers losing their lives here.^[4]

1. ^ "Bass Pyramid(TAS)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Parry Kostoglou (1996), Sealing in Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, p.117-8.
4. ^ Kostoglou, p.118.

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