Middle Island (Western Australia)

Middle Island (French: Île du Milieu) is an island off the south coast of Western Australia in the Recherche Archipelago.

Middle Island

Middle Island, Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve, April 2011
Middle Island Location in Western Australia
Geography
Location	Off the south coast of Western Australia
Coordinates	34.1001°S 123.1907°E
Archipelago	Recherche Archipelago
Area	1,080 ha (2,700 acres)
Length	6.5 km (4.04 mi)
Highest elevation	185 m (607 ft)
Highest point	Flinders Peak
Administration
Australia

The island is 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) in length occupies an area of 1,080 hectares (2,669 acres) and approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) off shore from Cape Arid.[1] The island is the largest in the Recherche Archipelago.[2]Goose Island rides adjacent.

It was named by D'Entrecasteaux.[3] Matthew Flinders visited in January 1802 and climbed the 185 metres (607 ft) peak (subsequently named Flinders Peak) to survey the surrounding islands.[3]
The island contains a pink lake, Lake Hillier, from which John Thistle, the Investigator's Master, collected some salt samples.[3]

Philip Parker King anchored off the island in 1818 and lost two anchors that were later recovered in 1973. Sealers operated from the island throughout the 1800s.[1] Bay whaling operations were conducted here in the 1870s and, possibly, as early as the 1840s.[4]

The pirate Black Jack Anderson based himself on Middle Island in the 1820s and 1830s to launch raids on vessels making their way between Adelaide and Albany.

The Belinda was wrecked off Middle Island in 1824.[5] In 1826 eight Englishmen who had been marooned on Middle Island by the captain of a sealing vessel Governor Brisbane were found by the French explorer Dumont d’Urville aboard the Astrolabe. The Mary-Jane was wrecked off the island in 1875.[1]

In 1889,[1] Edward Andrews investigated the commercial possibilities of producing salt from Lake Hillier, and briefly moved onto the island with both of his sons.[6] They left after working the salt deposits for about one year.[1]

The Rodondo was wrecked off the island in 1894 and the Eclipse met a similar fate in 1898.[1] The SS Penguin was wrecked off the island while sheltering from a gale in 1920.[5]

The island supports a population of the tammar wallaby and the bush rat.[7]

Sketch of view from Middle Island from the Westall collection looking toward Cape Arid

See also

• List of islands of Western Australia
• List of islands of Australia
• HMS Investigator Anchors

References

1. Alistair Paterson and Corioli Souter (April 2006). "Report on historical archeological expedition to Middle and Boxer Islands, Recherche Archipelago" (PDF). Western Australian Museum. p. 12. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
2. "Pink Lake". Tourism Australia. 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
3. Flinders, Matthew (1966) [1814]. A Voyage to Terra Australis : undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803 in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland Schooner; with an account of the shipwreck of the Porpoise, arrival of the Cumberland at Mauritius, and imprisonment of the commander during six years and a half in that island (Facsimile ed.). Adelaide; Facsimile reprint of: London : G. and W. Nicol, 1814 ed. In two volumes, with an Atlas (3 volumes): Libraries Board of South Australia. pp. 200–202. Retrieved 30 January 2014.CS1 maint: location (link)
4. Martin Gibbs, The Shore whalers of Western Australia; Historical Archaeology of a Maritime Frontier, Sydney University Press, 2010, p.141-2.
5. Jeremy Green, Coriloi Souter and Patrick Baker (2001). "Department of Maritime Archeology visit to Middle Island, Recherche Archipelago, Esperance, 2001" (PDF). Western Australian Maritime Museum. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
6. "The story of the Middle Island Boys" (PDF). Esperance Island Cruises. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
7. "IBAs - Recherche Archipelago". Bird Life International. 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.