Kent Group
The Kent Group is a group of islands in the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania. It is located northwest of the Furneaux Group. The islands were settled about 8,000 to 13,000 years ago by Aboriginal people. Today, she is the 1947 founded Kent Group National Park, which covers an area of 165 km ². The nearest town is Launceston in Tasmania.
The archipelago was named in honor of Captain William Kent, who then had the command of the HMS Supply, named by Matthew Flinders. Flinders passed the islands on February 7, 1798 of Francis, which was at that time on a rescue mission to Sydney Cove.
Deal Iceland
Deal Iceland is the largest island of the group and is located at 39 ° 28 ' S, 147 ° 19' O 39.466666666667147.31666666667. It has the highest lighthouse in the southern hemisphere, which is located at 305 m above sea level. This height caused occasional problems with the visibility of the beacon at low cloud cover. The lighthouse was built in 1848 and placed out of service in 1992.
The island is managed by the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
Judgment Rocks
The Judgment Rocks 39 ° 30 ' S, 147 ° 7' O 39.5147.11666666667 are a small group of naked rocks west of the main islands of the group. They were of Flinders or the team of Francis, you do not know exactly, named because of its resemblance to an elevated seat.
Joanna Murray - Smith's novel Judgement rock is named after the rocks and playing in the Kent Group.
Wildlife
The archipelago is an important habitat for seals, as these found on protected against flooding beaches here a safe place to raise their young. In addition, the island provide habitat for petrels, Feensturmvögel, oyster fishermen and cormorants as well as colonies of short-tailed shearwaters and little penguins.
Shipwrecks
The Murray pass between Deal and Erith Iceland has long been used by ships as a port of refuge during storms in the Bass Strait. However, these open roadstead proved to sudden changes in wind direction and speed as dangerous, many ships suffered by shipwreck. Others ran while trying to find shelter for bad navigation in darkness or in bad weather on the islands. The sunken ships here include: