Maatsuyker Island

Maatsuyker Island is a 186 ha island in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Maatsuyker Island Group, lying close to the southern end of the south-western coast of Tasmania. It is also part of the Southwest National Park, and thus within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site. It is the site of the Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse.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]

Flora and fauna

The vegetation is dominated by the woody shrub "Leptospermum scoparium", or Tea Tree, which covers most parts of the island, reaching a canopy height of 6 m in sheltered places.

Recorded breeding seabird and wader species are the Little Penguin (700 pairs), Short-tailed Shearwater (800,000 pairs), Sooty Shearwater, Fairy Prion (5000 pairs), Common Diving-Petrel (10,000 pairs), Soft-plumaged Petrel, Pacific Gull, Silver Gull and Sooty Oystercatcher. The Swamp Antechinus has been recorded. The island is a haul-out site for the Australian Fur Seal and a breeding site for the New Zealand Fur Seal. It is visited by Southern Elephant Seals, which occasionally breed there. Reptiles recorded include the Metallic Skink, Three-lined Skink and Tasmanian Tree Skink.

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