Department of Environment and Conservation

Nearest town:
Entry fee: AUD $ 0.00
Introduction:

The Montebello Islands feature beautiful beaches, bays and lagoons fringed by mangroves in places, and surrounded by luxuriant gardens of corals and colourful tropical fish, and form one of the most beautiful and important marine areas anywhere along the Western Australian coast. Their adjacent waters are havens for large marine animals such as humpback whales, dugongs and several species of marine turtles, and are stopover areas for rare and protected migratory wading birds.

 

The Montebello Islands Marine Park, created by the State Government in December 2004, protects more than 58,000 hectares surrounding the 265 distinct, low-lying islands and islets composed of limestone and cross-bedded sandstone. The islands are generally very irregular, with convoluted coastlines, lagoons, channels, intertidal embayments, barrier and fringing reefs and shallow limestone platforms exposed to the open ocean. Approximately half of the marine park has been set aside in sanctuary (no take) zones.

 

There are no visitor facilities on these unique islands, but fishing and diving charters from Dampier, Onslow, Karratha and Exmouth are becoming increasingly popular during the winter months. They have become a haven for threatened wildlife species.

Explosive history

The Montebello Islands have a long history of European contact, which began with the wreck of the English East India Company vessel the Trial, on the Trial Rocks (outside the marine park) in 1622—Australia’s earliest known European shipwreck. The 46 survivors from the wreck who landed on the Montebello Islands were the first recorded Europeans to land on the islands. The Wild Wave was wrecked at the Montebello Islands in 1872, and the Marietta was wrecked there in 1905. A number of uncharted wrecks also lie within the marine park and in adjacent reserves, including pearl luggers lost over the years during cyclones.

The natural resources of the marine park have exploited since whalers arrived in the late 1800s. Commercial turtle harvesting occurred from the late 1870s until 1973. Cultured pearl farming in the Montebello Islands began in 1902 and continues today.

However, the Montebello Islands are notorious for the fact that three British nuclear weapons tests were carried out there in 1952 and 1956. The 1952 test, called Operation Hurricane, saw a 25-kiloton bomb exploded inside the hull of the HMS Plym, a frigate anchored in 40 feet of water, 400 yards off Trimouille Island. The explosion left a saucer-shaped crater—20 feet deep and 1,000 feet across—on the sea floor. Testing carried out for Operation Mosaic in 1956 saw a 15-kiloton device exploded on Trimouille Island and a 98-kiloton bomb exploded on Alpha Island—the largest nuclear weapon ever tested on Australian soil. Remains of the associated military activities including scrap metal, disused roads and the foundations of former British military operational headquarters can still be found on some islands. Radiation effects on your health are cumulative over your life time. Limit visits to ground zero sites (the three test sites Alpha and Trimouille Islands and off the coast of Main beach) to one hour per day. Do not handle or remove any objects as they may be radioactive.

Plants and animals

Six species of mangroves grow in the marine park, usually in narrow fringing strips along bays: the white mangrove (Avicennia marina), ribbed-fruit orange mangrove (Bruguiera exaristata), yellow-leaf spurred mangrove (Ceriops tagal), red mangrove (Rhizophora stylosa), club mangrove (Aegialitis annulata) and river mangrove (Aegiceran cornculatum). The mangroves are scientifically very important, as it is unusual to find mangroves growing within lagoons on oceanic islands. The species that inhabit them are particularly vulnerable. The reserves extend to the low water mark, and species in this zone are protected.

The tropical, relatively-low-salinity, narrow Leeuwin Current flows south along the WA coast from the North West Shelf to the Great Australian Bight and transports larvae of tropical species to these areas. The waters surrounding the Montebello and Barrow Islands are considered to be the headwaters of the Leeuwin Current, which suggests that the marine park may be an important source of recruitment for tropical species all the way down the west coast.

A 1993 WA Museum survey recorded 456 fish species from 75 families from the Montebello Islands. Two of the pipefish species—the multibanded pipefish (Doryrhamphus multiannulatis) and Belcher’s pipefish (Phoxocampus belcheri)—were new records for Australia.

Five of the six species of marine turtles found in WA inhabit the marine park and adjacent areas. Green, hawksbill and flatback turtles regularly use the sandy beaches in the reserves for breeding, while loggerhead turtles occasionally nest on Barrow Island. WA's hawksbill turtle population is the only large population of the species remaining in the Indian Ocean, while flatback turtles only breed in Australia. A large population of green turtles nest in the park, and the area is at the northernmost breeding limit for loggerheads in WA. Leatherback turtles are the largest species of marine turtle, growing to a length of more than 1.5 metres and weighing 500 kilograms. Only a small proportion of the world’s leatherback population is observed in WA. They do not nest here, but migrate to the east coast of Malaysia and Indonesia to breed.

Marine mammals

Minke whales, Bryde’s whales, humpback whales, sperm whales, short-finned pilot whales, killer whales, false killer whales, common dolphins, striped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins have all been recorded from the Montebello and Barrow islands. Humpback whales pass through the park during their annual migration north to the warm tropical waters off the Pilbara and Kimberley coasts in June and July to give birth and suckle their young.

Dugongs are frequently seen in the shallow, warm waters near the Montebello Islands, Lowendal Islands and Barrow Shoals, though not in the comparatively large or dense concentrations seen further south in Exmouth Gulf or Shark Bay. A survey of dugong numbers in 2001 estimated a Pilbara population of approximately 2000 individuals. The seagrass beds around the Lowendal Islands are thought to provide a valuable food source for these animals.

Planning your visit

The Montebello Islands Marine Park is offshore and relatively remote. Navigation to the islands should only be attempted in favourable weather conditions and in suitably sized and equipped vessels. Cyclones can form off the coast at any time but mainly between November to April, and visitors are urged to be vigilant for cyclone warnings.

You must take adequate fuel, water, food and first aid supplies as no services or facilities are available. Visitors to the Montebello Islands may camp on the beaches of Northwest, Primrose, Bluebell, Crocus, Hermite and Renewal Islands, to 100 metres inland of the high water mark. Select a site that looks as though it may have been used before. Take a portable fuel stove as open fires are not permitted on the islands. 

Like other island conservation reserves, the Montebello Islands provide an important refuge for native animals that are threatened or no longer found on mainland Australia. After considerable effort, DEC successfully eradicated feral cats from the Montebello Islands in 2001. It is critical that non-native animals and plants, even small insects and seeds, are not carried to the islands. Ensure that the following quarantine procedures are followed:

. Ensure your boat is clean and baited with rodenticide and that all semi-enclosed spaces are sprayed with a residual insecticide.

. Check that your clothing and footwear are not carrying soil or seeds.

. Check your containers and food to ensure they are clean and free of pests and insects.

. Don't take pets to the islands.

. Take all rubbish with you on departure and dispose of it on the mainland. 

Stinging jellyfish can occur in the Montebello Islands area. While the risk of being stung is low, especially if stinger suits are worn, ensure you have plenty of vinegar (to douse stings) and that you are aware of general first aid procedures. 

Related Documents

• Montebello/Barrow Islands Management Plan 2007-2017 2007-04-05 16:32:16 4.56 Mb
• Montebello Islands and Barrow Island (Analysis of Public Submissions) 2007-04-05 16:36:30 285.46 Kb

 

Region: Pilbara
Where is it?: The island chain is 20 kilometres north of Barrow Island and 120 kilometres west of Dampier.
What to see and do: Scuba diving, fishing. You may camp not more than 100 m inland, on the beaches of Northwest, Primrose, Bluebell, Crocus, Hermite and East Hermite Islands. Select a site that looks as though it may have been used before.
Facilities: None.
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