Ninth and Little Waterhouse Islands (23958)
Australia, Australasia

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: D1a

Year of last assessment: 2009

National site name: Ninth and Little Waterhouse Islands

Central coordinates: Latitude: -40.8337, Longitude: 147.3018

System: marine, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 0 to 25

Area of KBA (km²): 0.26987

Protected area coverage (%): 46.98

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: This IBA consists of two neighbouring islands in Bass Strait off Bridport, northern Tasmania. Ninth Island is north-west of Bridport and Little Waterhouse Island is about 30 km to the north-east, with a few rocks and reefs between. This IBA excludes many other islands in the 200 km stretch of the Waterhouse Group as these have significantly lower numbers of nesting seabirds, collectively totalling 21,700 pairs of Short-tailed Shearwater, 5300 pairs of White-faced Storm-Petrel, 159 pairs of Black-faced Cormorant and 42 pairs of Pacific Gull. The nearest neighbouring island, Waterhouse Island, has been heavily grazed by sheep and supports few seabirds. Ninth Island (32 ha) has adequate soil for burrowing seabirds, under a substantial layer of fireweed. There is private land, a hut and permanent fresh water on Ninth Island. Little Waterhouse Island (2.5 ha) has little soil and no burrowing habitat.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.

Additional biodiversity: The 15 species recorded on Ninth include 14,312 pairs of White-faced Storm-Petrel, 10-15,000 pairs of Common Diving-Petrel, 3913 pairs of Little Penguin, 97,000 pairs of Short-tailed Shearwater, 1800 pairs of Crested Tern, 12 pairs of Sooty Oystercatcher, Brown Quail, at least 10 pairs of Cape Barren Geese and a pair of Caspian Tern. Little Waterhouse is a roosting site for Australian Pelican, and if it remained undisturbed, it would almost certainly act as an occasional alternative breeding location for this species (W.Wakefield pers. comm. in Parks & Wildlife 2001). Non-bird biodiversity: Southern Grass Skink occurs on Ninth Island, where the dominant vegetation is Senecio lautus, and rabbits roam in small numbers. Poa poiformis, Rhagodia candolleana and Disphyma crassifolium are the dominant plants at Little Waterhouse Island.

Other site values: Some of Ninth Island is privately owned. The remainder of Ninth Island and all of Little Waterhouse Island is Crown Land. Permission to visit should be obtained from DPIW.

Habitats

Land use: nature conservation and research

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Shrubland	67
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	33

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The impacts of human visitation should be assessed. Visitors should be made aware of the seabird conservation value and threats to these islands. The sustainability of the muttonbird harvest should be assessed.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Biological resource use	Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Intentional use (species being assessed is the target)	Ongoing
Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Named species	Ongoing
Transportation & service corridors	Shipping lanes		Ongoing
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities		Ongoing

Additional information

References: Brothers, N., Pemberton, D., Pryor, H. and Halley, V. (2001) Tasmania's Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. Parks and Wildlife Service (2001) Small North-East Islands Draft Management Plan July 2002. Parks and Wildlife Service: Hobart. Skira, I.J., Brothers, N.P. and Pemberton, D. (1996) Distribution, abundance and conservation status of Short-tailed Shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris in Tasmania, Australia. Marine Ornithology 24: 1-14.