An early start meant we saw loads of wildlife on our morning walk, starting with koalas (love they way they settle with a branch supporting their bum):
And one that hadn’t got up yet – it stretched, scratched itself… and promptly went back to sleep:
Birdlife:
A tree that had fallen over – and an upright branch had become the trunk:
Wattle bush (I assume this is where the wattleseeds come from):
Kangaroos – they have much darker coats here, maybe because it’s coldr:
Remarkable Rocks
The “Remarkable Rocks” lived up to their name – they were indeed remarkable:
And orange. Orange lichen secretes an acid to release the minerals and nutrients from the rock, creating soil and gradually breaking down the rock.
The rocks were formed when a huge geological upheaval caused the melting of rock far below the earth’s surface. The molten rock (magma) was buoyant and began to rise. Ten kilometres below the earth’s surface, the molten mass slowly began to cool and developed into variably-spaced granite rocks. As the overlying rock began to erode, the granite below fractured into sheets or layers, weathered and eventually resulted in isolated blocks. For the last 200 million years, erosion has continued due to:
- alternating heat and colours, wetting and drying
- sea spray entering cracks, crystallising, expanding and breaking up the rock
- Wave action during periods of higher sea levels
It was pretty busy when we arrived, but when lunchtime came, we had the place to ourselves – really good.
Fur seals
Got seriously distracted by the fur seals on our way to Admirals Arch (punctuation unknown). There are at least 22 seals in this picture – can you spot them?
They’re distinguishable from the Australian Sea Lions by their short pointy noses, and they’re larger and paler. Like their cousins, they “walk” using one fore-flipper after the other.
Amazingly, they can shut down half of their brains, enabling them to sleep whilst at sea.
Apparently, the water in the rock pools sometimes turns pink when concentrated seal poo mixes with the salt water. However, they also become very smelly 🙁
Natural predator is the great white shark, which can reach these shores. But the biggest threat to their existence is marine pollution and climate change 🙁
On a more positive note, the hundreds of species of marine plants provide a market garden for local fish, that in turn are food for the seals. An astonishing 85% of South Australia’s species of marine flora and fauna are found nowhere else in the world.
Admirals Arch
“Roaring Forties” winds rush from the west across the Southern Ocean, giving extra strength to the powerful waves that carve dramatic features, like Admirals Arch:
Mother Nature has been eroding the three rock types of the cliff at different rates: the hard white cap limestone is slowly dissolving; the softer dune limestone has already eroded away; and the much older hard, dark rock at the base is resisting change as it’s very slow to dissolve.
Weirs Cove viewpoint didn’t disappoint (note the Remarkable Rocks in the distance):
There was a storehouse housing supplies that were delivered every three months, hauled up from the water:
Three interesting learnings from a whizz round the visitor centre:
- European explorers arrived on KI in 1802, well after the aboriginals had left. When seal populations declined, the sealers turned to agriculture, but the and’s remoteness, isolation, thick vegetation, lack of deep harbour and reliable water supply meant settlement occurred slowly in comparison to mainland SA.
- Two pictures showing the deforestation between 1945 and 2000 – in 1892 a committee began a 27-year struggle to have the western end of KI reserved… and it shows:
- How the shoreline has changed:
Back at the campsite, the echidna spotted earlier that day was still doing its rounds:
The Kangaroo Island Echidna is one of five echidna subspecies. It’s identifiable by it’s more numerous, longer, thinner and paler spines. Except they’re not spines, they’re actually large, stiff hairs.
Great day seeing some of KI’s “must-do” sights.
Other random stuff from today:
Didn’t visit the lighthouse, because it looked better from a distance:
Bird at visitor centre had a lucklustre call… until I tried to record it when it perked up a bit:
Bird nesting at Admirals Arch:
Signs of the day:
