Bass Pyramid

Bass Pyramid
Bass Pyramid
Location of the Bass Pyramid in Bass Strait
Geography
LocationBass Strait
Coordinates39°49′12″S 147°14′24″E / 39.82000°S 147.24000°E / -39.82000; 147.24000
ArchipelagoFurneaux Group
Area21,600 m2 (233,000 sq ft)
Length220 km (137 mi)
Width140 km (87 mi)
Administration
Australia
StateTasmania
Demographics
Populationunpopulated

The Bass Pyramid, part of the Furneaux Group, is a small, two sectioned oval, steep-sided 100-square-metre (1,100 sq ft) unpopulated granite island, located in Bass Strait, lying north of the Flinders Island and south of the Kent Group, in Tasmania, Australia. A rock bridge connects the two sections.

The island was used intermittently from the 1940s until 1988 as a bombing and shelling target by the Australian airforce and navy. On 5 April 1978 the island was proclaimed part of a nature reserve.

Recorded breeding seabird and wader species include fairy prion, common diving-petrel, Pacific gull, silver gull, Australasian gannet and sooty oystercatcher. It is also a haul-out site for Australian fur seals. The seals were hunted here in the 19th century. The dangers of the site resulted in at least three sealers losing their lives here.