Adele Island off the North Coast of Australia

Adele Island off the North Coast of Australia Today’s Image of the Day comes courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory and features a look at the beautiful Adele Island, situated off the northern coast of Australia.

The photo was taken by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station.

While Adele Island technically only measures 2 miles in length, its full tidal zone and surrounding sandbanks make it 15 miles long. Adele Island off the North Coast of Australia

The island is actually a very important breeding site for a number of bird species. However, pesky Polynesian rats have taken over the island, which pose a threat to the birds.The island is fish-hook shaped and has a length of 2.9 kilometres (2 mi) and a width of 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) and a total area of 217 hectares (536 acres). It is low-lying and surrounded by extensive sandbanks lying over a limestone platform forming a large lagoon.

Nicolas Baudin named the island in 1801 as part of his expedition around Australia. The name of the island was first charted on the Freycinet Map of 1811. It was declared a Nature Reserve in 2001 in recognition of its status as a bird breeding sanctuary. Since then the Department of Environment and Conservation has embarked on a campaign to eradicate the island of the Polynesian Rats that are a constant threat to the native seabirds.

An acetylene-powered lighthouse was built on the island in 1951 it was later upgraded to solar power in 198

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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com

Source: NASA Earth Observatory