Bates Island [SEP] continent
Bates Island
Bates Island is a narrow island long lying east of Jurva Point, Renaud Island, in the Biscoe Islands of Antarctica. It was first accurately shown on an Argentine government chart of 1957, and was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1959 for Charles C. Bates, an American oceanographer who has specialised in sea ice studies.
Important Bird Area.
A circular 500 ha tract of land and sea, centred on an islet lying about 700 m to the south of Bates,
the Norfolk Ridge, part of the submerged continent Zealandia.
The area surrounding Mount Bates is preserved as the Norfolk Island National Park. The park, covering around 10% of the land of the island, contains remnants of the forests which originally covered the island, including stands of subtropical rainforest.
The park also includes the two smaller islands to the south of Norfolk Island, Nepean Island and Phillip Island. The vegetation of Phillip Island was devastated due to the introduction during the penal era of pest animals such as pigs