KANGAROO ISLAND

                                    Australia's Third Largest

     Kangaroo Island, discovered in 1802 by the English explorer, Matthew Flinders, is Australia’s third largest island. It is 90-miles long, 20-miles wide, and about the size of Long Island. The population of 4500 is located mostly in four cities, the largest of which is Kingscote with a population of 1800. The island is home to 20,000Kangaroos--about five kangaroos for every person.

    The island was hilly, covered with trees, and had no public transportation, but has 19 conservation/ national park areas. Norfolk Pine trees always grew along the coastline. Because they are tall and straight, if a ship, in days of old, lost a mast, the pine was ready and waiting to be cut to make a new mast.

Only pockets of land on the island are fertile enough for agriculture. Crops include canola/ olive oil, honey, and eucalyptus oil. Vineyards are in their infancy on the island. Fish farming is taking hold. Fishing includes crayfish, oysters, and mussels. There are two cheese factories. The narrow leaf eucalyptus grows only on the east side of the island. Trees can be re-harvested every three years. At the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Distillery we learned much about making eucalyptus oil from the wife of the owner.

Japan is the top producer of the oil as only 10% of the world’s eucalyptus oil comes from  Australia, and 3% of that from Emu Ridge. At one time there were 48 distilleries on Kangaroo Island, we visited the only one left. Sheep raising replaced the industry as it is easier work and the money is better.

A ton of leaves is put into a large caldron of boiling water. Depending on the season the ton of leaves produces 5-30 liters of oil. At this point the oil is light amber in color but after a second distillation the oil is colorless. We held a leaf up to the light to see the small oil seeds from which the oil is extracted. It was amazing, the seeds were so tiny.

Seal Bay Conservation Center is located at American Beach, the site of an 1803 ship wreck. A National Park naturalist, took us to the beach. The area is home to a colony of 600 Australian sea lions. The population has remained pretty constant for several years, and it is thought that the environment cannot sustain any larger numbers. These opportunistic feeders are loners and not at all family oriented.

Hunters used to hunt sea lions for the skin and blubber until they were almost extinct. A reef protects the bay, and the sanctuary extends one mile out and five miles along the coast.

The gestation period is 18 months.  An adult female with an un-weaned pup will consume 8-10 kilos of food a day. The female goes into heat again 17 days after birthing! They are not synchronized breeders. A female has four teats. Sea lions are mammals and have hair and ears. The large front flippers allow the animal to walk, where seals cannot. They are deep divers. These animals go to sea for three days at a time, then return to rest and sleep on the beach. A bull often stays a month at a time on the beach.

Living up to 25 years, males can weigh up to 600 kilos, and are brown to yellow in color, where the female is more cream colored. Forty bulls live in the bay. Pups stay on the beach 12-18 months to suckle from mom. Mortality rates are high, only about 30% of pups will make it to maturity.

It was very windy and cold on the beach. It was a long walk, but worth it as there must have been three dozen sea lions sleeping on the beach in the immediate area.

land

MANGROVES and CROCKS

                              Beware of a Crocodil
        I’ve seen many mangroves and snorkeled for a short time in one in Belize, but I’d never seen any as tall or as big as some we saw in Australia.

Mangroves protect 70% of the tropical shore around the world. As much as 70% of the mangrove roots are above the surface. A filter at the bottom of each root filters salt out of the water. Mangroves in that area grow 30-50 feet tall. Mangroves grow in brackish areas.

Our skiff captain kept up a steady commentary as we moved slowly along. Thornton Peak, 1300+ feet, towered in the background. That mountain range collects the rain clouds and then sends the rain to the valley and coast. The normal rainfall is about 60-inches a year. The estuary we were floating in contained 20 of the 69 known mangrove varieties.

After awhile the captain started talking  about crocodiles. Crocks prefer temperatures of at least 30 degrees C. Female crocks are territorial and  can grow 14 feet long. Males, reach 23-27-feet long and can weigh up to two ton! Males wander in and out of territories. It is possible for them to live 80-100 years. Crocks eat mud crabs, wallaby, and mud pigs among other things. Capable of slowing their heartbeat, they can stay submerged in the water for an hour.

Crocks breed December to April. They lay 30-80 eggs in a nest and the gestation period is 6-8 weeks. Mama monitors the nest for the first 90 days and then uncovers it removing the 10-inch hatchlings to the water.  The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the egg, 85 degrees is good for a female, 90 degrees for a male. While laying her eggs the crock goes into a trace-like state, afterward she returns to her vicious self.

 A baby crock is 4-5 years old before it is safe to be on its own. Survival rate is a half percent! Crocodiles have been protected since the 1970s and there is a fine for those caught poaching.

These cold-blooded reptiles can swim up to 20 miles an hour and run 11-mph but cannot zig zag. A crock has no tongue and cannot swallow under water. It has piercing, but no grinding teeth. The growth rate is about a meter every ten years. Its brain is in its head between the eyes. They thermo-regulate through an open mouth.

We spotted a baby crock close to the water’s edge, and later a large crock sunning on the river bank. They look pretty harmless when sleeping, but beware of this predator’s strong jaws!