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The 'Montebello Islands' are an archipelago of around 174 small islands (about 35 of which are named) located 128 km/80 miles off the Pilbara coast of North West Australia. Montebello is Italian for ''Beautiful Mountain''.
There are two main islands, named by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin in 1801.

★ 'Hermite Island' 20° 28' S. 115° 31' E. - named after the French Admiral, Jean-Marthe-Adrien L'Hermite

★ 'Trimouille Island' 20° 23' S. 115° 33' E. - named after a French noble family.
There are problems with the naming of the islands in the accounts of the early explorers, and there is the suggestion is that the French and later English explorers mixed up the names of Lowendal and Hermite islands.
Of the smaller islands, the largest are:

★ North-West Island

★ Primrose Island

★ Bluebell Island

★ Alpha Island

★ Crocus Island
An early reference to the islands is in 1622, when the ''Tryall'' was wrecked just west of them. For years afterwards their position was approximately recorded on charts as the Tryal Rocks - 20° 16' S. 115° 23' E.
The islands were economically significant for pearl fishing from the end of the nineteenth century until the outbreak of the Second World War.
A bay of Trimoulle Island was the site of Operation Hurricane, the first British nuclear weapons test in 1952. There were two further tests on Alpha and Trimouille Islands in 1956.
The islands now form a conservation park administered by the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, and it is likely that the shallow waters around them will become a marine conservation reserve.

Contents

References

List of known names of Islands

See also

External links

References

★ Acaster, Ray. ''British nuclear testing at the Monte Bello Islands''. Early Days Vol. 11, no. 1 (1995) p. 66-80.

★ Bird, Peter. ''Operation hurricane'' Worcester : Square One Publications, 1989. ISBN 187201710X First published: 1953.

★ Burbidge, A. A. ''The fauna and flora of the Monte Bello Islands''. Perth : Department of Fisheries and Fauna, 1971

★ Deegan, P. M. ''Monte Bello and Lowendal Islands : bibliography ; summary report of marine resources'' Perth [W.A.] : Dept. of Conservation and Land Management, 1992.

★ Fornasiero, Jean; Monteath, Peter and West-Sooby, John. ''Encountering Terra Australis: the Australian voyages of Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders'', Kent Town, South Australia,Wakefield Press,2004. ISBN 1-86254-625-8

★ Tuckfield, Trevor. ''The Monte Bello Islands''. Walkabout, Vol. 17, No. 8, (1 Aug. 1951), p. 33,34.

List of known names of Islands

Name	Cordinates	Remarks
Ah Chong		[1]
Alpha		[2]
Aster		[3]
Bluebell
Brooke
Buttercup
Campbell
Carnation
Crocus
Dahlia
Daisy
Dandelion
Delta
Dot
Epsilon
Flag
Foxglove
Gannet
Gardenia
Hermite		[4]
Hollyhock
How
Ivy
Jonquil
Karangi
Kingcup
Lowendal
Marigold
North West
Pansy
Primrose
Rose
South East
Spar
Trimouille		[5]
Violet

See also

★ British nuclear tests at Maralinga

External links

★ ''Nicolas Baudin’s Scientific Expedition To The Terres Australes'' by Steve Reynolds - Marine Life Society of South Australia Inc.

★ ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank> Details of a feral cat eradication program on Hermite Island in 1999