Willis Island (Coral Sea)
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Willis Island is an external territory of Australia, located beyond the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea some 420km east of Cairns, Queensland It lies in CQ Zone 30, the grid square is QH43 and it’s IOTA OC-007.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has a Weather Monitoring station on the island[1] and there are usually three Technical Officers (Weather Observers), one of whom is Officer-in-Charge, and one Technical Officer (Electronic Engineering) living on the island. There is also a plethora of birdlife on the island.
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[edit] Birdlife
The most common inhabitants are Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Sooty Terns and Common and Black Noddies. Several species of booby migrate through the Island including Masked, Brown and Red-footed Boobies, and also the Lesser Frigatebird. Crested Terns are also seen to migrate, although not as often.[2]
[edit] Life on the island
[edit] Recreation
The island has a recreation room which includes amenities such as a pool table, darts and table tennis. An outside sporting area and a home gym are also provided for those desiring vigorous activity. Of course there is also the possibility for fishing, but there is a lot of competition from local bird life.
For the windy days spent on the island, more leisurely recreation is also available. A substantial library caters for all tastes. Two satellite television systems enable reception of Australian Channel 10 and the ABC, and of free-to-air transmissions from countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Programming includes the USA television channels CNN and MTV and an extensive video library completes the passive entertainment options.
[edit] Pollution Issues
Over the decades of human occupation, a considerable amount of rubbish of many types accumulated. Much of it was buried but occasionally high winds and heavy seas from a cyclone would uncover parts of the rubbish dump. A major clean-up campaign was recently to protect the sensitive areas such as the coral cays and sand dunes. All rubbish that is generated on the island is now placed in bins that are shipped back to the mainland on the staff exchange vessel to be disposed of.
This island generates its own supply of hydrogen for use in weather balloons. Prior to 1994, the island used a chemical process to meet its hydrogen needs. This process produced a toxic residue that was a danger to the local birdlife. Because of this danger, the island now uses an electrolytic converter to break down water into hydrogen and oxygen.
