Moonshadow: THE MONTEBELLOS - NUCLEAR PARADISE

One of natures most breathtaking comebacks.

On 8am October 3, 1952, an atomic bomb as big as the one that had destroyed the Japanese city of Nagasaki seven years earlier was detonated about 130km off the WA Pilbara Coast. The mushroom cloud from the detonation rose 4.5km from a bay in the middle of the isolated and uninhabited Montebello Islands

This incident gave Britain the notoriety of becoming the third country to test a nuclear weapon after the US and USSR. It would go on to detonate another 12 bombs on Australian soil over the next five years

Three nuclear weapons tests were carried out on the Montebelos during the 1950’s. The first on Trimouille Island in 1952, and then again in late 1956. The second test was on Alpha Island in early 1956.

Immediately aft WW2 the newly elected Labour government, led by Mr Clement Attlee, secretly decided to proceed with the development and acquisition weapons. Because of it’s size, and high population density Britain could not find any suitable sites for testing on home ground. They looked further afield and finally settled on the Montebello Islands.

Our Prime Minister Menzies, also concerned about communist expansion felt Australia needed to cultivate its ‘great and powerful friends” and agreed to host the tests in the interests of National Security

There is no evidence to suggest that Mr Menzies consulted his cabinet about this decision. The successive prime Minister of Britain, Sir Winston Churchill also sanction the testing.

The Montebello Islands, also known as the Montebello Islands Marine Park are an archipelago of around 174 small islands – of which only 92+/-are named. They are situated about 20 Km north of Barrow Island and 120Km west of Dampier and protect one of the most beautiful and important marine areas along the West Australian coast.

The name, Monte Bello, means beautiful mountain. It is unsure as to who gave the island group this name. They were originally named by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin as the Tryall Rocks The two largest islands, Trimouille and Hermite island were also named by Baudin after French Admiral Jean L’Hermite and a French Aristocratic Family, the Trimouille Family.

The island group stretch 10m north to south, and consist mainly of islands composed of limestone and coral cliffs, some up to up to 12metere high, interspersed with white sandy beaches. They have well protected bays and channels and lagoons, barrier and fringing coral reefs, which offer a rich variety of wild life and rich maritime heritage, appealing to divers, snorkeler’s fishers and kayakers.

Dolphins, rays and turtles abound.

From a satellite image, these islands and their surrounding reefs give the form of a large whale preparing to breach.

Access to the islands may be made through three entrances –North Passage between North West Island and Pansy Island and through the Bunsen Channel adjacent to Trimouille Island and on to Main Bay

Entrance via the Southeast can be made via a heading for Flag Island and then a bearing to Southeast Island and through the South Channel. Entrance can also be made directly through South Channel in between Dot and Daisy Islands.

Entry from the west is possible through a break in the outer reef and heading towards Hermite Island.

The Montebello Islands are so far flung off the beaten track that most of us have no idea they are even part of Australia

Which is exactly why the British chose them as a site to detonate the three massive atomic bombs and in the process obliterated a marine paradise. Eye witness accounts report a “ Scene of utter devastation. There were hundreds and hundreds of dead turtles on the beach. The beach was littered from one end to the other.

More than 60 years later you’d expect to find a scorched waste land.

Instead it is one of nature’s most breathtaking comebacks.