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. 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.
