However, an exercise to remove South African boxthorn, an introduced species considered to an infestation risk, which occurred either during the 1960s or the 1970s and which resulted in the islets becoming ‘susceptible to erosion, and tides and rough weather’ thereby reducing the ‘once stable vegetated islets to bare, wave-washed sand spits’.

[1] The islets is part of a drying spit at low water which falls to a depth of 5 m (16 ft) within about 0.6–1.25 km (0.37–0.78 mi) to the west.

[2] As of 1987 and again in 1996, the Beatrice Islets were reported as having no vegetation as a result of an exercise to remove the infestation of South African boxthorn.

[5][6] While sources dated 1987 and 1996 do not explicitly list fauna for Beatrice Islets, it is likely that fauna species which are exclusively birds reported as being present on The Spit and Busby Island such as the following will be observed on the Beatrice Islets: white-bellied sea-eagle, eastern curlew, fairy tern little egret, pied cormorant, little pied cormorant, black-faced cormorant, Australian pelican, Australian white ibis, grey plover, greater sand plover, whimbrel, grey-tailed tattler, bar-tailed godwit, red knot, red-necked stint, red-capped plover, sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher, curlew sandpiper, sharp-tailed sandpiper and ruddy turnstone.

[8] Beatrice Islets are one of the island sites from which guano was mined under licence from the South Australian Government prior to 1919.