Wright Island (South Australia)

Last updated

Wright
Wright Island, Encounter Bay, South Australia.JPG
Wright Island, Encounter Bay, South Australia as seen from The Bluff. Granite Island is immediately behind Wright Island
Australia South Australia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Wright
Geography
Location Encounter Bay
Coordinates 35°34′59″S138°36′32″E / 35.583°S 138.609°E / -35.583; 138.609 Coordinates: 35°34′59″S138°36′32″E / 35.583°S 138.609°E / -35.583; 138.609
Administration
Australia

Wright Island is a 1 hectare (2.5 acres) island in Encounter Bay, South Australia. It is located between the popular tourist destination Granite Island and the prominent rocky headland known as The Bluff. The island consists largely of granite boulders. It also features low vegetation and a sandy beach suitable for the landing of small boats. The island is uninhabited and can only be accessed from the water. It was named after William Wright, one of the headmen of the South Australia Company's whaling operations in the Victor Harbor area in the 1800s. [1] The island is managed by the City of Victor Harbor, the local government authority, as part of its parks and gardens asset. [2]

Contents

Eleven-year-old Janet Barker visited the island in 1954 and described it in a letter to Adelaide newspaper, The Mail:

One day a boy rowed us over to Wright Island where we saw lots of baby penguins.Their nests were lined with feathers but we could hardly see them because they were under rocks. On the beach there were two whale bones and there were shags all over the rocks. The boy told us the island was half a mile from Encounter Bay and on still nights he could hear the penguins squawking. [3]

Wright Island Beach

Wright Island Beach (35°34'55.45"S 138°36'29.24"E) is a small beach located on Wright Island. It is commonly used by wildlife and is popular with human visitors in the summer who swim and fish there.

Little penguin colony

"Many" penguins were present on Wright Island in 1941 [4] and breeding in 1954. [3]

In 1973, ten dead penguins and fifteen young seagulls were found dead on Wright Island in Encounter Bay, South Australia. It was believed that they were killed by people poking sticks down burrows before scattering the dead bodies around. [5]

In 1977, Wright Island supported a colony of 300 Little penguins.

In 1990, the wider Encounter Bay population (of which Wright Island is a part) was estimated to be between 5000 and 7000 penguins. [6]

In early December 1991 a general count found 447 penguins present. [7] In 1992, the population was estimated at over 200. At June 2011 its population status was unknown. [8]

In January 2013, Victor Harbor mayor Graham Philp said that the penguin colonies on Wright and West Islands were 'extinct' while the population on Granite Island was in 'the low 20s'. [9]

The 2013 Encounter Bay penguin census conducted by penguin ecologist Dr. Diane Colombelli-Négrel from Flinders University found no penguins and no active burrows on Wright Island. The census' report concluded that the colony had not recovered from a prior colony collapse. [10]

Related Research Articles

Little penguin Smallest penguin species

The little penguin is the smallest species of penguin. It grows to an average of 33 cm (13 in) in height and 43 cm (17 in) in length, though specific measurements vary by subspecies. It is found on the coastlines of southern Australia and New Zealand, with possible records from Chile. In Australia, they are often called fairy penguins because of their small size. In New Zealand, they are more commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage; they are also known by their Māori name: kororā.

Victor Harbor, South Australia City in South Australia

Victor Harbor is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located within the City of Victor Harbor on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 82 kilometres (51 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide. The town is the largest population centre on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries and various industries. It is also a highly popular tourist destination, with the area's population greatly expanded during the summer holidays, usually by Adelaide locals looking to escape the summer heat.

Granite Island (South Australia) Island in South Australia

Granite Island, also known by the Ramindjeri people as Nulcoowarra, is a small island next to Victor Harbor, South Australia, about 80 km south of South Australia's capital city, Adelaide.

Encounter Bay Bay on the south central coast of South Australia

Encounter Bay, once known as Ramong to the Ramindjeri people, is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baudin, the commander of the Baudin expedition of 1800–03. It is the site of both the mouth of the River Murray and the regional city of Victor Harbor. It is one of four "historic bays" located on the South Australian coast.

Port Elliot, South Australia Town in South Australia

Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of the bay. At the 2006 census, Port Elliot had a population of 1,754, although this section of the coast is now built up almost all the way from Goolwa to Victor Harbor.

Kingscote, South Australia Town in South Australia

Kingscote is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located on Kangaroo Island about 119 kilometres (74 mi) south-west of the state capital of Adelaide. It is South Australia's oldest European settlement and the island's largest town. At the 2016 census, Kingscote had a population of 1,790. It is a well-established tourist centre and the administrative and communications centre. It is home to a colony of the smallest penguins in the world, the little penguin.

Flinders Island (South Australia)

Flinders Island is an island in the Investigator Group off the coast of South Australia approximately 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of mainland town Elliston. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his younger brother Samuel Flinders, the second lieutenant on HMS Investigator in 1802.

Thistle Island

Thistle Island / Nundalla is in the Spencer Gulf, South Australia, some 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Adelaide, and northwest of the Gambier Islands. The city of Port Lincoln lies to the northwest of the island. Between them, the Gambier Islands and Thistle form a chain across the mouth of the gulf between the southern tips of the Yorke and Eyre Peninsulas, sometimes referred to as the Taylor Islands group.

Sir Joseph Banks Group

The Sir Joseph Banks Group is an archipelago in the Australian state of South Australia located in Spencer Gulf about 20 kilometres (12 mi) off the eastern coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It consists of 21 islands of which eighteen are in the Sir Joseph Banks Group Conservation Park while the surrounding waters are in the Sir Joseph Banks Group Marine Park. It is considered to be an important seabird breeding site.

Troubridge Island

Troubridge Island is an island located in the south west corner of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia near the eastern edge of the Troubridge Shoals off the east coast of Yorke Peninsula about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southeast by east of the town of Edithburgh It is notable for being a site of an operating lighthouse from 1856 until 2002 and as a site for a sea bird rookery. Since 1982, the island has been part of the Troubridge Island Conservation Park.

West Island (South Australia)

West Island is a 10 hectares granite island lying 0.8 kilometres off the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, 7 kilometres south-west of the town of Victor Harbor. It rises to a maximum height of about 40 metres in the south-west. Its main conservation value lies its seabird colonies.

Pullen Island (South Australia) Island in South Australia

Pullen Island is a 1 ha granite island lying 0.5 km offshore from the town of Port Elliot on the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. It was originally named Lipson Island but was renamed in 1839 by W.J.S. Pullen, the Colonial Marine Surveyor, after himself. The island is protected by designation as the Pullen Island Conservation Park.

Lipson Cove

Lipson Cove is a tranquil sandy bay in the Australian state of South Australia on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula overlooking Spencer Gulf. It features in the 2012 book 101 Best Australian Beaches by Andy Short and Brad Farmer.

Althorpe Islands Islands of South Australia

The Althorpe Islands are a group of islands in the Investigator Strait, off the south-western tip of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. The group includes Althorpe Island and two rocky islets immediately to its west known as The Boobs. These are located 7.7 km south-southwest of Cape Spencer on the mainland. Closer inshore are Seal Island and Haystack Island, which together with Althorpe Island and The Boobs constitute the Althorpe Islands Conservation Park. A management plan for the Althorpe Islands Conservation Park was adopted in 2009. The islands are uninhabited and can only be accessed by sea or by helicopter.

Williams Island (South Australia) Island in South Australia

Williams Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located off the south coast of Jussieu Peninsula on Eyre Peninsula approximately 34 km (21 mi) south-east of Port Lincoln. It was named by Matthew Flinders for Robert Williams who subsequently lost his life along with seven other crew in the capsize of a cutter launched from HM Sloop Investigator to search for water on 21 February 1802. Since 2004, the island has been part of the Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area.

Rosetta Head headland on the south coast of South Australia

Rosetta Head, known as Kongkengguwar by the Ramindjeri people but more commonly known as The Bluff, is a headland located on the south coast of Fleurieu Peninsula in Encounter Bay, South Australia, within the local government area of the City of Victor Harbor. It is a prominent landmark on the coast, about 77 kilometres south of the state capital of Adelaide, and currently used as a recreational reserve.

Seal Island (Encounter Bay) Small island of South Australia

Seal Island, also known as Seal Rock, is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located in Encounter Bay off the south coast of Fleurieu Peninsula approximately 2.7 kilometres south-east of Victor Harbor. It is located with the boundaries of the following protected areas - the West Island Conservation Park and the Encounter Marine Park.

Pearson Island Island in South Australia

Pearson Island is an island located in the Australian state of South Australia within the Pearson Isles an island group located in the larger group known as the Investigator Group about 63 kilometres southwest by west of Cape Finniss on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula. The group was discovered and named by Matthew Flinders on 13 February 1802. The island group has enjoyed protected area status since the 1960s and since 2011, it has been part of the Investigator Group Wilderness Protection Area. Pearson Island is notable both for its colony of Pearson Island Rock wallaby and for being a destination for scientific research.

Royston Island Island in South Australia

Royston Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia at the northern end of Pondalowie Bay on the south-west extremity of Yorke Peninsula about 13 kilometres north-west of the town of Stenhouse Bay. The island has enjoyed protected area status since 1967 and since 1972, it has been part of the Innes National Park.

References

  1. Victor Harbor > History > European History Victor Harbor City Council, South Australia. Accessed 2014-02-11.
  2. "City of Victor Harbor Reserves" (PDF). City of Victor Harbor. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 Barker, Janet "These letters won awards - Great fun" The Mail, Adelaide, South Australia (1954-03-06). Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  4. "The Bluff and its surroundings". Victor Harbour Times. 26 September 1941. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. "PENGUINS, SEAGULLS KILLED". Victor Harbour Times (SA : 1932 - 1986). 12 January 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  6. "Penguins: No cause for alarm". Times. 2 May 1990. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  7. "Council News in Brief Penguin numbers". Times. 8 February 1991. p. 3. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  8. Wiebken, Annelise "Conservation management priorities for little penguin populations in Gulf St Vincent" SARDI (2011-06). Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  9. Simmons, Michael "Little penguins face extinction" Victor Harbor Times, South Australia (2013-01-31). Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  10. Colombelli-Négrel, D. & Kleindorfer, S. Penguin monitoring and conservation activities in the Gulf St Vincent July 2013 – June 2014. Report to the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Natural Resources Management Board, Flinders University, South Australia (2014-04). Retrieved 2014-07-27.