Granite Island (Australia)
 Granite Island
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| Location | Encounter Bay |
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Australia
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Granite Island, also known by the Ramindjeri people as Nulcoowarra, is a small island next to Victor Harbor, South Australia, not far from South Australia's capital city, Adelaide. Although there are no permanent residents, there are buildings and shelters on the island, including a cafe. It is a popular tourist attraction, particularly for people wishing to see little penguins (commonly called "fairy penguins") which live there. The island also supported resident wallabies in the 1980s which captivated visiting tourists. The island is accessible across a causeway from the mainland, either on foot or by catching an antique horse-drawn tram. As of 2015, the private company Oceanic Victor intends to use the island as a departure point to ferry tourists to a new tourist attraction in adjacent waters. Tourists will be able to enter an aquaculture seacage where they will be able to swim with and hand feed southern bluefin tuna, and observe other South Australian marine species.
In 1987 a joint State and local government committee was formed "to consider improvements to Granite Island." The Committee recommended that the island's tourism potential be maximised, while protecting its environment. The Committee also specifically recommended the "protection of the fairy penguin population."
In 1989, the island's rat and rabbit populations were subjected to culling, with poison used to reduce rat numbers. Rats are known to raid the nests of little penguins. The island's wallaby population was also reduced, with animals relocated as far afield as Cummins on Eyre Peninsula.
In 1990, the wider Encounter Bay little penguin population was estimated to be between 5000 and 7000 penguins. At this time, the colony's breeding season was considered to span July through January, followed by molting season January through March.
In July 1991, the National Parks & Wildlife Service estimated the Encounter Bay area (which includes Granite, West and Wright Islands) population of little penguins to total 7,000 birds.
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