Granite Island

Welcome to Granite Island, also known as Nulcoowarra by the Ramindjeri people.

This small island is located near Victor Harbor in South Australia and is about 80km south of Adelaide. Despite having no permanent residents, Granite Island is a famous tourist spot, with its important attractions being its little penguin colony and scenic horse-drawn tram ride across the causeway.

Granite Island has a rich history dating back to the 1830s when a shore-based bay whaling station operated on the island. In 1892, the first accident of its kind at Port Victor occurred when Ethel da Silva Dutton, daughter of Henry Dutton of Anlaby, died after falling 80ft from the rocks on the western side of the island.

In 1987, a committee was formed to consider improvements to Granite Island. One of the recommendations was to protect the fairy penguin population on the island. In 1989, the island’s rat and rabbit populations were reduced as they posed a threat to the penguin colony. A general population count conducted in early December 1991 found 571 penguins on the island. By 1992, the population of little penguins had stabilized to between 1000 and 1500. Nightly tours of the penguin colony started that year as a joint initiative of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Victor Harbor Council.

The Penguin Interpretive centre on Granite Island was established in 1999 with the aim of establishing a floating at-sea aquarium as a tourist attraction. The centre cared for injured penguins and also had captive “retired” birds in an artificial enclosure newline.