Wright Island (South Australia) facts for kids
Wright Island, Encounter Bay, South Australia as seen from The Bluff. Granite Island is immediately behind Wright Island
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 Wright
Location in South Australia
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Encounter Bay |
| Coordinates | 35°34′59″S 138°36′32″E / 35.583°S 138.609°E |
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Australia
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Wright Island is a small island in Encounter Bay, South Australia. It's about the size of a football field (1 hectare). You can find it between the popular tourist spot Granite Island and a big rocky headland called The Bluff.
The island is mostly made of large granite rocks. It also has some low plants and a sandy beach. This beach is perfect for small boats to land. No one lives on Wright Island, and you can only get there by boat.
The island was named after William Wright. He was an important person in the South Australia Company's whaling business near Victor Harbor in the 1800s. The local government, the City of Victor Harbor, looks after the island as part of its parks.
In 1954, an eleven-year-old girl named Janet Barker visited the island. She wrote about her trip in a letter to an 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.
Wright Island Beach: A Spot for Fun
Wright Island Beach is a small beach on the island. It's a busy place for local wildlife. In the summer, many people visit to swim and fish there.
The Little Penguin Colony: A Sad Story
Wright Island was once home to many Little penguins. In 1941, lots of penguins lived there. By 1954, they were even breeding on the island.
Sadly, in 1973, some dead penguins and young seagulls were found on Wright Island. It was thought that people had harmed them.
In 1977, about 300 Little penguins lived on Wright Island. By 1990, the total number of penguins in the wider Encounter Bay area (including Wright Island) was thought to be between 5,000 and 7,000.
In December 1991, a count found 447 penguins on the island. In 1992, the number was estimated to be over 200. However, by June 2011, no one knew how many penguins were left.
In January 2013, Graham Philp, the mayor of Victor Harbor, said that the penguin groups on Wright Island and West Island were 'extinct'. This means there were no penguins left. The group on Granite Island had only about 20 penguins left.
Later in 2013, a penguin expert named Dr. Diane Colombelli-Négrel from Flinders University did a penguin count. She found no penguins and no active nests on Wright Island. Her report concluded that the penguin colony had not recovered after a big decline.
