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. Although there are no permanent residents, the island has buildings and shelters, 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. The private company Oceanic Victor uses the island as a departure point to ferry tourists to an at-sea, floating aquarium in adjacent waters. History A shore-based bay whaling station operated at Granite Island in the 1830s. On 8 February 1892, Ethel da Silva Dutton, daughter of Henry Dutton of Anlaby, died after falling 80ft from the rocks on the western side of the island. Ethel was supposedly "searching among the rocks for a pocket knife when her foot slipped and she fell down a precipitous part of the Western Point and thence into the sea." At the time, it was said to be the first accident of its kind at Port Victor. Little penguin colony 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 "protecting 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. A general population count conducted in early December 1991 found 571 penguins on Granite Island. Penguins were also counted on West Island and Wright Island, and the total number of