a fundraising drive to gather funds for research into the genetics of the population and the causes of the decline. In 2015, the number had dropped to 22 birds. Some possible drivers of the decline include New Zealand fur seal predation and overfishing. Flinders University intends to establish a centre at which animals can be captively studied, bred, and potentially released back to the wild. Similarly, dramatic declines have been noted nearby at West Island and at colonies across Backstairs Passage on Kangaroo Island, including closely monitored populations at Penneshaw and Kingscote. Other colonies within Encounter Bay have gone extinct, including those at Wright Island and Freeman's Knob (Port Elliot). Penguin Centre Dianne and Stephen Edwards took on the Granite Island lease in 1999, with the view to establishing a floating at-sea aquarium as a tourist attraction and expanding the Penguin Interpretive Centre. The aquarium structure later returned to Boston Bay, Port Lincoln, where it became home to Swim with the Tuna. In January 2016, the Granite Island Penguin Centre closed. The centre had cared for numerous injured penguins and nursed them back to health over its sixteen years of operation. The centre was also accessible to tourists who were able to view the captive "retired" birds in an artificial enclosure. The centre closed due to the retirement of Dorothy Longden, who managed the centre. Nightly tours were expected to continue to run from the information centre on the mainland. Oceanic Victor In early 2015, a proposal to locate a marine tourism venture offshore from Granite Island was made by Oceanic Victor to the Government of South Australia. It received the final necessary approval from the Development Assessment Commission in December 2015. The venture was expected to open for business in February 2016 but was delayed due to an appeal of the Development Assessment Commission's approval decision. The appeal was ultimately dismissed and the attraction was towed into place in July 2017. The attraction involves a floating sea cage aquaculture pen, containing up to five tonnes of southern bluefin tuna, which paying customers can swim with and hand feed. Lesser quantities of other local marine species can also be seen via a floating underwater observatory within the pen and two touch-tank aquaria. The attraction also contains some small sharks and rays. The operation previously ran under the name Swim with the Tuna and was located in Boston Bay near Port