English Island is an island off the coast of

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is a part of the

Sir Joseph Banks Group The Sir Joseph Banks Group is an archipelago in the Australian state of South Australia located in Spencer Gulf about off the eastern coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It consists of 21 islands of which eighteen are in the Sir Joseph Banks Group C ...

and close to Sibsey Island. The island is most notable for its large colony of

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s, and for a

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...

movement started by the eccentric and self-styled "Sir Ralph Styles of English Island" in 1954.

Flora and fauna

The island is part of the Sir Joseph Banks Group Important Bird Area, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because of its importance as a breeding site for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

s and for Cape Barren geese. It first obtained protected area status as a fauna conservation reserve declared under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1966'' on 16 March 1967. In 1926, English Island was described as "teeming" with seals and thousands of breeding

cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gene ...

. Each nest contained one, two or three pale greenish eggs. In 1935 the island was described as "flat, low, and literally smothered in shags... The birds stood in rank beyond rank on the rock— thousands of them... From the rocks, seals dived into the sea and came playing around the cutter, lifting dog-like heads to stare at us." An account of the breeding sea lions (sometimes referred to as hair seals) of English Island was given in 1940:

"The first island, about ten acres in area, is inhabited by scores of seals, some no bigger than a doll and others grow to a height of about nine feet and which are the size of a full grown bullock. These are very curious and will follow a boat for long distances. When we were in the dinghy in about ten feet of water we could see them sitting on the bottom of the sea and looking up at us."

Australian sealions were observed on English Island in 1935 and 1937 and were photographed by a McCoy Society expedition there. In 1938, a visitor estimated there were roughly 300 present.

References

Islands of South Australia Spencer Gulf {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub