St Peter Island (originally in Dutch: ''Eyland St. Pierre'') is an island in the

Nuyts Archipelago The Nuyts Archipelago is an island group located in South Australia in the Great Australian Bight to the south of the town of Ceduna on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It consisting of mostly granitic islands and reefs that provid ...

on the west 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 ...

near Ceduna. It is the second largest island in South Australia and about long. It was one of the first parts of South Australia to be discovered and named by Europeans, along with St Francis Island, mapped by

François Thijssen François Thijssen or Frans Thijsz (died 13 October 1638?) was a Dutch- French explorer who explored the southern coast of Australia. He was the captain of the ship t Gulden Zeepaerdt'' (''The Golden Seahorse'') when sailing from Cape of Good H ...

in 't Gulden Zeepaert in 1627.

Seal hunting Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in ten countries: United States (above the Arctic Circle in Alaska), Canada, Namibia, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Ic ...

took place on the island in the 1820s and 1830s. Archaeological investigations have also located whale vertebra at the site. The historic St Peter Island Whaling Sites are listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

as a designated place of archaeological significance.

Protected area status

Statutory reserves

The island is part of the Nuyts Archipelago Conservation Park while the waters surrounding its shores are in the Nuyts Archipelago Marine Park.

Non-statutory arrangements

Important Bird Area

The island is part of the Nuyts Archipelago Important Bird Area (IBA), so identified 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 it supports over 1% of the world populations of

short-tailed shearwater The short-tailed shearwater or slender-billed shearwater (''Ardenna tenuirostris''; formerly ''Puffinus tenuirostris''), also called yolla or moonbird, and commonly known as the muttonbird in Australia, is the most abundant seabird species in A ...

white-faced storm-petrel The white-faced storm petrel (''Pelagodroma marina''), also known as white-faced petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Pelagodroma''. Description The white-faced ...

s and

pied oystercatcher The pied oystercatcher (''Haematopus longirostris'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island pied oystercatcher (''H. finschi'') occurs in New Zealan ...

s. The island lies across the Yatala Channel from the separate Tourville and Murat Bays Important Bird Area, just west of Ceduna on the mainland.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Tourville and Murat Bays. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2011-11-07.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter Island Islands of South Australia Great Australian Bight Seal hunting Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company

Protected area status

Statutory reserves

Non-statutory arrangements

Important Bird Area

See also

Notes