Cull Island, also known as Culls Island and Gull Island, is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

off the south coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in the

Recherche Archipelago The Archipelago of the Recherche, known locally as the Bay of Isles, is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the south coast of Western Australia. The islands stretch from east to west and to off-shore encomp ...

. It is located about southeast of Esperance and occupies an area of . Cull Island is uninhabited but is home to a group of wild goats which roam the island. It also has a colony of

little penguins The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is the smallest species of penguin. It originates from New Zealand. It is commonly known as the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, owing to its slate-blue plumage and is also known by ...

and is one of the main nesting grounds for the

Cape Barren goose The Cape Barren goose (''Cereopsis novaehollandiae''), sometimes also known as the pig goose, is a species of goose endemic to southern Australia. It is a distinctive large, grey bird that is mostly terrestrial and is not closely related to oth ...

. An unmanned

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

is located in the centre of the island on a white hut about high. It was installed with an acetylene-powered light in 1965 but was converted to an automatic solar-powered flashing light in 1984. On 5 January 2020, Gary Johnson a local Esperance diver was killed by a

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

while diving at Cull Island.Diver dies after shark attack at Cull Island, Western Australia
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References

{{reflist Recherche Archipelago Uninhabited islands of Australia Shire of Esperance

See also

References