St Peter Island (originally in Dutch: ''Eyland St. Pierre'') is an island in the
Nuyts Archipelago
The Nuyts Archipelago is an island group 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 consists of mostly granitic islands and reefs that provide breedin ...
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.
Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...
in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
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 ...
in
't Gulden Zeepaert in 1627.
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of Pinniped, seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in nine countries: Canada, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Russia, the United States (above the Arctic Circle ...
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 i ...
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 ...
s,
white-faced storm-petrel
The white-faced storm petrel (''Pelagodroma marina''), ( Māori: ''takahikare'') also known as white-faced petrel or frigate petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ...
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 Zealand. ...
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.]
See also
*
List of islands of Australia
This is a list of selected Australian islands grouped by state or territory. Australia has 8,222 islands within its maritime borders.
Largest islands
The islands larger than are:
* Tasmania (Tas) ;
* Melville Island, Northern Territory (NT ...
*
Woylie
The woylie or brush-tailed bettong (''Bettongia penicillata'') is a small, near threatened mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family ( Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is active at night, diggi ...
*
Greater stick-nest rat
The greater stick-nest rat (''Leporillus conditor''), also known as the housebuilding rat and wopilkara, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. They are about the size of a small rabbit and construct large nests of interwoven sticks. Once ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter Island
Islands of South Australia
Great Australian Bight
Seal hunting
Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company