images: penguins.org.au

Phillip Island, with its stunning landscapes and habitats, provides a world class experience for visitors.

Above left: Abalone

Above right: Koala and joey

Main picture: Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island

[secret] places

The hidden side toPhillip Island

australian wildlife secrets 2120 australian wildlife secrets

J ust 140 km from Melbourne (about 11/2 hours’ drive) you will find Phillip Island, the home of amazing events, from the annual superbike/V8 supercar series to the world-renowned Penguin Parade. Within

Western Port in Victoria the island is roughly 26 km long and 6–7 km wide, and comprises about 100 sq km. Its 640-m bridge forms a lifeline between it and the mainland, giving easy access for its human population of 7500 and visitors, which can number anywhere between 1.7 and 3 million each year.

They are the basic statistics, but the hidden charms of Phillip Island reveal themselves only to those who stay for

a week or two and spend their days exploring the areas inner secret layers. This island has incredible wildlife and enough places of interest to keep you coming back for years to explore even more.

Life on the land and in the seaSignificantly, the list of wildlife on the island invariably begins with the Little Penguin, Short-tailed Shearwater and Koala. But it is home to more than 250 species of birds, marsupials and sea mammals, especially the Australian Fur Seals, and whales and dolphins are frequently seen. Other wildlife can be found along the amazing coastline of beaches, cliffs and rock pools, and beach combing is spectacular sport. For those that dive the island also offers quite a few surprises.

At night the Swamp Wallaby population comes to life and koalas can be seen crossing roads — so take care. Tawny frogmouths and Barking and Barn owls swoop down on unsuspecting mice, and Masked lapwings calls abound at dusk. By day, a variety of seasonal, resident waterbirds are visible — White-faced herons, Royal spoonbills, Swamp hens and the oystercatchers — and there are also dotterels and Hooded plovers to be spotted. Key species among raptors are the Peregrine falcons, Wedge-tailed eagles, Sea eagles and Swamp harriers. Other bird species to be seen include Blue wrens, Grey fantails, Currawongs, and Crimson rosellas. Once there were abundant Orange-bellied parrots, although these are rarely seen now, but Yellow-tailed black cockatoos are happily in residence.

Occasionally Blotched blue-tongues can be seen around the heathland beside the beaches or on walking tracks. Small skinks scuttle between shrubs or can be seen basking on the rocks. The only common snake on the island is the very shy and inoffensive, although venomous, Lowland Copperhead. Sightings of these are few and far between.

Taking a walk along the seashore, beachcombers will delight in the wide range of life and beach-washed items. The low tide reveals the variety of rock pool life that clearly tells the world the Western Port Bay is rich with aquatic species. The region has two significant marine conservation areas. The first is the San Remo Marine

Conservation community, a small isolated intertidal and subtidal area that is filled with diverse and amazing invertebrates. And then there is the marine port near the township of San Remo, which is just a 600 by 300 m patch called the Churchill Marine National Park. It showcases mudflats, saltmarshes and shallow and deep reef systems. The mudflats are essential to marine invertebrates, and the 32 known species of waders frequent Western Port Bay. The rock pools are exposed low tide areas and marine life, such as crabs, kelp, sea grass, molluscs and sea invertebrates, are easily spied.

There is also a fantastic seal colony estimated to number 25,000. To see them go to the north end of the island where there are well-defined and presented walkways —and take your binoculars. The area known as Seal Rocks is offshore but, as with the Penguin Parade near the Nobbies, it is a world-class tourist delight. This is a major breeding ground for Australian fur seals. There is a ‘seal cam’ for visitors to observe their antics underwater. And because there are seals, this area is an important feeding ground for Great White Sharks, so you might just see them as well. The seals can also be visited by sea if booked through a tour company. Guides can take you out on a charter boat and get in close, or can take you to the best spots to dive among the seals. The chance of encounters with dolphins or Great White sharks is also common in Western Port Bay.

Pictured left to right: Australian fur seals are

wonderful, charismatic sea mammals that live

at sea. The colony at Seal Rocks is one of the

largest in Australia.

Decorator crab, seen in rocky pools around the

island. The camouflage protects them from

predation.

Little penguins emerge at dusk, returning to

their nest to feed. At dawn they return to the

ocean to forage for more food. They can remain

at sea for days.

A shy venomous snake, the Lowland

copperhead may be seen basking on mild sunny

days. They will not react to being observed at

a distance and if approached too closely will

return to their shelter site.

Bottom left: Swamp wallaby, may be commonly

sighted around the island, especially at night.

Care must be taken on the road, for wildlife

including wallabies and koalas may be

crossing.

Right: Short – tailed shearwaters fly out to

forage at sea all day, returning at dusk to

feed chicks or remain in their burrow.

Wildlife watching made easy.

Places to goThere are so many places to stretch your legs and use the camera, and here are just some of them. The amazing blowhole, a sea cave that during good seas water fills and expels explosively, is quite a sight. This region is also a major spot for roosting Kelp gulls, Sooty oystercatchers and Short-tailed Shearwater birds. From the Nobbies or Cape Woolamai at sunset, the sky fills with thousands of shearwaters returning from fishing out at sea. Cape Woolamai has great walking tracks that provide magnificent coastline views. The cape is the highest point on Phillip Island and the largest Short-tailed Shearwater rookery.

oct–Dec: Males battle for mating

oct–Dec: Females give birth

Dec–Jan: Males leave

Feb–oct: Females remain with pups

PhiLLiP isLandseaL seasonaL cycLe

australian wildlife secrets 2322 australian wildlife secrets

Above: Hooded plovers, like many waders,

will forage in low tide areas for marine

invertebrates.

Above left: Little penguins come ashore every

night in numbers which are seasonally based.

The viewing area is a well-known tourist icon.

Up to 2 million visitors a year from all around

the world visit the Penguin Parade.

Rhyll Inlet is a world-renowned habitat for migratory waders, and the walking tracks in this area allow good bird-observation opportunities. The walking tracks in this area are also suitable for bicycles.

Oswin Roberts Reserve is the last remnant bushland on Phillip Island. The walking tracks allow for wildlife observation and are also suitable for bicycles.

While touring the island, visit Cowes, Newhaven, San Remo, for classy cafés and restaurants and accommodation. A range of other activities from helicopter rides, kayaking, horse rides through to the maze and things theme park, shopping and the information centre.

Accommodation is diverse across the island, availability and style is as wide as the budget can go. Some things to remember during most days is that Phillip Island can be windswept, tidal movements fast and strong, seas unpredictable and during most times of the year, blankets and warm clothes will be the order of the day for night Penguin Parade visits.

Little (Fairy) Penguin (Eudyptula minor) This is the smallest penguin in the world — an adult weighs only around 1 kg and measures about 30–33 mm. They survive by foraging at sea for fish and marine invertebrates, such as squid. When searching for food, they need to dive down as far as 20 m, so penguins rub an oil from a gland at the base of their tail into each feather while preening to keep them waterproof.

Penguins can come ashore at night, but if they spend the night out in the ocean they can sleep for periods of time while floating. But when penguins are moulting (usually between February and April) they need to remain ashore, and this makes them quite irritable birds. Not only do penguins like to be well fed, on land they are vulnerable to predation from roaming dogs and, more seriously, foxes.

Foxes have depleted colonies of penguin all around Australia. To prevent further harm from this carnivorous mammal, a number of prevention methods have been put in place in colonies across Australia, including the use of Maremma sheepdogs, penguin wardens (human volunteers) and pest-control methods.

From May till July, Little penguins prepare a nest in a burrow. The parents usually return to the same nest year after year. Mating and fighting over females at this time

is common and quite noisy. From August till October, two eggs on average are laid, usually two days apart. The parents share incubation for 35 days, with one parent fishing at sea and returning at dusk. Pacific gulls are the usual predators of eggs.

From November to January, the chicks hatch and are covered in dark fluff. After dusk each night the fishing parent comes ashore to feed them by regurgitating food. After two to three weeks both parents leave them at the burrow during the day, returning at night to feed them. After eight weeks the birds have developed feathers and are preening, which gets their feathers ready to travel out to sea. The parents then stop feeding them, which triggers the young to search for food.

Normally only one chick survives to adulthood. Many fledglings struggle at sea and wildlife rescue volunteers answer many calls to help underweight birds washed up on key beaches around Australia. These birds are placed in rehabilitation and fed to increase their weight and then released back into the ocean. If young penguins learn to fish, avoid predation from sharks, Leopard or New Zealand fur-seals, and foxes on land, they mature after two to three years to begin their own family.

Useful linkshttp://www.penguins.org.au/http://www.visitphillipisland.com/

Cape Woolamai

Treetop Boardwalk