The world’s most accessible Cape gannet colony can be found
on an island, linked to Lambert’s Bay by a breakwater wall. Bird Island also
gives shelter to thousands of cormorants and penguins, whilst Cape fur seals
can still be found on the rocks on the seaside of the island.
The three hectare Bird Island Nature Reserve is an important
breeding and roosting site for this cacophonous and, on the face of it, unruly
bunch of birds that serves as both an environmental educational opportunity,
and a tourist attraction of note. Bird Island is one of only six sites where
Cape gannets breed in the world.
Bird Island has a fantastic modern bird hide that has
transformed the island into something of an educational classroom on the life
of these birds.
It also means that visitors are less subject to the
incredibly strong smell of guano, collected from the island between 1888 and
1990 for use in fertilisers and known as “white gold.” Because of this regular
collecting, the penguin community sharply declined, particularly because their
eggs were regarded as a delicacy. Visitors to the island can also explore an
aquarium, auditorium, penguin pool, curio shop, and coffee shop, and there is a
video on the history of the island available in a number of different
languages.
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