Kangaroo Island marine parks

Australian fur seal
The largest of the fur seals, with males more than 2m in length. Australian fur seals come to the rocky shores of the Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park to mate and give birth

Australian sea lion
The Pages Islands in the Encounter Marine Park and famous Seal Bay in the Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park support breeding colonies of Australian sea lions, one of the rarest sea lions in the world. They are very social animals, and gather in large groups called herds or rafts.

Little penguin
A great favourite with tourists, the little penguin is the world’s smallest penguin species, with the average male weighing 1.4kg. Colonies are found at various beaches around the island.

Harlequin fish
Harlequin fish have bright blue spots on their heads and upper body and can be red, orange, yellow or brown in colour. The fish sets up home right where it hatches, such as the reefs of the Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park. It grows to around 75cm in length and can weigh more than 3kg.

Hooded plover
The hooded plover is a small shorebird that breeds on the island’s remote beaches, including those of the Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park. The birds lay their eggs in shallow bowl-like holes on the open sand. The hooded plover is endangered and its numbers are dropping, with fewer than 3,000 birds left in the wild.

Southern right whale
Southern right whales live only in the cool waters of the southern hemisphere. Each year they migrate from the Antarctic to South Australia to breed and are often seen from the coast off Kangaroo Island and Victor Harbor during spring.

White-bellied sea eagle
The white-bellied sea eagle is not really an eagle, but actually large kite. Females are usually larger than the males and build nests in tall trees and on cliffs. The Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park is an important foraging ground for the sea eagle, where the birds feed from the surface of the water, eating fish, eels and penguins.