Griffiths Island

Griffiths Island Lighthouse

Location	Port Fairy Victoria Australia
Coordinates	38°23′06″S 142°15′04″E
Tower
Constructed	1859
Construction	bluestone tower
Height	11 metres (36 feet)
Shape	cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings	white tower with red trim and lantern
Light
First lit	1859
Focal height	12.5 metres (41 feet)
Lens	catadioptric lantern
Range	22 kilometres (14 miles)
Characteristic	Fl (2) W 10 s.

There is little surviving evidence of Aboriginal use of the island, though it was visited by the local Gunditjmara people, who knew it as Moleen. Following commercial investigation of the western Victorian coast, it was named after John Griffiths, an entrepreneur and merchant from Launceston in northern Tasmania, who figures prominently in the early history of the area. From the mid-1830s until 1843 the island served as a base for a bay whaling station for southern right whales, until the supply of whales was exhausted and the industry went into terminal decline. Some shipbuilding also took place during the 1840s. The abandoned whaling station buildings were later used until 1854 by Flora Dunlop, widow of Victorian politician Alexander Dunlop, as a 'mission' for young Aborigines. Because of its historic and archaeological significance, the island has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (H1659).[3][4]

Griffiths Island Lighthouse was built in 1859 as a navigation aid at a time when Port Fairy was becoming an important trading port for western Victoria. Extensive harbour works undertaken then and subsequently, mainly to improve the navigability of the Moyne River and its approaches, have affected the shape and boundaries of the island. The lighthouse is operated by the Victorian Channels Authority, part of the Port of Melbourne Corporation. It was constructed on what was then Rabbit Island, at the eastern end of Griffiths, from local bluestone by Scottish stonemasons. The stairway was constructed with each step being inserted in the next course of stone in the outer wall. The lighthouse was initially manned by two keepers. The last keeper to live on the island was there from 1929 to 1954, when the light was automated; the two stone keepers’ cottages were subsequently demolished in about 1956.[5][6]

The low-lying island is about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) long and 0.8 kilometres (0.50 miles) wide at its widest point, with an area of about 31 hectares (77 acres). It is bordered on its northern side by the Moyne River, which has been channeled between stone 'training walls' and provides easy access by sea to the port of Port Fairy. Originally a cluster of three separate islands – Goat, Rabbit and Griffiths – harbour works and coastal accretion have consolidated them into a single island which protects the mouth of the Moyne and shelters Port Fairy Bay.[4]

Fauna

The island is home to a large colony of short-tailed shearwaters

Some 80–90 bird species have been recorded from the island, especially seabirds and waders. There is a large breeding colony of short-tailed shearwaters, locally known as 'muttonbirds', with an estimated 100,000 burrows (of which probably fewer than half are occupied during the September–April breeding season). The shearwater colony is a tourist attraction in spring and summer, with a viewing platform constructed to facilitate watching the birds as they return in a swarm to their burrows at dusk. Other animals resident on the island include swamp wallabies, short-beaked echidnas, blue-tongued lizards and tiger snakes.[4]

• Friends of Griffiths Island on Facebook
• Griffiths Island Lighthouse Project