Penneshaw is a township on the northeast coast of the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, and is the island's main ferry port with regular services from Cape Jervis. Penneshaw features a Maritime and Folk Museum, and evening tours to a colony of little penguin, the only species of penguin to breed in Australian waters. At the 2006 census, Penneshaw had a population of 265.
Originally known as Hog Bay due to the pigs released by French Commander Nicholas Baudin, Penneshaw was named after a combination of the names of Dr. F.W.Pennefather, private secretary to Governor Jervois, and Flora Louisa Shaw, The Times colonial editor, a visitor to Government House.
South Australia's first modern seawater desalination plant was established at Penneshaw in the 1990s, to supplement the town's limited dam water supply.
In 2012 the Penneshaw jetty was extended to provide a cruise ship tender vessel landing facility to accommodate growing numbers of short-term visitors arriving by cruise ship. In the 2014-15 season, seven cruise ships landed passengers at Pennseshaw with eight or nine ships expected the following season.
Attractions
As of June 2011, the number of little penguins in the section of the colony which is monitored by the Penneshaw Penguin Centre appears to have declined over the prior 10 years. In 2008, the population was 216 birds.
Restoration work to provide improve habitat for little penguins near Penneshaw is ongoing. As of 2013, an 800m coastal strip between Frenchman’s Rock and Baudin Conservation Park is the focus site. Works include the removal of weeds, planting of native plants and installation of nesting boxes.
In July 1984, two dogs killed 80 penguins at the Penneshaw foreshore in a single night. The mortality event reduced the population there by almost half. A dog attack at Penneshaw in March 2003 resulted in over 30 penguins being killed.
Politics
Penneshaw is in the Kangaroo Island Council local government area, the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Finniss and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Mayo.