Little Galloo Island is located in eastern

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

near the entrance to

Sackets Harbor Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who ...

Jefferson County, New York Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United St ...

, within the jurisdiction of the Town of Hounsfield. The small island is a protected area, and one of the very few uninhabited islands in eastern Lake Ontario.

Geography

Little Galloo Island is approximately from the New York mainland, and southeast of the international boundary with Canada. It is one of a group of four nearby islands which includes

Galloo Island Galloo Island is located in eastern Lake Ontario near the entrance to Sackets Harbor in Jefferson County, New York, within the jurisdiction of the Town of Hounsfield. Geography Location Galloo Island is approximately from the New York mainland, ...

, Calf Island, and Stony Island.

Natural features and wildlife

Most of the island is covered by herbaceous vegetation, with a few trees located primarily around the perimeter.

Ring-billed gulls The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River. Description ...

have nested on Little Galloo Island since 1938, and in 1990 there were 84,230 nesting pairs, one of the largest nesting concentrations in North America. The

double-crested cormorant The double-crested cormorant (''Nannopterum auritum'') is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes, and in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Al ...

was first reported breeding on the island in 1967. Other birds that have been noted on the island include the black-crowned night heron,

cattle egret The cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Bubulcus'', although some authorities regard ...

herring gull Herring gull is a common name for several birds in the genus '' Larus'', all formerly treated as a single species. Three species are still combined in some taxonomies: * American herring gull (''Larus smithsonianus'') - North America * European ...

great black-backed gull The great black-backed gull (''Larus marinus'') is the largest member of the gull family. Described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "the king of the Atlantic waterfront", it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on t ...

Caspian tern The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

, and

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migrator ...

. The rocky waters and shoals near the island provide spawning habitat for smallmouth bass,

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The name "White per ...

brown bullhead The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Am ...

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

, and

pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrarchi ...

. Historian Jeff Alexander described Little Galloo Island as "an ugly duckling, at least aesthetically. Its terrain and brushy vegetation don't make the 40-acre island a destination for tourists. For birds, it is an entirely different story."

History

In 1823, patents were issued to Elisha Camp for most of Little Galloo, Gallo, and Calf islands, along with several other islands. A historical map from 1887 documented a structure on the island, though no extant structures still exist. In 1998, Phillips Petroleum donated the island to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). The island was then designated a "wildlife management area", used to protect and promote fish and wildlife resources.

Conflict over cormorants

The cormorant population on Little Galloo Island grew significantly through the 1980s and 1990s as a result of ample food supplies, pollution control measures, and state and federal protection. As the cormorant population grew, so did the suspicion that its predation was causing a decline in fish populations. Because tourism and fishing were a significant contributor to the local economy on the mainland, some residents felt the cormorants threatened their livelihoods and traditional lifestyles. The NYSDEC obtained permits to curb the population on the island. As well, a study begun in 1998 suggested the smallmouth bass stocks in eastern Lake Ontario were being depleted by the cormorants. Before the NYSDEC could take action, a group of men from the local community illegally shot 850 birds in July 1998. Local schools have taken action to revive wildlife on the island.

References

{{authority control Islands of Jefferson County, New York Islands of Lake Ontario in New York (state) Uninhabited islands of New York (state)