Point Danger is a headland on the coast of south-western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It lies at the western end of

Portland Bay Portland Bay ( Dhauwurdwurrung: ''Kardermudelar / Pathowwererer'') is a small bay off the coast of Victoria, Australia. It is about west of Melbourne. The city of Portland is located on the bay. The western end of the bay is marked by the he ...

, on the northern side of Bass Strait, about 6 km south-south-east of the city of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. Cape Nelson lies 2.5 km to the south-west and the

Lawrence Rocks The Lawrence Rocks are a group of two rocky islets, 6.8 ha and 1.5 ha in area, with an associated reef, 2.4 km south-east of Point Danger in western Victoria, Australia, and about 6 km south-east of the city of Portland. ...

2 km to the south-east.

Gannet colony

Point Danger is home to a colony of

Australasian gannet The Australasian gannet (''Morus serrator''), also known as the Australian gannet or tākapu, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and lining the trailin ...

s, largely a result of spillover from the nearby Lawrence Rocks colony exceeding its capacity. Established in October 1996, it is Australia's only mainland gannet colony; all others are on islands. However, in the first year of its existence no chicks were produced because of human disturbance and predation by

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es and

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

s. The gannets have subsequently been protected both by limiting public access to a viewing site overlooking the colony and by the presence of two

Maremma Sheepdog The Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog, ( it, ), also called Maremmano, the Maremma Sheepdog or Abruzzese Sheepdog, and Cane da Pastore Abruzzese or Pastore Abruzzese (''Abruzzese Sheepdog'' and ''Abruzzese Shepherd'', respectively) is an Italian ...

s to deter predators. Colony size has grown to about 3000 birds.

References

Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Isla ...

Portland, Victoria Bass Strait Seabird colonies {{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub