Dolphin Island (Western Australia)
island off the Western Australian coast
Dolphin Island is an island situated in the Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Visitors are able to camp within 100 metres (328 ft) of the high water mark on all of the beaches on the island except for the south eastern side.
The island is designated as a B Class Nature Reserve (34944) and has a total area of 3,203 hectares (7,915 acres)
. It is the second largest island of the archipelago after Enderby Island but it is the highest in the archipelago rising to 120 metres (394 ft) above sea level.
The island is composed of precambrian volcanic and granitic rocks with some outcrops of archaen granite and granite gneiss which are over 2400 Ma in age. The island is separated from the Burrup Peninsula by a major valley system formed by a regional fracture.
Indigenous Australians inhabited the area or utilised the islands of the archipelago for over 18,000 years with the Yapurarra peoples being the traditional owners.
The island was named by Francis Thomas Gregory during his 1861 expedition through the Pilbara, the island is named after the ship captained by Gregory.
The pearling industry was established in the archipelago in 1870 and the rock pools on Dolphin Island were used to supply fresh water to the fleet. Six graves on the western side of the island are thought to belong to the pearlers.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Dolphin Island (Western Australia)” as island off the Western Australian coast. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as island off the Western Australian coast. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 17, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q13376894. Authority coordinates are -20.474, 116.850. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861 and 1870.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Dolphin Island (Western Australia)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Dolphin Island (Western Australia) primary sources, Dolphin Island (Western Australia) archive and Dolphin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dolphin Island (Western Australia)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Dolphin Island (Western Australia)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.