Middle Island

Middle Island has been on of Warrnambool's has been a beloved natural attraction for both locals and tourists for many years and has quite a few stories to tell. One such story revolves around the a somewhat "odd" relationship between a colony of Little Penguin's and one energy filled Maremma.

During the early 2000's, Middle Island was home to a large colony of Little Penguins however due to the island's close proximity to the mainland, large amounts of human traffic on the island coupled with an infestation of foxes, resulted in the quick and unrelenting demise of many of its residing penguins.

Thanks to the efforts of a local chicken farmer it was proved a benefit for the dwindling penguin colony to have a guardian (a Maremma dog) put in place to protect them thus allowing their numbers to grow from a mere 10 to a whopping 180. Needless to say, this inspiring effort gained a whole lot of attention, resulting in the production of the widely popular 2005 movie "Oddball" which has in turn brought a lot of tourism into our beautiful and beloved coastal town.