Carlo Kopp's Homepage

Carlo's Barrow Island Gallery

This web page contains a selection of pictures taken in 1979-1980, during my 18 months working on Barrow Island for WAPET (now Chevron), in the North West Shelf region. Barrow Island is a pristine desert habitat, and a protected natural reserve. As it has been isolated from the mainland for tens of thousands of years, it has numerous unique species, and some species which have since disappeared from mainland Australia.

Bandicoots are arguably ubiquitous on Barrow, found almost everywhere. Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, these tiny marsupials were always interested in begging for a snack.

The small Kangaroo Rats are noctural and quite shy compared to the bandicoots and wallabies. This was a lucky shot on the day.

Possums are a feature of the Barrow Island environment and are very active scavengers. Upper - night shot of a possum enjoying its perch in the tree. Lower - possums on Barrow had a consistent affinity for 44 gallon drums, especially when used for garbage. Convincing the possums to leave the drum could be often quite difficult.

Wallabies are very common on Barrow and often are completely unafraid, to the extent that I often observed them snatching food from peoples' hands, even if not invited to do so.

The principal land predator on Barrow is the perentie, a large goanna which hunts when opportunities arise, and scavenges otherwise. All of the smaller marsupials were hunted by goannas, and birds were also not immune. Top - a larger specimen, but not the largest I saw - that beast was around 6 feet in length and impossible to photograph due to lighting conditions on the day. Upper middle - perenties enjoy shade and this made the main camp an attractive hiding place, one colleague ended up with 72 stitches in his hand after reaching under his hut for his fishing gear. Lower middle - this perentie was sunbaking during the morning, on top of a termite mound. Bottom - death of a seagull - the perentie hid in the shade and then ambushed the unwitting seagull with remarkable speed. The seagull then had to suffer the indignity of being eaten alive by the reptile. The latter frames in this sequence are decidely unattractive.

The largest raptors on Barrow were the ospreys which would hunt and scavenge as opportunities permitted. They were difficult to photograph without zoom or telephoto lenses since they were usually very shy. The most interesting encounter I recall was an osprey attempting to lift a dead wallaby which must have been heavier than the bird itself. After much furious flapping it managed to get airborne but was unable to escape the ground effect and carried its booty away with a ground clearance of about six inches.

The euros are a species of small kangaroo which has adapted to exist with little water. They are usually quite shy and difficult to photograph, unlike the smaller marsupials.

The coastline of Barrow Island differs considerably between the northern and southern parts of the island. The north has some beaches but also much rock, whereas the southern part of the island is very flat with large tidal areas, often completely exposed at low tide.

There are numerous small inlets along the island's coast and many of these are overgrown with mangrove trees, which are very common on the mainland. The upper image is at low tide.

The tidal flats along the south of the island were teeming with marine life. Upper - a pair of small stingrays are basking in three inches of water at low tide - the noise of the camera shutter startled them so this was a once only shot. Numerous small crabs could be frequently observed at low tide.

Tragedy on the beach. This pod of dolphins beached itself, and after two attempts to refloat them, repeatedly returned to the beach to die. The hapless cetaceans were photographed shortly before their burial.

Other Interesting Wildlife Sites

http://www.wildlife-photo.org/