Looks as if there are still penguins on the island
The Penguins of Dassen Island
Except on its eastern side, Dassen Island is surrounded by [reefs] Many ships have been shipwrecked here.
African penguin colony
Rocky paths on the island have been worn by generations of penguins coming ashore to roost and nest.
The island is home to a breeding colony of African Penguin which is in decline. In the 1950s it was home to tens of thousands of the animals. In 1975 the population was an estimate 60,000 birds. In the year 2000, the population was an estimated 56,000
The population has been adversely impacted by the commercial exploitation of their eggs, collection of guano (which the birds require to burrow in), and the overfishing of prey species (including pilchard). Dassen Island is also on a major shipping route, and in 1975, roughly 650 oil tankers passed by each month. Oil pollution stemming from bilge dumping and occasional major oil spills (such as the [MV Treasure oil spill] have also impacted the population.
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Dassen Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse situated on Dassen Islan, west of Yzerfontein . It is a white circular cast-iron tower that has been in use since 1893.
All those hazards…it is a wonder there are any penguins left at all.
What is Commercial Egg collecting for? Selling as eggs eating? or for processing?
We had a friend, the Lighthouse-keepers wife who lived on the island - she spoke of having eaten the eggs. So guess they must have had a commercial value. I know the quano was collected on many bird islands.