Point Danger is home to the Australasian Gannets, Australia's first mainland gannet bird colony, currently estimated at around 6,000.
Follow the 'Gannet Colony' signs along Madeira Packet Road before turning off down an unsealed road to the car park overlooking Lawrence Rocks.

Point Danger Australasian Gannet Breeding Colony Point Danger is Australia's only mainland colony of Australasian Gannets and is located approximately 6 kilometres outside the township of Portland in western Victoria. Pick up a Portland and Surrounds handbook from the Visitor Information Centre for details on access to the site. Seabird breeding colonies offer a spectacular and rare opportunity to view active and noisy displays of wildlife that spend most of their lives at sea.

More than 6,000 pairs of these magnificent birds nest on Point Danger as well as nearby Lawrence Rocks, which are located 2 kilometres south, southeast of the mainland. To the naked eye it appears that Lawrence Rocks, the remnants of an extinct volcano, are white in colour. Looking through binoculars you will see that Gannets occupy all sites where nesting can occur on the two islands/rocks. In October 1996, due to overcrowding, some of the colony relocated to Point Danger.

On the mainland colony you can observe chicks, immature Gannets (grey in colour) and mature birds. As the adult birds soar high above you will marvel at their size and wing span. Make sure you wear a hat! The birds appear to have an inbuilt radar system when they return to the colony, landing in the smallest of spaces.

When they fledge, and are able to fly, immature Gannets embark on a great journey, flying away from their birth colony for up to 4 years. Information gained through a ten year chick banding program has shown us that the young birds generally migrate west from where they are born, returning to their birth colony 3 or 4 years later. Young banded birds have been found along the Great Australian Bight, Fremantle and even north of the Tropic of Capricorn at Monkey Mia, more than three and a half thousand kilometres from Point Danger. The most outstanding flight recorded was to Madagascar, off the African coast, where the bird had flown over 7,000 kilometres within 27 days of being banded. Australasian Gannets tend to mate for life and live more than 30 years.

Gannets feed on small sea fish such as Pilchards and they are quite spectacular to watch when they are diving into the sea for food. Often hundreds of Gannets will dive into a school of fish in succession; it is a wonderful phenomenon to witness!

While at the colony make sure you take in the sea-cliff walk, a sealed path that takes you along spectacular cliff-tops in front of the huge aluminium smelter. "Bill's Walk", part of the famous 250 kilometres Great South West Walk, can also be accessed from the car park. Watch out for surfers, as several popular surfing spots are also found in this area.

The Point Danger Committee of Management manages the Crown land that the Gannet colony is located on. Considerable support has been provided by Portland Aluminium, Glenelg Shire, South West TAFE, Friends of the Great South West Walk, Portland Professional Diving services and many other Portland volunteer groups.