Thistle Island lies at the western entrance to Spencer Gulf in South Australia. It has an area of about 12 square miles (31 square kilometers). The British explorer Matthew Flinders discovered the island in 1802, during his survey of the southern shores of the continent (see Flinders, Matthew ). Flinders named it Thistle’s Island after his shipmaster, John Thistle. Thistle and seven other crew members drowned when their cutter capsized while they searched for an anchorage and water supply. In the 1800’s, the South Australian Company established a whale fishery on Thistle Island.
