The island is now the site of a major environmental reconstruction project, Return to 1616, that has seen all introduced livestock and feral animals removed, and eleven native species in various stages of reintroduction.

[3] The first Europeans known to have sighted the island were the crew of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Eendracht, captained by Hartog, on 25 October 1616, during a voyage from Cape Town to Batavia (now Jakarta).

[4] The date, and the names of the senior people on the vessel, were inscribed on a pewter plate and nailed to a post.

In 1998 a bottle cap made of lead with an écu coin set in it was found at Turtle Bay by a team led by Philippe Godard and Max Cramer.

On 1 April 1998, an intact bottle was unearthed, with a lead cap identical to the one recovered earlier, and also with a coin set in it.

[11] By 1919, the pastoral lease was put up for auction by the owner James Nicholas, who also owned Croydon and Peron Peninsula Stations.

[12] Perth Lord Mayor Sir Thomas Wardle purchased the island as a private retreat for his family in about 1969 and later retired there, becoming a semi-recluse with his wife.

With the exception of the pastoral homestead, the island later returned to government ownership and became part of the Shark Bay Marine Park.

On 16 March 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the wreck of the World War II German raider Kormoran had been found on the seabed about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of the island.

[17] In October 2018, at the end of a 20-year project, the island was declared free of feral cats, goats and sheep, paving the way for the reintroduction of 11 native animals, most of which had disappeared following a century and a half of pastoral activity and predation.

[21][22] The Shark Bay mouse and the greater stick-nest rat were reintroduced to the island in April and May 2021, respectively, with early monitoring suggesting ongoing survival.

[23][24][25] The western thick-billed grasswren was returned in October 2022, with 85 birds translocated to the island from two distinct mainland populations at Shark Bay.