[1][2] The island was named after Peter Dorre, the pilot of a Dutch vessel, the Eendracht, in 1616.

[3] It was, with Bernier Island, a lock hospital location in the early 1900s.

[4]: 58–61 [5] It is located at the north-western corner of the World Heritage area, almost due west of Carnarvon, Western Australia.

Due to its location south of Bernier, and on the northern side of the opening into Shark Bay where Cape Inscription on Dirk Hartog Island lies to the south, some wrecks and remains have been found.

[6] The banded hare-wallaby and rufous hare-wallaby are both threatened mammal species that were once found on the mainland but are now both restricted to Dorre and Bernier Island.