Ewens Ponds

Ewens Ponds is a series of three water-filled limestone sinkholes in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted locality of Eight Mile Creek on the watercourse known as Eight Mile Creek about 25km south of Mount Gambier and 8.4km east of Port Macdonnell. The ponds are popular with recreational divers due to underwater visibility of up to 80m. It has a large fish population including the endangered golden pygmy perch. Ewens Ponds has been part of the Ewens Ponds Conservation Park since 1976.HistoryThe original inhabitants of the land were Aborigines of the "Boandik" tribe, part of a larger "Bunganditj" clan. The first European identified with the area was Thomas Ewens, whose dog chased a kangaroo into one of the ponds while he was hunting geese. Ewens reported his discovery of the ponds to the survey department and they became known as Thomas Ewens Spring Ponds.The land surrounding the ponds was gradually cleared for agriculture and dairy farming and a drainage system built to draw water from the ponds for land sold for soldier settlement programs post-World War II.