An island off WA's south coast may be a panacea for the state's dwindling little penguin population.

Key points: Albany's Men's Shed has built 23 timber boxes for little penguins on Breaksea Island

Albany's Men's Shed has built 23 timber boxes for little penguins on Breaksea Island UWA researcher Belinda Cannell says they'll make it easier to tag and track the penguins, as penguins usually have deep burrows

UWA researcher Belinda Cannell says they'll make it easier to tag and track the penguins, as penguins usually have deep burrows Researchers will then be able to see where the penguins forage and how far below the surface they're diving for food

Timber nesting boxes have been installed on Breaksea Island, about 12 kilometres off Albany by University of WA researchers as part of a first-of-its-kind study into the population.

The island is believed to be home to WA's second-largest population of little penguins — Eudyptula minor — but little is known about the colony's size and spread.

The boxes, made by Albany's Men's Shed, will help researchers more easily tag and track the penguins, and better understand their breeding and foraging patterns.

Lead researcher Belinda Cannell said the data gathered could be crucial for the penguins' future in WA as its largest colony on Penguin Island, off Perth's south coast, was facing an abrupt decline in numbers due to rising surface water temperature and reduced fish supplies.

"The colony on Penguin Island has more than halved in the past decade; we are losing the population at a really rapid rate," Dr Cannell said.

"Breaksea Island may be the next largest colony of penguins in Western Australia. It may be the biggest now, but we don't know."

Dr Cannell says the little penguins face multiple threats to their survival in Western Australia. ( ABC News: Pamela Medlen )

The 23 timber boxes have been placed around the island in the hope of attracting the penguins to nest during peak season around May to June.

"Without the boxes it would be very difficult to easily retrieve penguins from their nests," Dr Cannell said.

"They build burrows into the ground and those burrows can go quite deep.

The 23 timber boxes have been placed around the island in the hope of attracting the penguins to nest. ( Supplied: Belinda Cannell )

"The beauty of nesting boxes is you can look into them quite regularly, take birds out and weigh them, and have a good look at their body."

Dr Cannell said, this year, the birds would be tagged for GPS tracking and 3D tracking, allowing researchers to see where the penguins were searching for fish and how far below the ocean's surface they were diving.

"We really know nothing about their breeding or foraging behaviour. We want to work out what threatening processes are impacting that population," she said.

"We won't know that until we know what they're feeding on, how healthy they are."

Few studies have been done of WA's south coast penguin populations, but Dr Cannell said most islands along the Albany coast were home to at least a pair of breeding penguins.

Dr Cannell said it was particularly important given the decline in Perth's penguin numbers.

"Lots of the islands in Albany have penguins on them. It's important to look after the population in the region," she said.

"We may try to put some out on other islands. It would be good to compare what happens at other colonies."

Researchers will return to the island midyear to inspect the nesting boxes and tag penguins.