Western Port
| Western Port | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Bass Street | |
| Land mass | Australia (continent) | |
| Geographical location | 38 ° 22 ′ S , 145 ° 20 ′ E | |
|
||
| surface | 680 km² | |
| Islands | French Island , Phillip Island, etc. a. | |
Western Port (sometimes Western Port Bay ) is a large bay in the south of the Australian state of Victoria . This second largest bay in the state is open to the south to Bass Strait . The Western Port contains two large islands, French Island and Phillip Island . Contrary to what its name suggests, the bay is east of the larger Port Phillip , from which it is separated by the Mornington Peninsula .
Western Port is frequently visited by fur seals , whales and dolphins , as well as many migratory and sea birds . It is listed in the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance.
In the bay there are three national parks, the French Island National Park , the Chuchill Islands National Park and the Yaringa National Park . The land north of the bay is mainly used for agriculture. The bay itself is mainly a recreational area today, but there is also a military base (HMAS Cerberus), as well as facilities for shipping and oil extraction.
Western Port is about an hour's drive southeast of Melbourne. On its banks there are a small number of holiday villages with sandy beaches for swimming.
history
Before the European settlement, the coastal area around the bay and the two islands were part of the Boonwurrung settlement area . Western Port was first sighted by Europeans in 1797 when a whaler led by George Bass set off on a trip south of Sydney to explore Australia's southeast coast. Mainly because of the need for food, the expedition stopped in Western Port for two weeks before returning to Sydney. After the bay was the most westerly point reached on the south coast of Australia at the time, it was called the 'Western Port'. But it is located in the eastern half of today's Victoria and east of the larger Port Phillip and the greater Melbourne area .
Attempted French colonization
In 1826 it was reported that the French had decided to set up a settlement on an Australian port, either on King George Sound or the Western Port. The British government immediately sent instructions to Governor Ralph Darling to Sydney that he should immediately take possession of both areas for the British Crown. Then on November 18, 1826 Colonel Stewart, Captain S. Wright and Lieutenant Burchell on the HMS Fly , as well as the Biggs Dragon and Amity were sent to Western Port. They took a small number of convicts and a small force from outsourced third and 93rd regiments. The expedition landed at Settlement Point on the east coast of the bay, where they also set up their headquarters. It remained there until the bay was abandoned at Darling's behest about 12 months later as unsuitable for settlement.
It was not until after World War II that the Western Port and its flat coasts north of Stony Point and Crib Point developed into a center of heavy industry.
geography
The Western Port was a large river system before it was flooded by the rising sea along with Port Phillip in the Holocene . Today it is an extensive bay with a water area of 680 km², of which 270 km² become a mudflat at low tide . In the bay are the two islands of Frech Island and Phillip Island. The coastline - including that of the islands - is about 263 km long. The bay and the islands are criss-crossed by seven seismically active folds and there are a number of smaller earthquakes.
On the north coast, various rivers and streams flow into the bay, where they flow through extensive mangroves, tidal flats and sandbanks before channeling west or east of French Island. Many natural river channels give boats access to the north coast, but this depends heavily on the tides and requires the skipper to have detailed knowledge of the local conditions. Some of the major tributaries of the Western Port are the Bunyip River , Lang Lang River , Bass River , Cardinia Creek, Rdbill Creek, Mosquito Creek, Brella Creek, and Tankerton Creek. Until the middle of the 20th century, the Koo-Wee-Rup swamp with an area of 30,000-40,000 hectares lay north of the bay . It initially extended inland to today's Pakenham until it was cultivated by early settlers. The mangroves on the north coast are the only remnant of this swamp today.
Islands
Western Port contains two large islands and several small ones; in approximate order of size:
- French Island - 170 km² (70 inhabitants)
- Phillip Island - 100 km² (7,000 inhabitants)
- Middle Spit - only visible at low tide
- Quail Island
- Tortoise Head Bank - only visible at low tide
- Churchill Island - 57 ha
- Chinaman Island
- Elizabeth Island
- Sandstone Island
- Reef Island
- long Island
- Shnapper Rock
- Pelican Island
- Barrallier Island
- Rams Island
- Joe Island
ecology
flora
The Western Port offers a mix of many habitats, such as B. underwater seagrass areas, tidal rock platforms, sandy beaches, mud flats, tidal creeks, salt marshes and mangroves. The coastline of Phillip Island is of national importance because of the remains of coastal tussock grassland and dune shrubbery, rare vegetation communities in Victoria, to be found there.
fauna
In the Western Port there are rock platforms, sandy beaches and maritime habitats. Many invertebrates live there, such as B. Sea squirts , sponges and corals . Invertebrates also form the food source for waders and migratory birds on the mudflats and in the mangrove forests on the north coast . Phillip Island is a habitat for wading and migratory birds, spectacled pelicans , short-tailed shearwaters , rooks and many other significant species. The bay is a 623 km² Important Bird Area (IBA) (classification by BirdLife International ), because there are low numbers of endangered golden-bellied parakeets , over 1% of the Madagascar curlews , the red throated sandpiper and the Australian oystercatcher , as well as dwindling numbers of the endangered fairy tern , Life.
The Phillip Island Penguin Reserve is home to Victoria's largest colony of Little Penguins and a larger colony of seabirds that are home to short-tailed shearwaters, breeding plovers ( Thinornis rubricollis ) and peregrine falcons . The Seal Rock before Phillip Iceland is home to the largest colony of Cape Fur Seals and a hotbed of kelp gulls and the sooty oystercatcher .
Parks
- on land:
- Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Reserve
- French Island National Park
- Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve
- Mornington Peninsula National Park
- at sea
- French Island National Park - 2,800 ha
- Yaringa National Park - 980 ha
- Churchill Island National Park - 670 hectares
Attractions and leisure activities
Fishing and boating are popular pastimes in the bay.
Phillip Island
- Penguin Reserve - to be visited at dusk, where you can watch the penguins on their way back to their nests in the sand dunes.
- Seal Rocks - observed through binoculars from the coast
- Koala Conservation Center
- Bird watching
- Sightseeing flights (Cape Woolamai airfield)
French Island
- Hiking, bird watching, wild orchids, fishing, horse riding, bike trips, deep sea fishing
- Koala Park
- camping
Boat tours
River canals lead from Bass Strait to the western part of the bay, providing access to the area's port facilities. The city of Hastings is the bay's largest port.
There are slipways for boats:
- at Stony Point - three-lane concrete ramp, two anchorages, usable at low and high tide
- at the Blind Bight - single-lane, asphalted ramp, anchorage, only usable at high tide
- in Corinella - two-lane concrete ramp, two anchorages, usable at low and high tide
- in Hastings - four-lane concrete ramp, anchorage, usable at ebb and flow
There are also ramps at Tooradin, Newhaven, Cowes, Warneet, Lang Lang, Grantville, Flinders and Rhyll (Phillip Island).
At certain times of the year there is also a ferry service between Cowes, Tankerton and Stony Point.
Hotels and pensions can be found on Phillip Island and French Island.
Industry
There are various industrial complexes at the Western Port, such as B. BlueScope Steel's steel mill and a larger Royal Australian Navy training base called HMAS Cerberus . The test route from Holden lies to the east adjoining the Western Port.
The current expansion plans for the Port of Hastings will make it the largest container and bulk port for Victoria. However, there is clear resistance in the neighboring communities to the dimension of the port expansion and its influence on the bay's ecosystem. Blue Wedges bundles the resistance of affected residents.
Fishing regulations
To protect the maritime environment, a number of recreational activities are not permitted within the boundaries of the national and state parks, in particular fishing with rods, nets and spears, and the removal or killing of marine life.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Western Port Marine National Parks . Parks Victoria. December 2003. Retrieved on February 24, 2011 ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ATTEMPTED COLONIZATION AT WESTERN PORT. . National Library of Australia. August 12, 1905. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
- ↑ IBA: Western Port . In: Birdata . Birds Australia. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
