Pope's Eye
Encyclopedia
Pope's Eye is the uncompleted foundation for an island fort
intended to defend the entrance to Port Phillip
in the state of Victoria, Australia
. It is less than a kilometre south-west of the former Chinaman's Hat
.
It has been protected as a marine reserve since 1979 and is now part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
. It is located about 7 km inside Port Phillip Heads, 3 km east of Queenscliff
and 5 km north of Portsea
. It is named after a naval midshipman and has no religious connotations.
Construction of Pope’s Eye began in the 1880s, under the supervision of Sir William Jervois
, by dumping bluestone
boulders on a submerged (12 m deep) sandbank until they formed a horse-shoe shaped artificial reef, open to the north-east, just above high-water level. Construction ceased before completion as a fort because improvements in naval gunnery enabled the entrance to Port Phillip (The Rip
) and the associated shipping channel to be protected by guns at the nearby Swan Island fort, as well as at Fort Queenscliff
and Fort Nepean
, making Pope’s Eye redundant for military purposes. The reef now now hosts a navigation beacon.
The inside of the ‘eye’ is only about 2 m deep and is accessible to small boats as a sheltered anchorage. It is protected from strong currents and the whole structure is popular with snorkellers and scuba-divers.
, that sustains a rich fauna of fish
and marine invertebrate
s, including sponges and soft coral
s. The site is part of the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area
, identified as such by BirdLife International
. Pope’s Eye is an important breeding site for Australasian Gannets, which breed on platforms constructed for them as well as on the rocks of the reef, which are also used for roosting by Black-faced Cormorant
s and for foraging by Ruddy Turnstone
s. The site is often visited by Australian Fur Seals and Burrunan (bottlenose) dolphins
.
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
intended to defend the entrance to Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
in the state of Victoria, Australia
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. It is less than a kilometre south-west of the former Chinaman's Hat
Chinaman's Hat (Port Phillip)
Chinaman's Hat is an octagonal structure serving as a shipping channel marker and haul-out for local Brown fur seals, in the South Channel of Port Phillip, Victoria in the Mornington Peninsula Shire, three kilometers ESE of Pope's Eye...
.
It has been protected as a marine reserve since 1979 and is now part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
The Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park comprises six separate sites, with a combined area of 35.8 km², located in the vicinity of the entrance to Port Phillip, between the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas, in Victoria, Australia...
. It is located about 7 km inside Port Phillip Heads, 3 km east of Queenscliff
Queenscliff, Victoria
Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe...
and 5 km north of Portsea
Portsea, Victoria
Portsea is a resort town located across Port Phillip from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula....
. It is named after a naval midshipman and has no religious connotations.
Construction of Pope’s Eye began in the 1880s, under the supervision of Sir William Jervois
William Jervois
Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, GCMG, CB was a British military engineer who saw service, as Second Captain, in South Africa...
, by dumping bluestone
Bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:*a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S. and Canada;*limestone in the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S...
boulders on a submerged (12 m deep) sandbank until they formed a horse-shoe shaped artificial reef, open to the north-east, just above high-water level. Construction ceased before completion as a fort because improvements in naval gunnery enabled the entrance to Port Phillip (The Rip
The Rip
"The Rip", also known as "The Heads", is a dangerous stretch of water in Victoria, Australia, connecting Port Phillip and Bass Strait. It is the only entrance for shipping into Port Phillip and hence into Melbourne. Because of large tidal flows through the relatively narrow channel from the bay to...
) and the associated shipping channel to be protected by guns at the nearby Swan Island fort, as well as at Fort Queenscliff
Fort Queenscliff
Fort Queenscliff, in Victoria, Australia, dates from 1860 when an open battery was constructed on Shortland's Bluff to defend the entrance to Port Phillip. The Fort, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 1870s and 1880s, became the headquarters for an extensive chain of forts around Port...
and Fort Nepean
Fort Nepean
Fort Nepean is a former defensive facility occupying part of Point Nepean, Victoria, Australia. It was part of a network of fortifications, commanded from Fort Queenscliff, protecting the narrow entrance to Port Phillip.- Background :...
, making Pope’s Eye redundant for military purposes. The reef now now hosts a navigation beacon.
The inside of the ‘eye’ is only about 2 m deep and is accessible to small boats as a sheltered anchorage. It is protected from strong currents and the whole structure is popular with snorkellers and scuba-divers.
Flora and fauna
The reef provides a rich habitat based on the underwater forest of marine algae, such as Giant and Leathery KelpKelp
Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
, that sustains a rich fauna of fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and marine invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, including sponges and soft coral
Alcyonacea
The Alcyonacea, or the soft corals are an order of corals which do not produce calcium carbonate skeletons. Soft corals contain minute, spiny skeletal elements called sclerites. Aside from their scientific utility in species identification, sclerites give these corals some degree of support and...
s. The site is part of the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area
Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area
The Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area comprises a cluster of disparate sites centred at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, and the southern end of Port Phillip, in Victoria, south-eastern Australia...
, identified as such by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
. Pope’s Eye is an important breeding site for Australasian Gannets, which breed on platforms constructed for them as well as on the rocks of the reef, which are also used for roosting by Black-faced Cormorant
Black-faced Cormorant
The Black-faced Cormorant , also known as the Black-faced Shag, is a medium-sized member of the cormorant family. Upperparts, including facial skin and bill, are black, with white underparts. It is endemic to coastal regions of southern Australia.-Ecology:The Black-faced-Cormorant feeds largely on...
s and for foraging by Ruddy Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
The Ruddy Turnstone is a small wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae...
s. The site is often visited by Australian Fur Seals and Burrunan (bottlenose) dolphins
Burrunan dolphin
The Burrunan dolphin is a recently-described species of bottlenose dolphin found in parts of Victoria, Australia. By size, the Burrunan dolphin is between the other two species of bottlenose dolphin and only around 150 individuals have been found in two locations.-Taxonomy:The species was formally...
.