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Swan Bay (Victoria)
Encyclopedia
Swan Bay is a shallow, 30 square kilometres (11.6 sq mi) marine embayment at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula
in Port Phillip
, Victoria, Australia. The township of Queenscliff
lies at its southern end, and St Leonards
at its northern. It is partly separated from Port Phillip
by Swan Island, Duck Island
and Edwards Point
. Most of the area is included in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
as well as being listed as a wetland
of international importance under the Ramsar Convention
as part of the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
. Matthew Flinders named the bay "Swan Ponds" after its Black Swans, up to 2,700 of which can be seen in summer and early autumn. The bay is part of the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area
, identified as such by BirdLife International
because of its importance for Orange-bellied Parrot
s, wader
s and seabird
s.
s. These include salt marsh
, intertidal mudflat
s and vast seagrass
beds on which, almost everything living in the bay relies on for food. Although much of the surrounding land is farmland, some remnant woodland
survives in the adjoining Edwards Point Nature Reserve
and Swan Bay itself. The bay has been recognised as having international importance and the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
almost entirely occupies the bay.
Nearly 200 species of birds have been recorded in Swan bay. Birds of conservation significance for which the bay and its shore are internationally important include the Critically Endangered
Orange-bellied Parrot
as well as Little Tern
, Fairy Tern
, Eastern Curlew, Lewin's Rail
and White-bellied Sea-eagle. It also supports over 1% of the Australian population of four wader species: Grey Plover
, Pacific Golden Plover
, Double-banded Plover
and Eastern Curlew. Other birds found in the region include the Australian Pelican
, Silver Gull
, Royal Spoonbill
, Caspian
and Crested Terns, White-fronted Chat
, Sacred Ibis
, Red-necked Stint
, Little Pied Cormorant
and Pied Oystercatcher
. Some of these birds travel from as far away as arctic Siberia and Alaska where they breed, to feed on the intertidal mudflats of Swan Bay.
in Port Phillip
, Victoria, Australia. It is partly separated from Port Phillip
by Swan Island, Duck Island
and Edwards Point
.
, bird watching and various wildlife tours. Boating is limited in Swan Bay, particularly around Swan Island and in Stingaree Bight, there is a 5 knot speed limit and many areas of the bay become very shallow at low tide.
, who raided the west coast of the Americas. His career began around 1818 but from there on sources differ. According to one legend his ship was boarded by a British man-o'-war after Bonito exited Port Phillip
after hiding a treasure in Swan Bay, apparently the so-called "Lost Loot of Lima", sometime in 1821. He was subsequently given a trial and hanged.
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
in 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...
, Victoria, Australia. The township 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...
lies at its southern end, and St Leonards
St Leonards, Victoria
St Leonards is a coastal township near Geelong, Victoria, Australia, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula and the northern end of Swan Bay...
at its northern. It is partly separated from 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...
by Swan Island, Duck Island
Duck Island (Victoria)
Duck Island, a small barrier island, lies 1.5 km north of Swan Island and south of Edwards Point in the main entrance to Swan Bay from Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and the plants and animals on and around the island are...
and Edwards Point
Edwards Point (Victoria)
Edwards Point is a 4 km long sand spit extending southwards between Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. It is about 115 km by road south-west of Melbourne and 40 km east of Geelong....
. Most of the area is included in 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...
as well as being listed as a wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
of international importance under the Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
as part of the Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site
The Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ramsar Site No.266...
. Matthew Flinders named the bay "Swan Ponds" after its Black Swans, up to 2,700 of which can be seen in summer and early autumn. The bay 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...
because of its importance for Orange-bellied Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller...
s, wader
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s and seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s.
Ecology
Swan Bay contains a variety of ecosystems that make it environmentally important for waterbirds and migratory waderWader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s. These include salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
, intertidal mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s and vast seagrass
Seagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
beds on which, almost everything living in the bay relies on for food. Although much of the surrounding land is farmland, some remnant woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
survives in the adjoining Edwards Point Nature Reserve
Edwards Point (Victoria)
Edwards Point is a 4 km long sand spit extending southwards between Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. It is about 115 km by road south-west of Melbourne and 40 km east of Geelong....
and Swan Bay itself. The bay has been recognised as having international importance and 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...
almost entirely occupies the bay.
Nearly 200 species of birds have been recorded in Swan bay. Birds of conservation significance for which the bay and its shore are internationally important include the Critically Endangered
Critically Endangered
Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild species. Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations....
Orange-bellied Parrot
Orange-bellied Parrot
The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller...
as well as Little Tern
Little Tern
The Little Tern, Sternula albifrons or Sterna albifrons, is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It was formerly placed into the genus Sterna, which now is restricted to the large white terns . The former North American and Red Sea S. a...
, Fairy Tern
Fairy Tern
The Fairy Tern is a small tern which occurs in the southwestern Pacific.There are three subspecies:* Australian Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis nereis - breeds in Australia...
, Eastern Curlew, Lewin's Rail
Lewin's Rail
The Lewin's Rail is a species of bird in the Rallidae family.It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests....
and White-bellied Sea-eagle. It also supports over 1% of the Australian population of four wader species: Grey Plover
Grey Plover
The Grey Plover , known as the Black-bellied Plover in North America, is a medium-sized plover breeding in arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding....
, Pacific Golden Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
The Pacific Golden Plover is a medium-sized plover.The 23–26 cm long breeding adult is spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Its face and neck are black with a white border and it has a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black...
, Double-banded Plover
Double-banded Plover
The Double-banded Plover , known as the Banded Dotterel in New Zealand, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It lives in beaches, mud flats, grasslands and on bare ground...
and Eastern Curlew. Other birds found in the region include the Australian Pelican
Australian Pelican
The Australian Pelican is a large water bird, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand.-Taxonomy:...
, Silver Gull
Silver Gull
The Silver Gull also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly coastal areas. The South African Hartlaub's Gull and the New Zealand Red-billed Gull The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus...
, Royal Spoonbill
Royal Spoonbill
The Royal Spoonbill, Platalea regia, also known as the Black-billed Spoonbill, occurs in intertidal flats and shallows of fresh and saltwater wetlands in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. It has also been recorded as a vagrant in New Caledonia...
, Caspian
Caspian Tern
The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...
and Crested Terns, White-fronted Chat
White-fronted Chat
The White-fronted Chat is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia, being found across southern Australia from Shark Bay in Western Australia around to the Queensland/New South Wales border.- References :* at NSW Govt Office of Environment and Heritage...
, Sacred Ibis
Sacred Ibis
The African Sacred Ibis is a species of ibis.-Description:An adult individual is 68 cm long with all-white body plumage apart from dark plumes on the rump. The bald head and neck, thick curved bill and legs are black. The white wings show a black rear border in flight...
, Red-necked Stint
Red-necked Stint
The Red-necked Stint is a small migratory wader.- Description :These birds are among the smallest of waders, very similar to the Little Stint, Calidris minuta, with which they were once considered conspecific...
, Little Pied Cormorant
Little Pied Cormorant
The Little Pied Cormorant, Little Shag or Kawaupaka is a common Australasian waterbird, found around the coasts, islands, estuaries, and inland waters of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and around the islands of the south-western Pacific and the sub-Antarctic...
and Pied Oystercatcher
Pied Oystercatcher
The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird native to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. The similar South Island Pied Oystercatcher The Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus longirostris, is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading...
. Some of these birds travel from as far away as arctic Siberia and Alaska where they breed, to feed on the intertidal mudflats of Swan Bay.
Geography
Swan Bay lies at the eastern end of the Bellarine PeninsulaBellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
in 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...
, Victoria, Australia. It is partly separated from 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...
by Swan Island, Duck Island
Duck Island (Victoria)
Duck Island, a small barrier island, lies 1.5 km north of Swan Island and south of Edwards Point in the main entrance to Swan Bay from Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and the plants and animals on and around the island are...
and Edwards Point
Edwards Point (Victoria)
Edwards Point is a 4 km long sand spit extending southwards between Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. It is about 115 km by road south-west of Melbourne and 40 km east of Geelong....
.
Islands
- Swan Island
- Sand Island
- Duck IslandDuck Island (Victoria)Duck Island, a small barrier island, lies 1.5 km north of Swan Island and south of Edwards Point in the main entrance to Swan Bay from Port Phillip in southern Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and the plants and animals on and around the island are...
- Rabbit Island
- Stingaree Island
- Tip Island
- Mangrove Island
Recreation
Recreation in the bay mainly revolves around sightseeing activities such as sea kayaking, scuba divingScuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
, bird watching and various wildlife tours. Boating is limited in Swan Bay, particularly around Swan Island and in Stingaree Bight, there is a 5 knot speed limit and many areas of the bay become very shallow at low tide.
Myths
There is supposedly a treasure hidden in a cave on the southern shoreline of Swan Bay. The myth revolves around the pirate Benito "Bloody Sword" BonitoBenito Bonito
Benito "Bloody Sword" Bonito is the subject of a legend about a pirate who raided the west coast of the Americas. His career began around 1818 but from there on sources differ. According to one legend his ship was boarded by a British man-o'-war after Bonito exited Port Phillip Bay after hiding...
, who raided the west coast of the Americas. His career began around 1818 but from there on sources differ. According to one legend his ship was boarded by a British man-o'-war after Bonito exited 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...
after hiding a treasure in Swan Bay, apparently the so-called "Lost Loot of Lima", sometime in 1821. He was subsequently given a trial and hanged.