__NOTOC__ Baird Bay is a small

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

located south of

Streaky Bay Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He is Supergirl's pet cat who g ...

on the west coast of

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It is situated on the east coast of a bay named Baird Bay which opens into the north end of

Anxious Bay Anxious Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula about west north-west of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders on 21 February 1802. It is one of four ‘ historic bays' located ...

Nomenclature

The locality is named after the nearby bay which was named after James Baird, who settled on the shores of Anxious Bay in 1850 before being speared by local Aboriginals on 2 November 1850. The bay was known as ''Beard's Bay'' until 5 December 1940 when it was renamed to ''Baird Bay'' by proclamation.

Ecotourism

Although the

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

is small, Baird Bay has become a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

attraction due to its

Australian sea lion The Australian sea lion (''Neophoca cinerea''), also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that is the only endemic pinniped in Australia. It is currently Monotypic taxon, monotypic in the genus ''Neopho ...

colony. Local

tour guides A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, and information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, rel ...

take small groups of tourists for interactive

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

sessions with the sea lions and

Bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...

s. It is regarded as one of the best dive or snorkeling destinations in South Australia. The remote waters of Baird Bay are also popular for

recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

. The isolated town has very limited facilities, with only a few houses, a camping ground and boat ramp. The nearest town for supplies is Streaky Bay, north. The

2021 Australian census The 2021 Australian census, simply called the 2021 Census, was the eighteenth national Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The 2021 Census took place on 10 August 2021, and was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ...

which was conducted in August 2021 reported that Baird Bay had a population of 5 people. Baird Bay is located within the federal

division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...

, the state

electoral district of Flinders Flinders is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after explorer Matthew Flinders, who was responsible for charting most of the state's coastline. It is a 58,901 km² coastal rural elector ...

and the local government area of the

District Council of Streaky Bay The District Council of Streaky Bay is a Local government in Australia, local government area in South Australia located on the Eyre Peninsula. Streaky Bay, South Australia, Streaky Bay is the main population centre of about 1,200 people serving ...

References

External links

Baird Bay webpage on Streaky Bay (LGA) Official Tourism Website
{{authority control Coastal towns in South Australia Eyre Peninsula Bays of South Australia Fishing communities in Australia