Bass Strait () is a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

separating the island state of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

from the

Australian mainland Mainland Australia is the main landmass of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, excluding the Aru Islands Regency, Aru Islands, New Guinea, Tasmania, and other list of islands of Australia, Australian offshore islands. The landmass ...

(more specifically the coast of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, with the exception of the

land border Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

between the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

and the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, and is also the only maritime route into the economically prominent

Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is comple ...

. Formed 8,000 years ago by rising sea levels at the end of the last glacial period, the strait was named after English explorer and physician

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early life Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George B ...

(1771–1803) by European colonists.

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

defines the limits of Bass Strait as follows: :''On the west.'' The eastern limit of the

eing a line from Cape Otway, Australia, to King Island (Tasmania)">King Island and thence to Cape Grim">Cape Otway">eing a line from Cape Otway, Australia, to King Island (Tasmania)">King Island and thence to Cape Grim, the northwest extreme of Tasmania]. :''On the east.'' The western limit of the

between

Gabo Island Gabo Island is a island located off the coast of eastern Victoria, Australia, between Mallacoota and Cape Howe on the border with New South Wales. It is separated from the mainland by a channel; access is available by arranged flights and ...

and Eddystone Point eing a line from Gabo Island (near 148th meridian to Flinders Island">Cape Howe, 37°30'S) to the northeast point of East Sister Island (148°E) thence along the 148th meridian east">148th meridian to Flinders Island; beyond this Island a line running to the Eastward of the Vansittart Shoals to [Cape] Cape Barren Island, Barren Island, and from Cape Barren (the easternmost point of [Cape] Barren Island) to Eddystone Point (41°S) [in Tasmania]. Arthur Long monument

Differing views of location and context

Some authorities consider the strait to be part of the Pacific Ocean as in the never-approved 2002 IHO ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' draft. In the currently in-force IHO 1953 draft, it is instead associated with the Great Australian Bight; the Bight is numbered 62, while the Bass Strait is designated 62-A. The

Australian Hydrographic Service The Australian Hydrographic Service (formerly known as the Royal Australian Navy Hydrographic Service) is the Australian Commonwealth Government agency responsible for providing hydrographic services that meet Australia's obligations under the S ...

does not consider it to be part of its expanded definition of the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

, but rather states that it lies with the Tasman Sea. The strait between the

Furneaux Islands The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of ...

and Tasmania is

Banks Strait The Clarke Island, also known by its Indigenous name of lungtalanana, part of the Furneaux Group, is an island in Bass Strait, south of Cape Barren Island, about off the northeast coast of Tasmania, Australia. Banks Strait separates the island ...

, a subdivision of Bass Strait.

Discovery and exploration

By Aboriginal peoples

Aboriginal Tasmanians The Aboriginal Tasmanians (palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. At the time of European contact, Aboriginal Tasmanians were divided into a numb ...

arrived in Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago during the last glacial period, across a broad prehistoric

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...

called the Bassian Plain between the nowaday southern Victoria coastline (from

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. South Point (Wilsons Promontory), South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promon ...

Cape Otway Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. The cape marks the boundary between the Southern Ocea ...

) and the northern Tasmanian shores (from Cape Portland to

Cape Grim Cape Grim, officially Kennaook / Cape Grim, is the northwestern point of Tasmania, Australia. The Peerapper name for the cape is recorded as ''Kennaook''. It is the location of the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station and of the Cape Gri ...

). After the glacial period ended, sea levels rose and flooded the Bassian Plain to form Bass Strait at around 8,000 years ago, leaving them isolated from the Australian mainland. Aboriginal people lived on

Flinders Island Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Today Flinders Island is part of the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is from Cape Portland, Tasmania, Cape Portl ...

until around 4,000 years ago. Based on the recorded language groups, there were at least three successive waves of Aboriginal colonisation.

By Europeans

The strait was possibly detected by Captain

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...

when he charted Tasmania's coast in 1642. On 5 December Tasman was following the east coast northward to see how far it went. When the land veered to the north-west at Eddystone Point, he tried to keep in with it but his ships were suddenly hit by the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerlies, westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40th parallel south, 40° and 50th parallel south, 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by ...

howling through Bass Strait. Tasman was on a mission to find the Southern Continent, not more islands, so he abruptly turned away to the east and continued his continent hunting. The next European to approach the strait was Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

in ''

HMS Endeavour HMS ''Endeavour'' was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his First voyage of James Cook, first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771. She was launched in 1764 as t ...

'' in April 1770. However, after sailing for two hours westward towards the strait against the wind, he turned back east and noted in his journal that he was "doubtful whether they .e. Van Diemen's Land and New Hollandare one land or no". The strait was named after

, after he and

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

sailed across it while circumnavigating

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

(now named

) in the ''

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

'' in 1798–99. At Flinders' recommendation, the Governor of New South Wales,

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

, in 1800 named the stretch of water between the mainland and Van Diemen's Land "Bass's Straits". In 1798 it became known as Bass Strait. The existence of the strait had been suggested in 1797 by the master of ''

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora language, Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central ...

'' when he reached Sydney after deliberately grounding his foundering ship and being stranded on

Preservation Island Preservation Island is a low and undulating granite and calcarenite island, with an area of 207 hectare, ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Preservation Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait south-west of Cape Barren ...

(at the eastern end of the strait). He reported that the strong south westerly swell and the tides and currents suggested that the island was in a channel linking the Pacific and southern Indian Ocean. Governor Hunter thus wrote to

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

in August 1797 that it seemed certain a strait existed. When news of the 1798 discovery of Bass Strait reached Europe, the French government despatched a reconnaissance expedition commanded by

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 175416 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. He carried a few corms of Gros Michel banana ...

. This prompted Governor King to send two vessels from Sydney to the island to establish a garrison at Hobart.

Maritime history

Strong currents between the Antarctic-driven southeast portions of the Indian Ocean and the

's Pacific Ocean waters provide a strait of powerful, wild storm waves. The shipwrecks on the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines number in the hundreds, although stronger metal ships and modern marine

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

have greatly reduced the danger. Many vessels, some quite large, have disappeared without a trace, or left scant evidence of their passing. Despite myths and legends of

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

, wrecking and alleged supernatural phenomena akin to those of the

Bermuda Triangle The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region in the North Atlantic Ocean, roughly bounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Since the mid-20th century, it has been the focus of an urban legend sug ...

, such disappearances can be invariably ascribed to treacherous combinations of wind and sea conditions, and the numerous semi-submerged rocks and reefs within the Straits. Despite the strait's difficult waters, it provided a safer and less boisterous passage for ships on the route from Europe or India to Sydney in the early 19th century. The strait also saved on the voyage.

Geography

Shortest distance between coasts of Bass Strait

Bass Strait is approximately wide and long, with an average depth of . The widest opening is about between Cape Portland on the northeastern tip of Tasmania and

Point Hicks Point Hicks (formerly called Cape Everard), is a coastal headland in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park. The point is marked by the Point Hicks Lighthouse that faces the Tasman Se ...

on the Australian mainland. Jennings' study of the submarine topography of Bass Strait described the bathymetric Bass Basin, a shallow depression approximately wide and long (over in area) in the centre of Bass Strait, a maximum depth is the channel between

Inner Sister Island Inner Sister Island, part of the Sister Islands Conservation Area, is a granite and dolerite island, with an area of , located in Bass Strait, Tasmania, Australia. Location and features The Inner Sister Island is located north of Flinders Islan ...

and

, which navigation charts indicate reaches . Two underwater plateaus, the ''Bassian Rise'' and ''King Island Rise'' located on the eastern and western margins of Bass Strait, respectively, are composed of a basement of

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. These features form sills separating Bass Basin from the adjacent ocean basins. Associated with the less than -deep Bassian Rise is the

, the largest of which is Flinders Island (maximum elevation ). The surface of the King Island Rise also occurs in water depths of less than , and includes the shallow () ''Tail Bank'' at its northern margin as well as King Island itself. Subaqueous dunes (sandwaves) and tidal current ridges cover approximately of the seabed in Bass Strait. During

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

, low sea level stands the central basin of Bass Strait was enclosed by raised sills forming a large shallow lake. This occurred during the

last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

(18,000 BP) when the basin was completely isolated. Sea level rise during the marine transgression flooded the basin, forming a westward

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

from 11,800 BP to 8700 BP, and the basin rim was completely flooded by about 8000 BP, at which point Bass Strait was formed and Tasmania became an isolated island. Like the rest of the waters surrounding Tasmania, and particularly because of its limited depth, it is notoriously rough, with many ships lost there during the 19th century. A

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

was erected on Deal Island in 1848 to assist ships navigating in the eastern part of the Straits, but there were no guides to the western entrance until the

Lighthouse was first lit in 1848, followed by another at Cape Wickham at the northern end of King Island in 1861.

Islands

There are over 50 islands in Bass Strait. Major islands include: Western section: * King Island *

Three Hummock Island The Three Hummock Island, part of the Hunter Island Group, is a granite island, located in the Bass Strait near King Island, lying off the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island is named after its three most prominent hills, N ...

* Hunter Island * Robbins Island South eastern section: *

Furneaux Group The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of ...

(where the surviving

were exiled) **

Cape Barren Island Cape Barren Island, officially truwana / Cape Barren Island, is a island in Bass Strait, off the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the second-largest island of the Furneaux Group, with the larger Flinders Island to the north, and ...

** Clarke Island ** Sister Islands Group ** and several other islands North eastern section: *

Kent Group The Kent Group are a grouping of six granite islands located in Bass Strait, north-west of the Furneaux Group in Tasmania, Australia. Collectively, the group is comprised within the Kent Group National Park. The islands were named Kent's Grou ...

** Deal Island ** and 3 smaller islands * Hogan Island * Curtis Island

Protected areas

Federal

Within Bass Strait there are several

Commonwealth marine reserves Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the ...

, which are all part of the South-east Network. The two larger reserves, Flinders and Zeehan, extend mostly outside of the Bass Strait area. *

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Beagle The Beagle is a small breed of scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking inst ...

Boags Boag's Brewery (J. Boag & Son) is an Australian brewery company founded in 1883 by James Boag and his son, also named James, in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It is now owned by Lion Nathan, Lion, a Trans-Tasman subsidiary company of Japanes ...

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia covering (14%) of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: Ea ...

* Flinders * Franklin *

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

State

The smaller islands of Bass Strait typically have some form of protection status. Most notably the

Kent Group National Park Kent Group National Park is located in Bass Strait covering the Kent Group islands of Tasmania, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia ...

covers the

islands of Tasmania, as well as the surrounding state waters which is a dedicated marine reserve. The national park is wholly contained by the Beagle Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Victoria has several marine national parks in Bass Strait, and are all adjacent to the mainland coastline: *

Bunurong The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory ...

* Ninety Mile Beach * Point Addis * Port Phillip Heads *

Twelve Apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

Natural resources

A number of oil and gas fields exist in the eastern portion of Bass Strait, in what is known as the Gippsland Basin. Most large fields were discovered in the 1960s, and are located about off the coast of

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

in water depths of about . These oil fields include the Halibut Field discovered in 1967, the Cobia Field discovered in 1972, the Kingfish Field, the Mackerel Field, and the Fortescue Field discovered in 1978.Hendrich, J.H., Palmer, I.D., and Schwebel, D.A., 1992, Fortescue Field, Gippsland Basin, Offshore Australia, In Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade, 1978–1988, AAPG Memoir 54, Halbouty, M.T., editor, Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Large gas fields include the Whiptail field, the Barracouta Field, the Snapper Field, and the Marlin Field. Oil and gas are produced from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

clastic rock Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus,Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak, p. G-3 chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks b ...

s of the Latrobe Group, deposited with the break-up of Australia and Antarctica. In 2020 activist group No Gas Across the Bass was set up after American company

ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in t ...

put in an application to seismic blast 27km from King Island. Further environmental campaigning followed the Australian government's 2020 Oil and Gas acreage release as this opened up new areas of Tasmania's oceans for exploration. The western field, known as the

Otway Basin The Otway Basin is a northwest trending sedimentary basin located along the southern coast of Australia. The basin covers an area of 150,000 square kilometers and spans from southeastern South Australia to southwestern Victoria, with 80% lying o ...

, was discovered in the 1990s offshore near

Port Campbell Port Campbell () is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Great Ocean Road, west of the Twelve Apostles, in the Shire of Corangamite. At the , Port Campbell had a population of 478. History The port and the town are named after ...

. Its exploitation began in 2005. The oil and gas is sent via pipeline to gas processing facilities and oil refineries at

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

( Longford gas plant),

Western Port Western Port, ( Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it ...

( Westernport Refinery closed 1985), Altona ( Altona Refinery scheduled to close in 2021) and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

(

Geelong Oil Refinery The Geelong Oil Refinery is an oil refinery owned and operated by Viva Energy in Corio near Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria. In 2017, Australia's second-largest oil refinery processed 7.5 billion litres of crude oil annually. The ...

), as well as by tanker to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Pipelines from the Otway Basin gas fields lead to several processing facilities in the vicinity of

( Iona Gas Plant and Otway Gas Plant). In June 2017, the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

announced a three-year feasibility study for Australia's first

offshore wind farm Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...

. The project, which could have 250

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

s within a area, is projected to deliver around 8,000 GWh of electricity, representing some 18 per cent of Victoria's power usage and replacing a large part of the output of

Hazelwood Power Station The Hazelwood Power Station is a decommissioned Lignite, brown coal-fuelled thermal power station located in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia. Built between 1964 and 1971, the 1,600-megawatt-capacity power station was made up of eight ...

, which was closed in early 2017.

Infrastructure

Transport

The fastest and often the cheapest method of travel across Bass Strait is by

air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

. The major airports in Tasmania are

Hobart Airport Hobart Airport is an airport located in Cambridge, north-east of the Hobart central business district. It is the principal airport of Tasmania.Launceston Airport Launceston Airport is a regional airport on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania. The airport is located in the industrial area of Western Junction, 15 kilometres from Launceston city centre. It is Tasmania's second busiest after Hobart Airpo ...

, where the main airlines are

Jetstar Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, doing business as, trading as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by the ...

and

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, formerly known as Virgin Blue, is an Australian airline based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of two active airlines (the other being Virgin Atlantic) to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet ...

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

also operates services. The smaller airports in the north of the state and on the islands in the strait are served either by

Rex Airlines Rex Airlines Pty Ltd is an Australian regional airline based in Mascot, New South Wales. It operates scheduled regional services using turboprop aircraft. Between 2021 and 2024, Rex also operated jet services between selected major Australian ...

QantasLink QantasLink is a full-service, Regional airline, regional brand of Australian flag carrier airline Qantas. As of 2024, QantasLink provides over 2,000 flights each week to 65 metropolitan, regional and remote destinations across Australia, as wel ...

or King Island Airlines. Commercial Freight Major commercial freight operator SeaRoad, complete daily sailings between Devonport and Port Melbourne Mon-Sat.

Ferries

The domestic sea route is serviced by two

Spirit of Tasmania TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, trading as Spirit of Tasmania, is a Tasmanian Government-owned business that has been offering ferry services between mainland Australia and Tasmania since July 1993. Navigating the Bass Strait, Spirit of Tasmania f ...

passenger vehicle

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

, based in Devonport, Tasmania. The ships travel daily between Devonport and Spirit of Tasmania Quay in

as overnight trips, with additional daytime trips during the peak summer season.

Energy

The

Basslink The Basslink () electricity interconnector is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable linking the electricity grids of the states of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia, crossing Bass Strait, connecting the Loy Yang Power Station, Victori ...

HVDC A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating current (AC) transmission systems. Most HVDC links use voltages betwe ...

electrical cable has been in service since 2006. It has the capacity to carry up to 630

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s of electrical power across the strait. Alinta owns a submarine

gas pipeline A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

, delivering natural gas to large industrial customers near George Town, as well as the

Powerco Powerco is the largest dual-energy distribution company in New Zealand by length, and is one of only two dual-energy (electricity and gas) distributors in the country. Its networks are located in the North Island of New Zealand. Powerco is ow ...

gas network in Tasmania.

Communications

The first

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...

across Bass Strait was laid in 1859. Starting at

, it went via King Island and

, made contact with the Tasmanian mainland at Stanley Head, and then continued on to George Town. It started failing within a few weeks of completion, and by 1861 it failed completely. Tasmania is currently connected to the mainland via two

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

-operated fibre optic cables; since 2006,

dark fibre A dark fibre or unlit fibre is an unused optical fibre, available for use in fibre-optic communication. Dark fibre may be leased from a network service provider. Dark fibre originally referred to the potential network capacity of telecommunic ...

capacity has also been available on the Basslink HVDC cable. Other submarine cables include:

Popular culture

In 1978, one of the most famous

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

incidents in Australian history occurred over Bass Strait. Frederick Valentich was flying a small aeroplane over the strait when he reported to personnel at a local airport that a strange object was buzzing his plane. He then claimed that the object had moved directly in front of his plane; the airport personnel then heard a metallic "scraping" sound, followed by silence. Valentich and his plane subsequently vanished and neither Valentich nor his plane were ever seen again. The issue of planes, ships and people having been lost in the strait over time has spawned a number of theories. Perhaps the most thorough list of losses and disappearances has been the oft reprinted book of Jack Loney though it is possible that most losses can be adequately explained by extreme weather events. On the popular Australian soap ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'', one of its most dramatic storylines unfolded when a 1940s themed joy flight to Tasmania was sabotaged by a bomb. The plane crashed into Bass Strait in the middle of the night and many character's lives were put at risk, with some drowning.

Non-motorised crossings

Bass Strait is regularly crossed by sailing vessels, including during the annual Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race. The

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...

passes generally east of the strait but is affected by its weather conditions.

Sailing

The first

windsurfer Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

crossing was in 1982 by Mark Paul and Les Tokolyi. In 1998 Australian offshore sailor Nick Moloney took on a different challenge by being the first person to windsurf unaided across the Bass Strait in a time of 22 hours. In terms of

dinghy sailing Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats - usually for fun, learning necessary sailing skills (often also within family), and competition. RYA lists Five essentials of sailing dinghies as: * The sails * The foils (i.e. the dagge ...

many crossings have been made but in March 2005 Australian Olympic medallist Michael Blackburn set a record when he crossed the strait in just over 13 hours in a

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats - usually for fun, learning necessary sailing skills (often also within family), and competition. RYA lists Five essentials of sailing dinghies as: * The sails * The hydrofoil, foils (i.e. t ...

. In March 2009 two young dinghy sailors sailed a

B14 (dinghy) The B14 is a two person monohull dinghy, designed by Julian Bethwaite. It is recognised as an international class by the International Sailing Federation. The boat was designed in 1984. Performance and design The B14 is designed with a low cen ...

from Stanley in north west Tasmania to Walkerville South in Victoria. The purpose of the voyage was to raise funds for the treatment of the endangered

Tasmanian Devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii''; palawa kani: ''purinina'') is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now con ...

, an animal species suffering from a facial tumour disease and, if possible, break the dinghy sailing time record for the crossing. The sailors Adrian Beswick and Josh Philips accompanied by a support vessel successfully completed the crossing in 14 hours 53 minutes.

Kitesurfers Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

have also completed the crossing with Natalie Clark in 2010 become the first female to do the crossing.

Rowing / Paddling

In 1971 lone rower David Bowen from Mount Martha crossed Bass Strait in a

dory Dory most commonly refers to: * Dory (boat), a small, shallow-draft boat * Dory, the common name of several fish; see List of fishes known as dory * Dory (''Finding Nemo''), a fictional character Dory may also refer to: Arts and entertainmen ...

, leaving from Devonport he landed on Wilson's Promontory. The first crossing by

paddleboard Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. Paddleboarding is usually performed in the open ...

was made by Jack Bark, Brad Gaul and Zeb Walsh, leaving

in Victoria on 25 February 2014 and arriving at Cape Portland in northeastern Tasmania on 4 March 2014. Rod Harris, Ian and Peter Richards are credited with the first kayak crossing in 1971. Many sea kayakers have since made the crossing, usually by island hopping on the eastern side of the strait. Fewer sea kayak crossings have been made via King Island, due to the leg between Cape Wickam and Apollo Bay. Andrew McAuley was the first person to cross Bass Strait non-stop in a

sea kayak A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak used for the sport of Watercraft paddling, paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and oceans. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They t ...

in 2003. He made two more crossings of Bass Strait before he died attempting to cross the Tasman Sea in February 2007.

Swimming

Tammy van Wisse swam part of the strait in 1996, from King Island to

Apollo Bay Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at ...

in Victoria, a distance of about in 17 hours and 46 minutes.

References

External links

Tasmanian Department of State Development - Redi Map
* * * {{Authority control Bodies of water of Victoria (state) Straits of Australia Bodies of water of Tasmania Barwon South West (region) Gippsland (region)