Port Phillip Bay, Victoria
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped
enclosed bay 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 (geography), ''gulf'', ''sea'', sound (geography), ''sound'', or bi ...
on the central coast of southern
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 ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The bay opens into the
Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...
via a short, narrow
channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...
known as
The Rip The Rip is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the Port Phillip Bay in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two larg ...
, and is completely surrounded by
localities Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...
of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan
Greater Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
in the bay's main eastern portion north of the
Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
, and the
city of Greater Geelong The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. I ...
in the much smaller western portion (known as the
Corio Bay Corio Bay is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. Etymology When Hamilton Hume and Will ...
) north of the
Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung language, Wadawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together wi ...
. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly , with the volume of water around . Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only and half the bay is shallower than . Its waters and coast are home to
seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...
s,
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...
s,
dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s,
coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
s and many kinds of
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s and migratory
wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...
s. Before European settlement, the area around Port Phillip was divided between the territories of the
Wathaurong The Wadawurrung nation, also called the Wathaurong, or Wathaurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong, and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The ...
(west),
Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...
(north) and
Boonwurrung 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 ...
(south and east) people, all part of the indigeous
Kulin nation The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in the south of Australia - up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys - which shares Culture and Language. History Before British colonisation, the ...
. The first Europeans to enter the bay were the crews of , commanded by John Murray and, ten weeks later, commanded by
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 ...
, in 1802. Subsequent expeditions into the bay took place in 1803 to establish the first settlement in Victoria, near
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
, but was abandoned in 1804. Thirty years later, settlers from
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 ...
returned to establish Melbourne (now Victoria's capital city) at the mouth of the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...
in 1835, and Geelong at Corio Bay in 1838. Today, Port Phillip is the most densely populated catchment in Australia with an estimated 5.5 million people living around the bay; Melbourne's suburbs extend around much of the northern and eastern shorelines, and the city of Geelong sprawls around Corio Bay in the bay's western arm.


History


Prehistory

Port Phillip formed between the end of the last Ice Age around 8000 BCE and around 6000 BCE, when the
sea-level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
rose to drown the vast river plains,
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s and
lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s at what was then the lower reaches of the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...
. The ancient Yarra and its tributaries (the other present-day rivers of the Port Phillip catchment) flowed down what is now the middle of the bay, formed a coastal lake in the southern reaches of the bay dammed by The Heads, and subsequently pouring out into a closed bay that formed over the western portion of the prehistoric Bassian Plain, which was later completely flooded and became
Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...
. The
Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
inhabited the area long before the bay was formed, with evidence of occupation dating at least 40,000 years ago. Settler records indicate an
oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
with at least 18,000 years of linearity when
Boonwurrung 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 ...
Elder Ningerranarro spoke of his ancestors hunting
kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
and
possum Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum ...
where the Bay now lies. Large piles of semi-fossilised seashells known as
midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...
s can still be seen in places around the shoreline, marking the spots where Aboriginal people held feasts. They made a good living from the abundant sea-life, which included
penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...
s and
seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...
s. In the cold season, they wore
possum-skin cloak Possum-skin cloaks were a form of clothing worn by Aboriginal people in the south-east of Australia – present-day Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. In Western Australia, Buka cloak was worn. They are made from pelts of various ...
s and intricate feathered head-dresses. A dry period combined with
sand bar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...
formation, may have dried the bay out as recently as between 800 BCE and 1000 CE.
Seismicity Seismicity is a measure encompassing earthquake occurrences, mechanisms, and magnitude at a given geographical location. As such, it summarizes a region's seismic activity. The term was coined by Beno Gutenberg and Charles Francis Richter in 194 ...
has been observed around the bay continually since the 1800s with earlier
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
s recorded in local newspaper reports. An earthquake that occurred in July 1885 was described in a newspaper.  Anthonys Nose is an
escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
landform of
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
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 ...
on the
Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
that is located where Arthurs Seat ends as the mountain falls steeply towards Port Phillip and is part of the Selwyn Fault.


European exploration

In 1800, Lieutenant James Grant was the first known European to pass through Bass Strait from west to east in . He was also the first to see, and crudely chart, the south coast from
Cape Banks Cape Banks is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted locality of Carpenter Rocks at the south end of Bucks Bay and the north end of Bungaloo Bay on the state's south east coast about west south west of th ...
in South Australia to
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 ...
in Victoria. Grant gave the name "Governor King's Bay" to the body of water between
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 Wilsons Promontory, but did not venture in and discover Port Phillip. The first Europeans to find and enter Port Phillip, were the crew of the '' Lady Nelson'', commanded by John Murray, which entered the bay on 15 February 1802.''Norman Houghton''
'The Story of Geelong'
The bay was then known as Narm-Narm by the people of the Kulin tribe, and Murray called the bay Port King after the
Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...
,
Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...
. On 4 September 1805, King formally renamed it Port Phillip, in honour of his predecessor
Arthur Phillip Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...
. Murray chose to base the ''Lady Nelson'' off what is now known as Sorrento Beach. During this voyage, Murray records in his journal his first encounter with local Aboriginal peoples. This initially friendly encounter started with trading, eating, and gifting, and was suddenly interrupted by a violent ambush by a large group of Aboriginal people. The crew in response shot at the Aboriginal people, and continued to shoot at them as they fled, inflicting likely mortal wounds on two of the Aboriginal people. Watching from the boat, Murray ordered
grapeshot In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of a collection of smaller-caliber round shots packed tightly in a canvas bag and separated from the gunpowder charge by a metal wadding, rather than being a single solid projectile ...
and
round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...
to be fired from the
carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the last quarter of the 18th century to the mid-19th cen ...
s aboard the ship at the fleeing Aboriginal people. Murray said After exploring the southern part of the bay, Murray formally took possession of the area on 8 March 1802 for
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
in a small ceremony at a place now known as the Point King Foreshore Reserve in
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
. A few days later Murray sailed out of the heads and returned to
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. About ten weeks after Murray,
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 ...
in also found and entered the bay, unaware Murray had been there. The official history of
Nicholas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 175416 September 1803) was a French people, French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean, Pacific. He carried a few ...
's explorations in '' Le Géographe'' claimed they too had sighted the entrance at that time (30 March 1802) but this is almost certainly a later embellishment or error, being absent from the ship's logs and Baudin's own accounts. As a result of Murray's and Flinders' reports, King sent Lieutenant Charles Robbins in to explore Port Phillip fully. This surveying party, which included Charles Grimes, produced a mostly complete chart of Port Phillip including the mouth of the
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...
, which they visited on 2 February 1803. Robbins found Aboriginal habitations and groups of Aboriginal people at Tootgarook, Carrum Carrum, on the banks of the Yarra and at
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 ...
.


British settlement

King decided to place a convict settlement at Port Phillip, mainly to stake a claim to southern Australia ahead of the French. On 10 October 1803 a convoy of two ships and ''
Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
'' led by Captain
David Collins David Collins may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * David Collins (''Dark Shadows''), character in the television series ''Dark Shadows'' * David Collins (''EastEnders''), character in the television series ''EastEnders'' P ...
carrying 402 people (5 Government officials, 9 officers of marines, 2 drummers, and 39 privates, 5 soldiers' wives and a child, and 307 convicts with 17 convicts' wives and 7 children) entered Port Phillip. After some investigation it was decided to establish the settlement at a spot known as Sullivan Bay, very close to where
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
now exists. The expedition landed at Sullivan Bay on 17 October 1803, and the first of the "orders" issued by Collins bears that date. On 25 October, the King's birthday, the British flag was hoisted over the tiny settlement and a little salvo of musketry celebrated the royal occasion. On 25 November the first white child was born in Victoria and was baptised on
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
, receiving the name of William James Hobart Thorne. The first marriage took place on 28 November, when a free woman, Hannah Harvey was wedded to convict Richard Garrett. Small exploratory groups from this settlement surveyed a land route to Western Port and also sailed to the northwest shore of Port Phillip. On this latter journey, a large group of about 200 Aboriginal people came to meet the Britishers with "hostile intentions", and "with the application of fire-arms absolutely necessary to repel them", several Aboriginal people were shot. Lack of fresh water and good timber led this first British attempt at settlement in the region later known as Victoria to be abandoned on 27 January 1804. When Collins left Port Phillip, the ''Calcutta'' proceeded to
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, and the ''Ocean'' to Risdon Cove in
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 ...
, where they arrived on 15 February 1804. Prior to abandonment, a group of convicts including William Buckley, escaped from the settlement. Buckley took up residence in a cave near Point Lonsdale on the western side of the bay's entrance,
The Rip The Rip is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the Port Phillip Bay in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two larg ...
, and later lived with an
Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...
group for many years, being given up for dead. Port Phillip was then left mostly undisturbed until 1835, when settlers from Tasmania led by
John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian Pastoral farming, grazier, entrepreneur and explorer, who had a prominent role in the foundation of Melbourne, founding of Melbourne. He also was involved in many attacks against Indigen ...
and
John Pascoe Fawkner John Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early Australian pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail ...
(who had been at the Sorrento settlement as a child) established Melbourne on the lower reaches of the Yarra.
John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian Pastoral farming, grazier, entrepreneur and explorer, who had a prominent role in the foundation of Melbourne, founding of Melbourne. He also was involved in many attacks against Indigen ...
encountered William Buckley who then became an important translator in negotiations with the local Aboriginal tribesmen. In 1838
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 ...
was founded, and became the main port serving the growing wool industry of the Western District. For a time Geelong rivalled Melbourne as the leading settlement on the bay, but the
Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...
which began in 1851 gave Melbourne a decisive edge as the largest town in Victoria.


Growth and development of Melbourne

As
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
prospered, its wealthy classes discovered the recreational uses of Port Phillip. Bayside suburbs such as St Kilda and
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
were established on the east shore of the bay. Later, resorts further south such as
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
and Portsea became popular. The more swampy western shores of the bay were not so favoured, and have been used mainly for non-residential purposes such as agriculture, the
Point Cook Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Point Cook recorded a population of 66,781 at the 2021 census, making it t ...
Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
base and the Werribee Sewage Farm, and significant nature reserves. In recent decades the population along the western side of the bay has grown more rapidly. In the 21st century, property along the Port Phillip coastline continues to be highly sought after. Port Phillip continues to be extensively used for recreational pursuits such as swimming, cycling, boating, and fishing. The bay also features a number of historical walks and fauna reserves. The traditional land owners of the area have also been acknowledged at a number of sites.


Geography

Port Phillip lies in southern Victoria, separated from
Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...
by the
Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung language, Wadawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together wi ...
to the southwest and
Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
to the southeast. It is the largest bay in Victoria and one of the largest inland bays in Australia. The narrow entrance to the bay, called
the Rip The Rip is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the Port Phillip Bay in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two larg ...
, between
Point Lonsdale Point Lonsdale is a town on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Poin ...
and
Point Nepean Point Nepean (Boonwurrung: ''Boona-djalang'') marks the southern point of The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip) and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It was named in 1802 after the British politici ...
, features strong tidal streams made turbulent by the uneven contours of the seabed. The best time for small craft to enter the Rip is at
slack water Slack tide or slack water is the short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and there is no movement either way in the tidal stream. It occurs before the direction of the tidal stream reverses. Slack water c ...
. Large ships require expert local guidance to enter and exit, provided by the Port Phillip
maritime pilots A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who has specific knowledge of an often dangerous or congested waterway, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots know local details s ...
. Work has begun to deepen the channel entrance, to allow newer, larger
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
s to access Melbourne's docks. The eastern side of the bay is characterised by sandy beaches extending from St Kilda,
Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...
,
Beaumaris Beaumaris (; ) is a town and community (Wales), community on the Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey fro ...
,
Carrum Carrum is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston Local Government Areas of Victoria, local government ar ...
, and down the
Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
to Frankston, Safety Beach/
Dromana Dromana ( ) is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Dromana recorded a populati ...
and
Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
to Portsea.
Longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle, shells) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle of incoming w ...
carries
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
from south to north during winter and from north to south during summer. Cliff
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
control has often resulted in sand starvation, necessitating offshore
dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...
to replenish the beach. On the western side of the bay there is a greater variety of beach types, including both sandy and sandstone rock beaches, seen at Queenscliff, St Leonards, Indented Head, Portarlington, Altona and Geelong's Eastern Beach. Numerous sandbanks and
shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...
s occur in the southern section of the bay, and parts of the South Channel require occasional maintenance dredging.


Climate

The region has an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfb'') with warm summers possessing occasional very hot days due to northerly winds and mild winters. Annual rainfall, which is evenly distributed over the year, shows considerable variation due to the Otway Ranges to the southwest: the northwestern shore of the bay is the driest part of southern Victoria and almost approaches a
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
(''BSk'') with a mean annual rainfall as low as (comparable to
Nhill Nhill is a town in the Wimmera, in western Victoria, Australia. Nhill is located on the Western Highway, halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne. At the , Nhill had a population of 1,749. "Nhill" is believed to be a Wergaia word meaning "early ...
or
Numurkah Numurkah ( ) is a town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located on the Goulburn Valley Highway, north of Shepparton, in the Shire of Moira. At the , Numurkah had a population of 4,768. History The area was occupied by the Yorta ...
), whilst the eastern shores less shielded by the Otways receive as much as . Summer temperatures average around during the day and at night, but occasional northerly winds can push temperatures over , whilst in winter a typical day will range from to . Port Phillip is often warmer than the surrounding oceans and/or the land mass, particularly in spring and autumn; this can set up a " bay-effect rain", similar to the "
lake effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...
" seen in colder climates, where showers are intensified leeward of the bay (particularly in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
's eastern suburbs).


Beaches

Port Phillip hosts many beaches, most of which are flat, shallow and long, with very small breaks making swimming quite safe. This attracts many tourists, mostly families, to the beaches of Port Phillip during the summer months and school holidays. Water sports such as
body boarding Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the invention of the "Boogie ...
and
surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...
are difficult or impossible, except in extreme weather conditions. However, stand up paddle boarding (SUP), kite surfing and wind surfing are very popular. Most sandy beaches are located on the bay's northern, eastern and southern shorelines, while the western shorelines host a few sandy beaches, there mostly exists a greater variety of beaches, swampy wetlands and mangroves. The occasional pebble beach and rocky cliffs can also be found, mostly in the southern reaches. * Major beaches include: St. Kilda Beach,
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
Beach,
Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...
Beach, Dromana Beach


Rivers and creeks

* Rivers:
Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...
,
Maribyrnong River The Maribyrnong River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Course The Maribyrnong River draws its headwaters from near Mount Macedon within ...
,
Patterson River The Patterson River is a partly man-made, tidal river urban river of the Port Phillip catchment in the Australian east coast state of Victoria, located in the outer southeastern suburbs of the Greater Melbourne region. Under the name "Patters ...
,
Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...
,
Werribee River The Werribee River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment that is located on the expansive lowland plain southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg River, are north of Ballan near ...
. * Creeks: Elwood Canal, Mordialloc Creek, Kananook Creek, Sweetwater Creek, Balcombe Creek, Chinamans Creek, Cowies Creek, Hovells Creek,
Kororoit Creek The Kororoit Creek is a watercourse of the Port Phillip catchment, rising in the outer north western suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features The Kororoit Creek rises below Mount Kororoit, northeast of ...
.


Islands

Due to its shallow depth, several artificial islands and forts have been built; however, despite the depth, it only hosts a few true islands. Many sandy, muddy banks and shallows exist in its southern reaches, such as Mud Islands, but most islands are located in the marshy shallows of
Swan Bay The Swan Bay is a shallow, 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 fro ...
. Some of the bay's major islands include: * Swan Island * Mud Islands * Duck Island * South Channel Fort (artificial) *
Pope's Eye 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. The undefined area of the fort, generally assessed at , is one of six separate areas that compri ...
(artificial)


Surrounding mountains and hills

* Arthurs Seat 314 m * Mount Martha 160 m * Mount Eliza *
Olivers Hill Olivers Hill is a locality located in the City of Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is the first major rise in terrain along the eastern coastline of Port Phillip, between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. It was named after local Fra ...
*
Flinders Peak Flinders Peak () is a conspicuous triangular peak, high, on the west end of the Bristly Peaks. The peak overlooks Forster Ice Piedmont near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was photographed from the air by the British Graham Land Exp ...
364 m


Surrounding lakes

*
Albert Park Lake Albert Park is a large public park in the City of Port Phillip, an inner suburban LGA of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located south of the Melbourne central business district, the park encompasses of parkland around the long Albert Park ...
*
Cherry Lake Cherry Lake (also known as Lake Lloyd) is an artificial lake in the Stanislaus National Forest of Tuolumne County, California, U.S.A., about east of the city of Sonora. It is at an elevation of on the western side of the Sierra Nevada, and l ...
* Lake Borrie * Lake Carramar, Lake Illawong and Lake Legana of
Patterson Lakes Patterson Lakes is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Patterson Lakes recorded a population of 7,793 at the 2021 census. ...
* Lake Connewarre *
Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropics, tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface are ...
* RAAF Lake * Sanctuary Lakes (artificial) * Salt Lagoon


Ecology

Jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...
are a familiar sight in Port Phillip, and its waters are home to species such as Australian fur seals,
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,
common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, wit ...
s,
humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...
s, and
southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
s.Fitzgerald E., Jefferies R., 201
Southern Right Whale – Eubalaena australis
Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay.
Museum Victoria Museums Victoria is an organisation that includes a number of museums and related bodies in Melbourne. These include Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, Scienceworks (Melbourne), Scienceworks, IMAX Melbourne, a research institute, the UNESCO W ...
. Retrieved on 20 June 2014
Many other
cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...
n species may also migrate off the areas. The
smooth toadfish The smooth toadfish (''Tetractenos glaber'') is a species of fish in the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae. It is native to shallow coastal and estuarine waters of southeastern Australia, where it is widespread and abundant. French naturalist Ch ...
is one of the most common fishes in muddy areas. The bay has many endemic species including the bluedevil fish and fantastic sponge walls on the Lonsdale wall in the heads of the bay. It also hosts breeding colonies of
Australian fur seal The brown fur seal (''Arctocephalus pusillus''), also known as the Cape fur seal, and Afro-Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal. Description The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust member of the fur seals. It has a large an ...
s. Occasionally,
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 ...
s, New Zealand fur seals,
subantarctic fur seal The subantarctic fur seal (''Arctocephalus tropicalis'') is a species of arctocephaline found in the southern parts of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. It was first described by Gray in 1872 from a specimen recovered in northern Austra ...
s, and
leopard seal The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). It is a top order predator, feeding on a wide range of prey including cep ...
s may come into the bay as well. Certain individual
southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...
s may frequent the bay as well.
Swan Bay The Swan Bay is a shallow, 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 fro ...
, adjacent to Queenscliff, is an important feeding ground for
waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s and migratory
wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...
s. The Mud Islands, off
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
, are an important breeding habitat for
white-faced storm petrel The white-faced storm petrel (''Pelagodroma marina''), (Māori language, Māori: ''takahikare'') also known as white-faced petrel or frigate petrel is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is the only member of the m ...
s,
silver gull The silver gull (''Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae'') is a gull in Oceania. It is the most common gull of Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (''L ...
s,
Australian pelican The Australian pelican (''Pelecanus conspicillatus'') is a large waterbird in the family Pelecanidae, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant in New Zealand. It ...
s and
Pacific gull The Pacific gull (''Larus pacificus'') is a gull, native to the coasts of Australia. It is moderately common between Carnarvon, Western Australia, Carnarvon in the west, and Sydney in the east, although it has become scarce in some parts of the s ...
s.
Salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...
es in the northwestern sections of the bay, such as that in the Werribee Sewage Farm and the adjacent Spit Nature Conservation Reserve, are within the
Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site The Port Phillip Bay (Western Shoreline) 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 Ram ...
, listed as wetlands of international importance under the
Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...
, and the critically endangered
orange-bellied parrot The orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster'') is a small parrot endemic (ecology), endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that bird migration, migrate. It was described by John Latham (ornithologist), John ...
is found at three wintering sites with saltmarsh habitat around Port Phillip and the
Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung language, Wadawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together wi ...
. A variety of
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s, such as
Australasian gannet The Australasian gannet (''Morus serrator''), also known as the Australian gannet or tākapu, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and lining the trailing ...
s, nest on artificial structures in the bay. Port Phillip contains 3 Marine Sanctuaries managed by Parks Victoria to protect and conserve the bay's biodiversity, ecological processes and the natural and heritage features. Port Phillip's marine water quality is monitored by the Environment Protection Authority of Victoria and was fluctuating between Good to Very Good across the bay in 2021-2022.


Original flora and fauna

In 1906, George Gordon McCrae wrote two letters to a local schoolmaster at
Dromana Dromana ( ) is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Dromana recorded a populati ...
, Mr G.H. Rogers. His subject was his earliest recollections of an idyllic boyhood spent at Arthur's Seat Run, location of the historic McCrae Homestead on the southern shore of the bay, part of the
Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...
. In the letters he described in detail the
natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
of the area in the 1840s, and the species he particularly remembered 60 years later. In 1939, Charles Daley read an article before the
Royal Historical Society of Victoria The Royal Historical Society of Victoria is a community organisation promoting the history of the state of Victoria, Australia. It functions to promote and research the history of that state after settlement, and as an umbrella organisation fo ...
based on these letters, which was published in its journal in 1940 the year after a large
bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
in January 1939 hastened the disappearance of much of the original surviving wildlife from the area. The names of the species reflect the titles given to them by the original European settlers of the bay. The animals he observed as a young boy were "immense droves of
kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
s, brush kangaroos or
wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...
, paddy-melon,
bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipela ...
s (two varieties), great opossum (two varieties), ring tail,
flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe (biology), tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family (biology), family Squirrel, Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight i ...
, flying mouse,
dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...
es or wild dogs in the gullies, that were caught in box traps with sliding doors, porcupine ant eater or
echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the Family (biology), family Tachyglossidae , living in Australia and New Guinea. The four Extant taxon, extant species of echidnas ...
that were at the back of Arthur's Seat mountain, the great iguana, tree lizard- 5 feet, python, and the rock or sleeping lizard." The trees were coast banksia, honey suckle, and grass trees "with crowns for thatching". The gum of ''
Xanthorrhoea australis ''Xanthorrhoea australis'', the grass tree or austral grasstree, is an Australia (continent), Australian plant. It is the most commonly seen species of the genus ''Xanthorrhoea''. Its trunk can grow up to several metres tall and is often branc ...
'' was used for carriage varnish. In the waters of the bay he described "scallop shells which were used as an oil lamp with a bulrush wick, banks of
cockles Cockle may refer to: * Cockle (bivalve), an edible, marine bivalve mollusc * ''Lolium temulentum'' (also cockle), an annual plant of the family Poaceae * Berwick cockle, a white-coloured sweet with red stripes * ''Cockle'', a codename for the fo ...
covered with birds, grey and white gulls, a 13-16 lb size schnapper ground off Mt Martha Point, mutton fish or venus ear- bait, coatfish,
parrot fish Parrotfish (named for their mouths, which resemble a parrot's beak) are a clade of fish placed in the tribe Scarini of the wrasse family (Labridae). Traditionally treated as their own family (Scaridae), genetic studies have found them to be dee ...
, leather jackets, flathead, dog fish, sting rays, shark tailed rays, and pig fish that he thought to be "very old". On the beaches could be sighted pelicans, penguins, grey and grey white gull, called "bungan" by aborigines (the
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 ...
Mayone-bulluk clan), small white and lavender gull, pied oyster catchers, terns, cormorants, the little sandpiper, and musk ducks. In the swamps (which have since been filled in) were "The Nankeen bird with one long white feather behind the ear, The rail, The bittern, The snipe and jack snipe, Several ducks- wood duck, black duck, Teal, Spoonbill, Black swan Geese, Cranes, Blue and white coots, Water hens, Kingfishers here and there and swamp or ground parrot with the barred tail feathers." In the scrub by the waterholes were "honey eaters, warblers, red coat robins, emu wren with 2 long feathers in tail, Laughing jack ass- everywhere, butcher bird, also known as shrike or whistling jackass, Quail where coverage good in bottom of scrub, turkey at Boneo and the big swamp off the property." On the flats were found spur wing plovers, minas, and leatherheads. In timbers near the flats were "many varieties of parrots, Lorry, Rosella, Blue mountain or honeysuckle parrot, Sulphur –crested white cockatoo, Black cockatoo of two kinds, Grey cockatoo with scarlet crest and Corella or cockatoo parrot." Among the cherry trees in the garden at the homestead were "bronzewing pigeon and satin birds, love birds and honeyeating parakeets." Birds of prey were "eagle hawks, falcons, and owls, some white and of great size".


Cetaceans

Small numbers of
common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, wit ...
s have become residents in eastern parts of the bay since the late 2000s. In recent years, the numbers of southern humpback and
southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
s entering the bay of Port Phillip have shown increases. Unlike in
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
and on
Great Ocean Road The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage-listed stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia, between the Victorian towns of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedica ...
, Southern Rights in eastern Victorian waters are still critically endangered and in very small numbers; however, presences of cow-calf pairs in the bay in recent years indicate that Port Phillip was possibly once a wintering/calving ground for these whales. They swim very close to shores to take rests in shallow, sheltered waters, sometimes just next to piers in Frankston.


=Burrunan dolphins

= The bay is home to about 100 to 150 of the recently described species of
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 ...
, the
Burrunan dolphin The Burrunan dolphin (''Tursiops australis'') is a proposed species of bottlenose dolphin found in parts of Victoria, Australia first described in 2011. Its exact taxonomy is debated: numerous studies support it as being a separate species within ...
(''Tursiops australis''). The other 50 or so of this rare species are to be found in the
Gippsland Lakes The Gippsland Lakes are a network of coastal lakes, marshes and lagoons in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an overall area of about between the rural towns of Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale and Sale. The largest of the lakes are ...
.


Shellfish reefs

Port Phillip has lost over 95% of native flat oyster and blue mussel reefs since European settlement. In 2014 the Port Phillip Shellfish Reef restoration project set about restoring shellfish reefs at two locations off Hobsons Bay near St Kilda, and off Corio Bay near Avalon. 300,000 native Angasi oysters were laid on limestone rubble over a 600 square metre area. The project aimed to improve marine biodiversity, water quality and fish habitat.


Environmental issues

Like the Yarra which flows into it, Port Phillip faces the environmental concerns of pollution and water quality. Litter, silt and toxins can affect the beaches to the point where they are shut down by EPA Victoria. In 2008, the owner and master of Hong Kong-registered container vessel MV ''Sky Lucky'' were found liable for illegally disposing garbage into Port Phillip, convicted and fined $35,000. An Environmental Management Plan has been adopted for 2017-2027 in order to improve and ensure the water quality is helping the marine life flourish as well as divide the supervising of the Bay between the government, community and industries.


Shipping


History

The southern section of the Bay near the Heads is covered by extensive sand banks, known as the "Great Sand". A shipping channel was dredged in an east–west direction from the Heads to near Arthur's Seat late in the nineteenth century, and maintained ever since. Early shipping used piers at Sandridge (Port Melbourne), but later moved to various wharves along the Yarra River, which make up today's
Port of Melbourne The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at th ...
. The Melbourne Harbor Trust and Geelong Harbor Trust were responsible for the piers and wharves in their respective cities — they are now the government owned
Port of Melbourne Corporation The Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) is a statutory body established by the Victorian Government to develop and manage the Port of Melbourne, Australia's busiest container port. The Corporation commenced operations on 1 July 2003, when it t ...
and the privately operated GeelongPort. Today, the
Port of Melbourne The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at th ...
has grown to become Australia's busiest commercial port, serving Australia's second largest city and handling an enormous amount of imports and exports into and out of the country. The
Port of Geelong The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay at Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The port is the sixth-largest in Australia by tonnage. Major commodities handled by the port include crude oil and petroleum products, export grain and w ...
also handles a large volume of dry bulk and oil, while nearby Port of Hastings on
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 ...
handles steel and oil products. In 2004 the Victorian Government launched the
Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project (CDP) began on 8 February 2008 to deepen the shipping channels leading to Melbourne, Australia. The project was to deepen channels in Port Phillip to draught to allow greater access for container sh ...
to deepen the existing shipping channels and the lower Yarra to accommodate deeper draft vessels. The lower Yarra sediments were identified as likely to be contaminated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals, and were to be contained within a sealed berm clear of the shipping channels south of the Yarra entrance. The vessel chosen for the dredging is the
Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...
. 52 environmental groups, recreational fishing groups, and divers' groups formed the " Blue Wedges" group to oppose the proposed channel deepening and dredging with organised protests carried out, culminating in the group taking action in the Federal Court in January 2008 against the Commonwealth to stop it signing off on the project. On 15 January 2008 it was announced that their appeal was dismissed, with dredging starting soon after. The government announced the completion of works in November 2009, ahead of schedule and $200 million under budget.


Shipping channels

* South Channel – Extends from the area of the rip in an easterly direction where it terminates off the coast of Arthurs Seat. Vessels with a draught of 14.0m can be navigated through the channel at all tides. This is the main commercial shipping channel in the south of the bay allowing large ships access between the entrance of the bay and its middle regions. * West Channel – Extends from the area of the rip, heads towards the north-west and ends off the coast of St Leonards. The depth varies, in May 1998 there was a minimum of 4.1 metres. Non-commercial vessels are still navigated through the channel; however, it is no longer used for commercial shipping. *
The Rip The Rip is the narrow waterway entrance connecting the Bass Strait to the Port Phillip Bay in southern Victoria, Australia, and is the only route of maritime transport and thus seaport access into Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria's two larg ...
– Also referred to as "the heads" for shipping purposes, vessels with a draught of 14.0m can be navigated through the Heads during any height of tide. However, the passage of vessels can be restricted when the current through the rip is too strong. The flow through the Rip can be up to 8 knots dependent on the range of tide and environmental conditions. * Melbourne Channels – Extends northwards through Hobsons Bay towards Station Pier and the entrance to the Yarra River. It is dredged to a depth of 15.5 metres and is the main shipping channel through the north of the bay into Melbourne's ports and docks. The channels include: :Melbourne Channel :Williamstown Channel :Port Melbourne Channel * Geelong Channels – Begins off the coast of Point Richards and runs in a westerly direction through Outer Harbour and into Corio Bay where it splits in two heading north towards the modern
Port of Geelong The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay at Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The port is the sixth-largest in Australia by tonnage. Major commodities handled by the port include crude oil and petroleum products, export grain and w ...
and south towards Cunningham Pier. The main Geelong channels are dredged to 12.3m. The City Channel while once used for wool exports is no longer used for commercial shipping. The channels include: :Point Richards Shipping Channel :Wilson Spit Shipping Channel :Hopetoun Shipping Channel :City Channel :Corio Channel


Shipping and cargo docks

* Bulk Grain Pier * Corio Quay * Cunningham Pier * Gellibrand Pier * Lascelles Wharf * Point Henry Pier * Point Wilson Pier * Princes Pier * Refinery Pier *
Station Pier Station Pier is a historic Australian pier on Port Phillip, in Port Melbourne, Victoria. Opened in 1854, the pier is Melbourne's primary passenger terminal, servicing interstate Ferry, ferries and cruise ships, and is listed on the Victorian He ...
*
Webb Dock Webb Dock is a port facility at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne, Victoria constructed progressively from 1960, by dredging and land fill at the mouth of the Yarra River. It includes roll-on/roll-off facilities handling motor vehicle import and expor ...


Ferries

*
Searoad Ferries Searoad Ferries (formerly known as Peninsula Searoad Transport) is an Australian company that operates a roll-on/roll-off vehicle and passenger ferry service between the heads of Port Phillip, near Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
operates a vehicular ferry service across the mouth of the bay between Queenscliff and
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
using two roll-on roll-off vessels. :Between: Sorrento Pier,
Sorrento Sorrento ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...
:And: The Cut Pier, Queenscliff *
Port Phillip Ferries Port Phillip Ferries is an Australian ferry company that operates on Port Phillip, providing fast ferry services connecting Geelong and Portarlington to Melbourne Docklands. Background Ferries had a long tradition of operating throughout Port ...
run twice daily fast ferry services between Melbourne Docklands and Portarlington on the Bellarine Peninsula and Docklands 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 ...
. In 2017 they commissioned a new
Incat Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...
ferry ''Bellarine Express''. In 2019 it was joined by another Incat ferry of the same design ''Geelong Flyer'' which runs the service to Geelong. * Ferries also run from St Kilda to
Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay Local government areas of Victoria, ...
across
Hobsons Bay Hobsons Bay is a small open bay in Victoria, Australia, and is the northernmost part of the larger Port Phillip Bay. Its western and eastern boundaries are marked by Point Gellibrand in and Point Ormond in respectively, and defines the coas ...
. These ferries, like the many recreational cruises, mostly operate for tourists and run around the bay in various locations. *
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 ...
Ferry (passenger and vehicles) :Between: Spirit of Tasmania Quay,
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 ...
:And:
Devonport, Tasmania Devonport ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Limilinaturi'') is a port city situated at the mouth of the Mersey River (Australia), Mersey River on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Positi ...


Other features


Flagship

* Enterprize (1997) – Is Melbourne's Flagship, a replica of the Enterprize (1830), the tall ship that brought the first European settlers to Melbourne. She sails around Port Phillip throughout the year, visiting ports at Geelong, Williamstown, Portarlington, Rye and Blairgowrie.


Lighthouses

* Eastern Lighthouse (1854, 1883) – McCrae * Queenscliff High Light (1843, 1862) – Queenscliff * Queenscliff Low Light (1863) – Queenscliff *
Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Point Lonsdale Lighthouse, also known as the Point Lonsdale Signal Station, is close to the township of Point Lonsdale in the Borough of Queenscliffe, Victoria, Australia. It stands at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula, on the western s ...
(1902) –
Point Lonsdale Point Lonsdale is a town on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia. The town is divided between the Borough of Queenscliffe and the City of Greater Geelong. Point Lonsdale is also one of the headlands which, with Poin ...
* Port Melbourne Lighthouses (1924) –
Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...
* South Channel Pile Light (1874) – Port Phillip * West Channel Pile Light (1881) – Port Phillip * Williamstown Lighthouse (1840, 1849, 1934) – Williamstown


Shipwrecks

Some of the more significant and historic
shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...
s in the bay include: * – sunk 600 metres northeast of
Pope's Eye 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. The undefined area of the fort, generally assessed at , is one of six separate areas that compri ...
(1841) * ''Clarence'' – sunk after running aground (1850) * ''Will O' the Wisp'' – sunk after running onto the sandbank William Sand, West Channel (1853) * ''Mountain Maid'' – sunk off Swan Island after a collision with SS ''Queen'' (1856) * ''Joanna'' – sunk after going around on the West Bank (1857) * – sunk after a collision with ''Penola'' (1865) * ''Eliza Ramsden'' – sunk near the South Channel (1875) * ''Wauchope'' – beached at Portsea after she caught fire and part of her cargo exploded (1919) * – scuttled off Indented Head (1925) * HMAS ''Cerberus'' – scuttled in
Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Immediately north of Half Mo ...
, Black Rock (1926) * HMAS ''J3'' – scuttled in
Swan Bay The Swan Bay is a shallow, 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 fro ...
(1926) * HMAS ''J7'' – scuttled off
Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...
Beach (1926) * – the first ship to survive hitting Corsair Rock (1955)


Tourism

The bay is one of Victoria's most popular tourist destinations. Many residents of Melbourne holiday on the shorelines of the bay, particularly the Bellarine (South west, near Geelong) and Mornington (south east of Melbourne) Peninsulas, most annually, either camping in tents, caravan or villas in
caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel * Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop * Caravan (tra ...
s, sharing rental houses or staying in holiday homes.


Recreation and sport

Port Phillip's mostly flat topography and moderate waves make perfect conditions for recreational
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 ...
,
kitesurfing 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 ...
,
windsurfing 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 ...
,
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...
,
boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...
,
snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...
,
scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...
, stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and other sports. Port Phillip is home to 36
yacht club A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...
s. It also hosts the Melbourne to Hobart and Melbourne to Launceston Yacht Races. Port Phillip is also home to a number of
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
s, including large marinas at St. Kilda,
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
and Geelong. For the
1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...
, it hosted the
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...
events.1956 Summer Olympics official report.
pp. 46-7.
Dozens of lifesaving clubs dot Port Phillip, especially on the east coast from Altona to Frankston. These clubs provide volunteer lifesaving services and conduct sporting carnivals. Port Phillip is also known as a temperate water
scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...
destination. The shore dives from beaches and piers around the Bay provide a wide variety of experiences on day and night dives. Boat diving in Port Phillip provides access to a remarkable variety of diving environments including wrecks, reefs, drift dives, scallop dives, seal dives and wall dives. Of particular interest are the five scuttled J-Class World War 1 submarines and the Ships' Graveyard off Torquay. With 3 Marine Sanctuaries and easily accessible piers, Port Phillip is also popular for recreational snorkeling. There are also a number of bike paths, including the
Bayside Trail Bay Trail or Bayside Trail may refer to: * Bay Trail, Saskatchewan, unincorporate community in Canada * Bay Trail (Australia), a trail in Victoria, Australia * San Francisco Bay Trail, a trail in California, United States * Bay Trail (system on ...
and the
Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail __NOTOC__ The Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the coast line of Hobsons Bay in the inner western suburbs in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The trail forms part of the western half of the ...
.


See also

*
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. It is now part of Point ...
*
Fort Pearce Fort Pearce 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. Fortifications The forti ...
*
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 he ...
* Port Phillip Bay Bridge proposals


References


External links

*
Large-scale map of Port Phillip showing beaches and recreational facilities

Port Phillip Sea Pilots

Shipwreck Info at Heritage Victoria
{{Authority control Bays of Victoria (state) Australian penal colonies Fishing communities in Australia Olympic sailing venues Venues of the 1956 Summer Olympics Ports and harbours of Victoria (state) Barwon South West (region) Geography of Melbourne