Out in the Bay...
Jan. 13th, 2016 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranNext up, we meet some of Port Phillip Bay's full-time residents. Our first stop is a structure called Chinaman's Hat, and its resident crew of Australian fur seals...
Chinaman's Hat is actually a purpose-built structure for the seals to "haul out" on. It replaced an earlier naval structure which the seals had colonised, but which had gradually fallen into disrepair. I believe the earlier structure had the same conical-shaped roof that gives the present structure its name. Stories about the purpose of the original structure seem to vary. One story goes that it was used for listening devices to detect submarines. Another suggests it was part of an automatic defence system involving searchlights and mirrors, reminiscent of the searchlight that shone across from Point Lonsdale to Point Nepean, that I mentioned in the previous post).
As you can see, the water here is very shallow and clear.
The seals are quite relaxed and play in the water quite close to the boat.
We can get quite quite to the structure too. At this point, we are much closer than we would ever get in zoo. There's quite a strong smell of rotting fish and wet seal fur.
The seals come in all shapes and sizes. According to our guide, all these seals are male - the females are somewhere else in the bay. The seals are all quite relaxed - pushing and shoving aside, because they have few natural predators in the waters. In the shallow waters, healthy seals can out swim sharks quite easily.
Not far off, some more seals bask in the water with their flippers up to catch some solar power. It's easy to sea how a bunch of these might look like a tentacled sea monster or a school of sharks.
Our next stop is a semicircular stone structure called the Pope's Eye. This was intended as part of the bay's defence network, with the idea that gunships could be moored inside structures like this when needed, to create a sort of mobile fort. Advances in naval firepower made the idea obsolete before it was ever finished, so now it's a popular diving site and home to a large colony of australasian gannets.
This is a rare chance to get close to these magnificent birds, which I've often seen diving back home in New South Wales.
It turns out that, like seals, gannet colonies can also be smelt a great distance away...
There are lots of chicks and juveniles amongst the adults. This appears to be a relatively benign place to rear young gannets, but it does have a crucial drawback. Because the rocks are relatively low, the young birds don't have much of a drop to get the hang on things when they first learn to fly, and sometimes, if they can't make it back onto the rocks, they'll wash up dead or exhausted on the other side of the bay.
As we watch, an adult returns from a fishing expedition, and begins a beak clicking ritual with its mate. Meanwhile, another juvenile and its parent patiently await another returnee.
And then it's back to Queenscliff for us, for some well-earned lunch and a walk to warm up after the fast trip back. Our next adventure on the bay will happen at a much slower pace...
Chinaman's Hat is actually a purpose-built structure for the seals to "haul out" on. It replaced an earlier naval structure which the seals had colonised, but which had gradually fallen into disrepair. I believe the earlier structure had the same conical-shaped roof that gives the present structure its name. Stories about the purpose of the original structure seem to vary. One story goes that it was used for listening devices to detect submarines. Another suggests it was part of an automatic defence system involving searchlights and mirrors, reminiscent of the searchlight that shone across from Point Lonsdale to Point Nepean, that I mentioned in the previous post).
As you can see, the water here is very shallow and clear.
The seals are quite relaxed and play in the water quite close to the boat.
We can get quite quite to the structure too. At this point, we are much closer than we would ever get in zoo. There's quite a strong smell of rotting fish and wet seal fur.
The seals come in all shapes and sizes. According to our guide, all these seals are male - the females are somewhere else in the bay. The seals are all quite relaxed - pushing and shoving aside, because they have few natural predators in the waters. In the shallow waters, healthy seals can out swim sharks quite easily.
Not far off, some more seals bask in the water with their flippers up to catch some solar power. It's easy to sea how a bunch of these might look like a tentacled sea monster or a school of sharks.
Our next stop is a semicircular stone structure called the Pope's Eye. This was intended as part of the bay's defence network, with the idea that gunships could be moored inside structures like this when needed, to create a sort of mobile fort. Advances in naval firepower made the idea obsolete before it was ever finished, so now it's a popular diving site and home to a large colony of australasian gannets.
This is a rare chance to get close to these magnificent birds, which I've often seen diving back home in New South Wales.
It turns out that, like seals, gannet colonies can also be smelt a great distance away...
There are lots of chicks and juveniles amongst the adults. This appears to be a relatively benign place to rear young gannets, but it does have a crucial drawback. Because the rocks are relatively low, the young birds don't have much of a drop to get the hang on things when they first learn to fly, and sometimes, if they can't make it back onto the rocks, they'll wash up dead or exhausted on the other side of the bay.
As we watch, an adult returns from a fishing expedition, and begins a beak clicking ritual with its mate. Meanwhile, another juvenile and its parent patiently await another returnee.
And then it's back to Queenscliff for us, for some well-earned lunch and a walk to warm up after the fast trip back. Our next adventure on the bay will happen at a much slower pace...
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