Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately 315 square kilometres (122 sq mi), and has an average depth of 15 metres (49 ft), with deeper places up to 50 metres (160 ft). It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channel's curve. This man-made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow, rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow. A reported Aboriginal name for the harbour is Parralaongatek.[1]
Macquarie Harbour
A view across Macquarie Harbour (Mount Sorell at rear).
False colour Landsat image centred on Macquarie Harbour, looking northwest, draped over digital elevation model with x2 vertical exaggeration; screen capture from the NASA World Wind
James Kelly wrote in his narrative First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover Macquarie Harbour on 28 December 1815.[2]
However, different accounts of the journey have indicated different methods and dates of the discovery. In the commentary to the Historical Records of Australia, the editor notes that T.W. Birch stated before the commission of inquiry into the state of the colony in 1820 that Kelly had discovered Macquarie Harbour after proceeding along in a boat from Port Davey where they had travelled in the schooner Henrietta Packet. Kelly gave evidence before the commission, and did not mention any discoveries. In a letter dated 11 April 1816, preserved in the record office, London, T.W. Birch transmitted an account of this voyage, which records the discovery of Macquarie Harbour on 26 December 1815.[3]
Surveyor-General Oxley of New South Wales in March 1820 battled with the seas around the heads and Hells Gates. Surveyor-General Evans travelled in the area in 1821-22.
In September 2020, almost 100 Pilot whales were rescued from the harbour after becoming stranded. An estimated 350 whales which were unable to be rescued died.[5]
The harbour was established as a prison which was a place of "extreme physical and mental torture" .[6] It was built for British convicts but many Irish patriots and Tasmanian Aborigines were also detained there.[citation needed]
Rivers
The King River which cuts through the West Coast Range and the Gordon River empty into Macquarie Harbour. The narrow entrance to Macquarie Harbour has hazardous tidal currents and is called Hell's Gates. Outside of the Harbour the entrance area is known as Macquarie Heads, and the most western point is Cape Sorell. The sheer volume of fresh water that pours into the Harbour through the rivers, combined with the narrow exit result in barometric tides.[7] When there is rain in the mountains surrounding the Harbour, the tide rises, and it falls when the atmospheric pressure reverses and results in less rain.
The Queen River, King River and Macquarie Harbour were all polluted by mine waste from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company until its closing in 1994. It is estimated that 100 million tonnes of tailings were disposed of into the Queen River. The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program was carried out by the office of Supervising Scientist and the Tasmanian Department of Environment and Land Management over the following two years. The result of the program a marked reduction in the waste material entering the rivers and harbour.
The first settlement at Macquarie Harbour was on Sarah Island, a small island in the harbour, named after the wife of Thomas William Birch. This island was used as a prison for recalcitrant prisoners from other settlements in Tasmania, due to its extreme isolation and extreme climate.
Later the small port of Strahan was developed on the shores of Macquarie Harbour to support the nearby mining settlements, mainly Queenstown. Another port was developed on the south east section of the harbour in Kelly Basin along with townsite of Pillinger. The settlement and port were short lived as was the North Mount Lyell company that developed the facilities.
Risby Cove - water between Strahan Harbour and Regatta Point
Rum Point - on western shore south of Sarah Island
Sophia Point - on mid-eastern shore
Strahan Harbour - from Strahan Point parallel to 'The Esplanade'
Swan Basin - near Hell's Gates
Tourism
Strahan is the departure point for tourism on Tasmania's west coast. The West Coast Wilderness Railway takes part of the northeastern shore of the Harbour, before turning inland at the mouth of the King River. Boats take tourists from Strahan to Hell's Gates and Macquarie Heads, Sarah Island and up the lower reaches of the Gordon River. Charter flights using helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft launch from Strahan Airport.
Salmon farms
Salmon farms were first established in Macquarie Harbour in the 1980s. Production increased significantly in the 21st century. Tassal established farms there in 2003, Huon Aquaculture in 2008 and Petuna around 2011.[10] A range of associated environmental issues in Macquarie Harbour have followed the harbour's industrialisation.[11][12][13][14][15] Problems include the creation of de-oxygenated "dead zones" beneath pens and massive stock mortalities occurred as stocking and pollution loads increased.[10]
Management practices have been questioned and challenged,[16][17] after which the EPA reduced the farms' stocking capacities.[10]
The fate of the endangered Maugean skate has been a subject of concern and investigation.[18]
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macquarie Harbour.
^Milligan, Joseph (1858). "On the dialects and languages of the Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania, and on their manners and customs" (PDF). Papers of the Royal Society of Tasmania: 270.
^Kelly, James, Some unrecorded passages in the history of Van Diemen's Land (from a Very Old Stager)(PDF)
^, III, vol. 2, p. 778, archived from the original on 14 March 2011
^Whitham, Charles (1924). Western Tasmania: a land of riches and beauty. Queenstown, Tasmania: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. p. 168. ASIN B0008BM4XC. OCLC 35070001.
^"Almost 100 pilot whales rescued after mass stranding on Tasmania's West Coast". abc.net.au. 24 September 2020.
^Flannery, T.F. (1994) The Future Eaters: An ecological history of the Australasian lands and people Chatswood: New South Wales ISBN0-8021-3943-4
^"Macquarie is a 'barometric' or 'atmospheric' harbour". ABC News. 23 September 2020.
^Pemberton, Michael; Hawkins, Clare; Hamish Saunders Memorial Trust (New Zealand); Tasmania. Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (2011), The islands of Macquarie Harbour : Hamish Saunders Memorial Island Survey Program 2009, Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, ISBN978-0-7246-6567-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN0-7246-4816-X
^ abc"Salmon farmer says it warned of looming crisis in Macquarie Harbour". www.abc.net.au. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
^Bell, Justin; Lyle, Jeremy; Semmens, Jayson; Awruch, Cynthia; Moreno, David; Currie, Suzie; Morash, Andrea; Ross, D. J. (Donald Jeff); Barrett, Neville (2016). Movement, habitat utilisation and population status of the endangered Maugean skate and implications for fishing and aquaculture operations in Macquarie Harbour. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (Tas.) and Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (Australia). ISBN978-1-86295-851-7.
Further reading
Lempriere, T. G. (1842). "Account of Macquarie Harbour". Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science (manuscript). 1: 39–49.
Kelly, James, 1791-1859. First discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour p 160-181 "Royal Society of Tasmania: Papers and Proceedings, 1920. Issued separately 24th December, 1920" Microfiche. Canberra : National Library of Australia, 2004.
March 04, 2023
macquarie, harbour, shallow, fjord, west, coast, region, tasmania, australia, approximately, square, kilometres, average, depth, metres, with, deeper, places, metres, navigable, shallow, draft, vessels, main, channel, kept, clear, presence, rock, wall, outside. Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania Australia It is approximately 315 square kilometres 122 sq mi and has an average depth of 15 metres 49 ft with deeper places up to 50 metres 160 ft It is navigable by shallow draft vessels The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channel s curve This man made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow A reported Aboriginal name for the harbour is Parralaongatek 1 Macquarie HarbourA view across Macquarie Harbour Mount Sorell at rear Macquarie HarbourLocation in TasmaniaFalse colour Landsat image centred on Macquarie Harbour looking northwest draped over digital elevation model with x2 vertical exaggeration screen capture from the NASA World WindLocationWestern TasmaniaCoordinates42 17 38 S 145 21 31 E 42 29389 S 145 35861 E 42 29389 145 35861 Coordinates 42 17 38 S 145 21 31 E 42 29389 S 145 35861 E 42 29389 145 35861Native nameParralaongatekEtymologyLachlan MacquarieRiver sourcesKing RiverGordon RiverOcean sea sourcesSouthern OceanBasin countriesAustraliaIslandsSarah IslandSections sub basinsBirchs InletHells GatesKelly BasinRegatta PointSettlementsStrahanThe harbour was named in honour of Scottish Major General Lachlan Macquarie the fifth Colonial Governor of New South Wales Contents 1 History 2 Convict era 3 Rivers 4 Islands 5 Settlements 6 Named features 7 Tourism 8 Salmon farms 9 See also 10 References 11 Further readingHistory EditJames Kelly wrote in his narrative First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five oared whaleboat to discover Macquarie Harbour on 28 December 1815 2 However different accounts of the journey have indicated different methods and dates of the discovery In the commentary to the Historical Records of Australia the editor notes that T W Birch stated before the commission of inquiry into the state of the colony in 1820 that Kelly had discovered Macquarie Harbour after proceeding along in a boat from Port Davey where they had travelled in the schooner Henrietta Packet Kelly gave evidence before the commission and did not mention any discoveries In a letter dated 11 April 1816 preserved in the record office London T W Birch transmitted an account of this voyage which records the discovery of Macquarie Harbour on 26 December 1815 3 Charles Whitham notes variations on the date 4 Surveyor General Oxley of New South Wales in March 1820 battled with the seas around the heads and Hells Gates Surveyor General Evans travelled in the area in 1821 22 In September 2020 almost 100 Pilot whales were rescued from the harbour after becoming stranded An estimated 350 whales which were unable to be rescued died 5 Convict era EditFurther information Macquarie Harbour Penal Station The harbour was established as a prison which was a place of extreme physical and mental torture 6 It was built for British convicts but many Irish patriots and Tasmanian Aborigines were also detained there citation needed Rivers EditThe King River which cuts through the West Coast Range and the Gordon River empty into Macquarie Harbour The narrow entrance to Macquarie Harbour has hazardous tidal currents and is called Hell s Gates Outside of the Harbour the entrance area is known as Macquarie Heads and the most western point is Cape Sorell The sheer volume of fresh water that pours into the Harbour through the rivers combined with the narrow exit result in barometric tides 7 When there is rain in the mountains surrounding the Harbour the tide rises and it falls when the atmospheric pressure reverses and results in less rain The Queen River King River and Macquarie Harbour were all polluted by mine waste from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company until its closing in 1994 It is estimated that 100 million tonnes of tailings were disposed of into the Queen River The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program was carried out by the office of Supervising Scientist and the Tasmanian Department of Environment and Land Management over the following two years The result of the program a marked reduction in the waste material entering the rivers and harbour Bird River mouth of river in Kelly Basin Braddon River mouth on mid eastern shore Clark River mouth at Pillinger Kelly Basin Gordon River mouth on south eastern end of harbour King River mouth at north east of harbourIslands Edit Photo of the lighthouse on Bonnet Island Hells gate Tasmania looking out from Harbour Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour The Islands are regularly surveyed 8 Bonnet Island in Kelly Channel at entrance to harbour 42 13 S 145 14 E 9 Cat Island Elizabeth Island Entrance Island at entrance to harbour 42 12 S 145 14 E Magazine Island Neck Island Philips Island adjacent to mouth of Braddon River on east shore Sarah Island in southern part of Harbour Soldiers IslandSettlements EditThe first settlement at Macquarie Harbour was on Sarah Island a small island in the harbour named after the wife of Thomas William Birch This island was used as a prison for recalcitrant prisoners from other settlements in Tasmania due to its extreme isolation and extreme climate Later the small port of Strahan was developed on the shores of Macquarie Harbour to support the nearby mining settlements mainly Queenstown Another port was developed on the south east section of the harbour in Kelly Basin along with townsite of Pillinger The settlement and port were short lived as was the North Mount Lyell company that developed the facilities Named features Edit Salmon farm in Macquarie Harbour Birchs Inlet at the southwestern end of harbour Farm Cove at the southeast side Gould Point adjacent to Farm Cove Hell s Gates mouth at north west end of harbour Kelly Basin port town at southern end of harbour see also Pillinger Kelly Channel at entrance to harbour Lettes Bay between Regatta Point and King River mouth Liberty Point on mid western shore Long Bay south of Regatta Point Pillinger name of abandoned townsite in Kelly Basin Pine Cove just south of the King River Mouth Regatta Point eastern side of Risby Cove Risby Cove water between Strahan Harbour and Regatta Point Rum Point on western shore south of Sarah Island Sophia Point on mid eastern shore Strahan Harbour from Strahan Point parallel to The Esplanade Swan Basin near Hell s GatesTourism EditStrahan is the departure point for tourism on Tasmania s west coast The West Coast Wilderness Railway takes part of the northeastern shore of the Harbour before turning inland at the mouth of the King River Boats take tourists from Strahan to Hell s Gates and Macquarie Heads Sarah Island and up the lower reaches of the Gordon River Charter flights using helicopters and fixed wing aircraft launch from Strahan Airport Salmon farms EditSalmon farms were first established in Macquarie Harbour in the 1980s Production increased significantly in the 21st century Tassal established farms there in 2003 Huon Aquaculture in 2008 and Petuna around 2011 10 A range of associated environmental issues in Macquarie Harbour have followed the harbour s industrialisation 11 12 13 14 15 Problems include the creation of de oxygenated dead zones beneath pens and massive stock mortalities occurred as stocking and pollution loads increased 10 Management practices have been questioned and challenged 16 17 after which the EPA reduced the farms stocking capacities 10 The fate of the endangered Maugean skate has been a subject of concern and investigation 18 See also Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macquarie Harbour Australia portal Water portal Environment portal Convicts on the West Coast of Tasmania Convicts in AustraliaReferences Edit Milligan Joseph 1858 On the dialects and languages of the Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania and on their manners and customs PDF Papers of the Royal Society of Tasmania 270 Kelly James Some unrecorded passages in the history of Van Diemen s Land from a Very Old Stager PDF Historical Records of Australia III vol 2 p 778 archived from the original on 14 March 2011 Whitham Charles 1924 Western Tasmania a land of riches and beauty Queenstown Tasmania Mount Lyell Tourist Association p 168 ASIN B0008BM4XC OCLC 35070001 Almost 100 pilot whales rescued after mass stranding on Tasmania s West Coast abc net au 24 September 2020 Flannery T F 1994 The Future Eaters An ecological history of the Australasian lands and people Chatswood New South Wales ISBN 0 8021 3943 4 Macquarie is a barometric or atmospheric harbour ABC News 23 September 2020 Pemberton Michael Hawkins Clare Hamish Saunders Memorial Trust New Zealand Tasmania Department of Primary Industries Parks Water and Environment 2011 The islands of Macquarie Harbour Hamish Saunders Memorial Island Survey Program 2009 Department of Primary Industries Parks Water and Environment ISBN 978 0 7246 6567 9 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Brothers Nigel Pemberton David Pryor Helen amp Halley Vanessa 2001 Tasmania s Offshore Islands seabirds and other natural features Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Hobart ISBN 0 7246 4816 X a b c Salmon farmer says it warned of looming crisis in Macquarie Harbour www abc net au 29 May 2018 Retrieved 7 June 2021 Salmon Farming Frequently Asked Questions Tassal declares Macquarie Harbour salmon farming sustainable after hot summer Australian Broadcasting Corporation March 2016 High Court backs Tasmanian council s right to charge seabed rates Australian Broadcasting Corporation 14 April 2016 Tasmanian environmentalists ready to fight increase in salmon farming Australian Broadcasting Corporation 28 April 2016 Tasmanian Government ignored salmon overstocking warning Australian Broadcasting Corporation 30 October 2016 Salmon farmer accuses government of failing to protect World Heritage area Australian Broadcasting Corporation 6 February 2017 Tasmanian Government to fight salmon producer s legal action Australian Broadcasting Corporation 7 February 2017 Bell Justin Lyle Jeremy Semmens Jayson Awruch Cynthia Moreno David Currie Suzie Morash Andrea Ross D J Donald Jeff Barrett Neville 2016 Movement habitat utilisation and population status of the endangered Maugean skate and implications for fishing and aquaculture operations in Macquarie Harbour Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies Tas and Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Australia ISBN 978 1 86295 851 7 Further reading EditLempriere T G 1842 Account of Macquarie Harbour Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science manuscript 1 39 49 Blainey Geoffrey 2000 The Peaks of Lyell 6th ed Hobart St David s Park Publishing ISBN 0 7246 2265 9 Kelly James 1791 1859 First discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour p 160 181 Royal Society of Tasmania Papers and Proceedings 1920 Issued separately 24th December 1920 Microfiche Canberra National Library of Australia 2004 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Macquarie Harbour amp oldid 1132816421, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
