Articles

For more than 40 years Bob Graham has observed the ongoing natural processes on Bruny Island. These processes remind us that we are part of everything that surrounds us

There is a dynamic relationship that builds up with a particular species of trees, and particular species of birds, and their need to feed, to breed and to survive.

Dolphins are common around Bruny Island. Whales including Southern Wrights, Humpbacks, and occasionally Blue Whales and Orcas seasonally migrate through here.

The ecology of Simpsons bay has improved in recent years. Shorebird numbers here have increased. There are a number of reasons behind this improved ecology.

Simpson's Bay beach is a long thin beach on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel side of the neck

The Blue Gum – Eucalyptus Globulus – is a very important species of tree for the survival of the Swift Parrot, a critically endangered species that frequents Bruny Island.

At a number of spots along the coastline near Adventure Bay, such as at Coal point, are fascinating rock pools and coastal and marine life.

At different parts of Adventure Bay you can find Sandstone that pre-dates life on Earth, to mudstone rich in fossils, to Dolerite cliffs that were once, millions of years ago, flows of molten lava.

The real fascination with this place, Bruny, is, it’s an island, with this incredibly varied coastal environment. With wild ocean facing beaches, to stable Channel facing beaches, shell beaches, rocky beaches and everything in between.

It seems like such a simple question, “why does a beach have a curve on it?”. Yet even small beaches have a curve. This is because the energy of a beach is concentrated in the middle.

When a waves come in, there is an enormous amount of energy, but it loses that energy as it sweeps up the beach, dropping heavier particles first and then dropping the finer particles of sand.

Protecting beach birds is not just about focussing on where they might be when they’re breeding. Its about saying – “these birds occupy many beaches”.