Bruny Island

Name: Codi
Price range: $

Curated by Dr Tonia Cochran and 17 others

Bruny hosts a rich human history, highly varied and exquisite natural landscapes, and is a wonderful place to find peace, solitude and to connect with wild nature.

kunanyi Sunset from Bligh Point landscape

About the region Articles about Bruny Island Conservation Things to Do Nature Community

About the region

Find peace, solitude and connect with wild nature

Located off the south-east coast of Tasmania, Australia, Bruny Island is surround by the D'Entrecasteux Channel, Storm Bay and the Southern Ocean.

Bruny Island / lunawanna-alonnah has a rich human history extending back 40,000 years, and layers of history and stories both moving, tragic and inspiring, colour its landscapes.

The island is an extraordinary microcosm of the nature of Tasmania, with grasslands, grand forests, coastal shrubs, rich and magical marine habitats and long wild stretches of coastline. Rich in birdlife, Bruny provides home to the threatened Forty-Spotted Pardalote, the Swift Parrot and the Wedge-Tailed Eagle along with important breeding sites for the short-tailed shearwater. A colony of White wallabies inhabit the southern reaches of Bruny’s Adventure Bay.

Beneath the waves of Bruny island’s varied coastline, rocky reefs and sandy gulches provide home and habitat to extraordinary sea creatures from ‘Leatherjacket’ and ‘Flathead’ fishes, to Crayfish, Little Penguins and migratory whales.

Two Tree - Point Dan Broun

Mars Bluff - Jonathan Esling

Adventure Bay - Jonathan Esling

White Wallaby "Gidday" Bruny Island Warwick Berry

White Wallaby - Warwick Berry

Adventure Bay, Bruny Island

Bligh Rocks view to Cape Queen Elizabeth, Bruny Island

Mars Bluff walk, Bruny Island

Australian Fur Seal

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Articles about Bruny Island

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The story of the ocean: a young ceramicists perspective

For Hannah, year 12 student and a regular visitor to Bruny Island, a childhood spent in and around the ocean has left a big impression...

Nature’s in my blood

"I can't remember a time where I wasn't interested in nature, plants and animals", says naturalist and owner of Inala Nature Tours, Dr. Tonia Cohcran...

Healing Country

This is a beautiful short film by Bruny Island film-maker Claire Gorman, as Bruny Island kids learn about connecting with and healing country.

Connecting with Nature happens early on Bruny Island

When asked what is so special about living on Bruny it is no surprise that many of the Prep/1 class refer to some aspect of...

Mars Bluff Jonathan Esling

Conservation

Preserving Bruny Island for future generations

Bruny Island is home to important areas of Old Growth forests, very high biodiversity values, and provides important habitat for threatened species including the Swift Parrot, Tasmanian Wedge-tailed eagle and Forty-Spotted Pardalote. The island is home to important threatened lowland and grassy vegetation communities and is of immense cultural heritage significance, including particularly to Tasmania’s Aboriginal community.

Conservation efforts for Bruny Island include the proposal to extend formal reserves and Parks on Bruny island, the need to secure permanent protection of Bruny Island’s native forests from logging, the eradication of feral cats, better protection of Bruny Island’s extraordinarily diverse and spectacular marine environment, and improved protection and care for nature on private land.

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Conservation efforts for Bruny Island

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Supergroms celebrating culture on Bruny 3

Connection to Country with Danny Gardner

"When we have these workshops, these kids become our allies. And doing this, it helps close the gap. It helps people have a better understanding of Ab...

Supergroms celebrating culture on Bruny 13

Palawa Cultural Workshop: Danny Gardner & Cloudy Bay Supergroms

A new short film by Claire Gorman captures the curiosity of the Bruny Island Supergroms as they discover and learn about connecting to the country wit...

Slowing down for the Swifties

After learning about the plight of the critically endangered Swift Parrot through classroom research and an excursion to Inala, the children of Bruny ...

Open a book, step into nature

From picture books to hands-on resources, inspire children to learn, explore, and fall in love with nature with this collection of resources

Creating critter card games to learn about Swift Parrots

Creating critter card games to learn about Swift Parrots.The birds of Bruny Island have long been a relevant launching pad for teaching the young chil...

Cloudy Bay Supergroms-sharing a love of oceans

Watching a child play in the waves is a window into their world of unbridled joy. Time stops as we see them marvel at this most elemental of things. ...

A testament to the power of community conservation

What began as a simple errand—collecting a donated table saw for the Bruny Island Mens Shed—unfolded into an unexpected afternoon of wonder, a testame...

Balancing tourism with sustainability

"Tourism is a two-edged sword, if you get a lot of people coming to a place because it's so amazing, there’s a risk that they’ll love it to death. So...

Things to Do

Visiting Bruny Island

Bruny Island (Nuenonne: Lunawanna-alonnah) is a critical refuge for a myriad of rare and threatened wildlife and a globally significant haven for birds.

Activities

Snorkelling and diving

Surfing

Trail Running

Sailing

Nature & Heritage

Landscape features

Wildlife

Marine life

Conservation Reserves

Heritage Sites

Villages / Towns

Explore map

Bruny Island Adventure Bay Jonathan Esling

Nature

Discover the plants and wildlife that call Bruny Island home

Bruny is home to wild beaches, rare birdlife, rugged sea-cliffs, a myriad of sea creatures, and ecosystems from kelp forests to coastal grasses and scrubland through to grand forests.

People have lived on Bruny Island for more than 40,000 years. The mighty sea-cliffs that presided over the first meetings between Europeans and the world’s oldest culture, remain much as they did more than 200 years ago - still clothed in forest, and hammered by the swells of the Southern Ocean. Seabirds that are now rare still make their homes on Bruny’s coasts.

White beaches stretch for uninterrupted miles, and the island’s convoluted coastline creates a huge diversity of marine habitats and spectacular coastal scenery. Beneath the waves, rocky reefs and sandy gulches provide home and habitat to extraordinary sea creatures from ‘Leatherjacket’ and ‘Flathead’ fishes, to Crayfish, Little Penguins and migratory whales.

Bruny Island is rich in wildlife – from being a stronghold for the Eastern Quoll, whilst also being a globally significant bird area – with many birds including the threatened Forty-Spotted Pardalote, Swift Parrot, the Tasmanian Wedge-Tailed Eagle and the exquisite Pink Robin all found on Bruny.

The species of Bruny Island

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Tasmanian Pademelon

The Tasmanian pademelon is a small wallaby that inhabits the dense forests of Tasmania. Picture: Dan Broun

Yellow-throated Honeyeater

The yellow-throated honeyeater is a bird endemic to Tasmania, distinguished by its bright yellow throat. Picture by: Kim Murray

Hooded Plover

The hooded plover is a small shorebird endemic to southern and eastern Australia that lives and nests on ocean beaches. Picture: Kim Murray

Little Penguin

This little penguin, also known as the fairy penguin, weigh just under one kilogram. Adorably awkward on land, but a skilled predator in the sea, this cute little creature can be found in New Zealand and the southern coast of Australia. Image: Dr Eric Woehler

Eastern Quoll

This small marsupial was once common on mainland Australia, but were hunted to extinction by feral cats. It’s now only found wild in Tasmania.

Brush-Tailed Possum

The brush-tailed possum is a nocturnal marsupial native to Australia, with soft grey fur, a bushy tail, and large eyes adapted for night vision. Picture: Phill Pullinger

Green Rosella

The Green Rosella endemic to Tasmania, and a signature sight of the Tasmanian bushland. Picture: Eric Woehler

Tiger Snake

The tiger snake is a highly venomous snake native to southern Australia, including Tasmania. It is named for its distinctive banded pattern, which can vary in color. It's the most venemous snake found in Tasmania. Image: Phill Pullinger

Bennett's Wallaby

Bennett’s wallaby, also known as the Red-necked wallaby, is a medium-sized marsupial native to Tasmania and eastern Australia. Photo: Valeriia Miller

Swift Parrot

The critically endangered Swift Parrot is a species of broad-tailed parrot only found in south-eastern Australia. Image: Rob Blakers

Bruny Island galleries

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Tasmanian Marine life

Tasmania's marine environment is globally significant, with a rich mix of ecosystems and habitats fostering marine life found nowhere else on Earth

Bruny Island - A Photographer's Paradise

Bruny Island is an island, off an island, off an island, surrounded by islands. Image: Nick Monk

Dark Sky Sanctuaries

The aurora australis lights the skies of Southwest Tasmania. The next Dark Sky Sanctuary? Image: Dan Broun

Bruny Island Coastline

Bruny Island has an intricate, complex, beautiful and varied coastline, ranging from sheltered inlets, shallow bays, mudflats, lagoons, and grand sea-cliffs, through to long sandy ocean facing beaches.

Bruny Island wildlife

Bruny Island is a haven for rare and unique birds and animals, and is one of the best bird-watching spots in Australia.

Community

Engage with the Bruny Island community

With a permanent population of about 600 plus a healthy community of ‘shackies’ that visit and stay on Bruny Island regularly, there is a rich nurturing community life on Bruny Island, with a proud people who have a strong sense of place and a deep love for their island.

Karen Dick

Karen Dick is an expert in ecology and birds and is the convenor of BirdLife Tasmania

Andrew Hunter

Andrew is the campaigns manager at BirdLife Australia.

Benjamin Convery

Ben is Co convener of the Bruny Island Environment Network

Bob Graham

Bob Graham is a professional geographer and convenor of the Bruny Island Environment Network

Cat Davidson

Cat is a nature guide who lives on Bruny Island and is a specialist bird and ecology guide with Inala Nature Tours.

Ewan Blyth

Ewan is an experienced outdoor educator and guide with a passion for the Earth's wild places

David Boyer

Bruny Island resident for 20 years, and enthusiastic naturalist

Dan Broun

Dan Broun is an experienced photo-journalist and passionate advocate for wild nature

Edith Shum

Edith is an ecologist pursuing a PhD at the University of Tasmania, exploring how species shape our connection to places in the context of environmental change.

Dr Eric Woehler

Dr Eric Woehler (OAM) is a seabird and shorebird ecologist based in lutruwita/Tasmania who has been involved in research, management and conservation of birds and their habitats his entire life.

Dr Andrew Hingston

Dr Andrew Hingston is an expert in Tasmanian birds.

Dr Tonia Cochran

Dr Tonia Cochran is a zoologist, experienced naturalist and owner of Inala Nature Tours.

Julius Schwing

Julius Schwing is an award winning improvising guitarist and composer from Bruny Island, Lutruwita/Tasmania. Born in Vienna, he started playing guitar at age nine and since the age of thirteen has performed in Australia, Europe, India, New Zealand, Canada and...