Great Oyster Bay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Great Oyster Bay is a broad and sheltered bay on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia which opens onto the Tasman Sea. The Tasman Highway runs close to the West Coast of the bay with views of the granite peaks of the Hazards and Schouten Island of the Freycinet Peninsula which are incorporated in the Freycinet National Park.
Towns on the bay include Swansea and Coles Bay.
At the north of the bay the floodplains of the Aspley and Swan rivers has created Moulting Lagoon, an important Ramsar-listed wetland, much of which lies in the Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve.[1] Nearby is the Friendly Beaches Reserve owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA).
Prior to European settlement the area was occupied by Tasmanian Aborigines. From autumn through winter various bands of the Oyster Bay Tribe congregated around the coastal areas to harvest shellfish and marine vegetables until the end of July, when swans and ducks arrived in the lagoons and riverine areas to lay their eggs and raise their young. In August most of the bands moved up the Little Swanport and Prosser Rivers to the Eastern Marshes to hunt birds, kangaroos and wallabies. The Linetemairrener people lived at the lagoon year round.[2]
Shore-based bay whaling activity took place in Coles Bay and other locations in the area in the 19th century.[3]
