Western Port looking west from French Island to the Mornington Peninsula

Western Port (also known as Western Port Bay) is an inlet on the southern coast of Australia from Bass Strait and the Pacific Ocean, adjacent and to the east of Port Phillip on which is sited Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria. Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Australian mainland (Victoria in particular). ... Jump to: navigation, search Port Phillip seen from Frankston on the eastern shore of the bay. ... Jump to: navigation, search City of Melbourne Local Government Area State Victoria Lord Mayor John So (since 2001) Area 36 km² Population (2001) 57,960 Density 1,601/km² (1999) Greater Melbourne Subdivisions Local Government Areas Area 7,694 km² (1999) Population 2001 census (2nd in Australia) 3,555,321... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Peace and Prosperity Nickname: Garden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Government Governor Premier Const. ...

Recreation

Two large islands, French Island and Phillip Island dominate Western Port. The coastline, including that of the islands, is some 263 km.

Fishing, pleasure boating and yachting are some of the popular pastimes on the bay.

Phillip Island (approximately 100 km²)

• Penguin Reserve - visited at dusk to watch the penguins return to their burrows in the sand dunes
• Seal Rocks -viewed through binoculars
• Koala Conservation Centre
• Bird watching

Named after Governor Arthur Phillip, Phillip Island in Victoria (Australia) forms a natural breakwater for the shallow waters of Western Port Bay. ... Jump to: navigation, search Genera Aptenodytes Eudyptes Eudyptula Megadyptes Pygoscelis Spheniscus Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are an order of flightless birds living in the southern hemisphere. ... subfamilies Otariidae Phocidae Odobenidae Pinnipeds (fin-foots, lit. ... Jump to: navigation, search Binomial name Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss, 1817) The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus; sometimes also spelled Phascolarctus cinereus) is a thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore endemic to Australia, and the only representative of its family, Phascolarctidae. ...

French Island (approximately 170 km²)

• Bushwalking or bird observing; bush orchid and fishing areas; horse riding, bike rides, and deep water fishing
• Koala habitat
• Camping

French Island is a national park in Victoria (Australia), 61 km southeast of Melbourne. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ...

History and Development

The Bunurong Indigenous Australian people lived around Western Port living off shellfish, mutton birds and plantlife. Bunurong (also spelt Bunwurrung, Boonwerung, Bunurowrung, Boonoorong and Bururong) is the language and name of the Bunurong people, an Australian Aboriginal tribe of six clans along the coast of Victoria (Australia), Australia. ... Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. ...

In 1797, George Bass sailed south from Sydney in a whaleboat along the unexplored coast south of Botany Bay. Bass could not get more than halfway through the strait now known as Bass Strait because of the rough seas. Western Port was discovered, so named because of its position relative to other known harbours on the coast. Jump to: navigation, search George Bass Dr George Bass, British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia (1771-1803), was born at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford Lincolnshire and was educated at Boston Grammar School. ... Jump to: navigation, search Sydney is the capital city of the Australian state of New South Wales and Australias largest and oldest city (founded in 1788). ... Jump to: navigation, search A modern copy of a traditional whaleboat on display at Mystic Seaport. ... Bicentennial Monument at Botany Bay Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a few kilometres south of the central business district. ...

In the early 19th century, the bay played a role in the struggle between Britain and France. Soldiers and convicts from Sydney were ordered to form a camp at Western Port to deter possible occupation by the French.

After the end of World War 2 the bay was considered for development as a port. Its flat shores north of Stony and Crib Points have become a centre for heavy industry. German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

Industry

Western Port has several industrial complexes, including a steel rolling mill and the major Royal Australian Navy training base, HMAS Cerberus. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN} is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. ... HMAS Cerberus is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...