Swan Bay

Swan Bay

Hugging the shoreline behind the Queenscliff ferry terminal is Swan Bay, a shallow embayment inhabited by an incredibly diverse range of marine and bird life. Stretching from Queenscliff in the south up to St Leonards in the north, the 30-square-kilometre bay has an average depth of just 2 metres, with vast expanses of seagrass lying just beneath the waters surface. These beautiful sea meadows provide vital feeding grounds for a wide variety of waterbirds and migratory waders, as well as numerous species of fish including King George Whiting, Black Bream, flathead and garfish. The areas importance as a fish nursery has long been understood by Queenscliff’s fishing community. For roughly one hundred years, it was an unwritten rule amongst anglers that Swan Bay was not to be overfished before legislation passed in 1970 officially prohibited net fishing in the bay. 

Forming part of the Port Phillip National Park, Swan Bay is also a protected Ramsar wetland of international importance. Black swans, spoonbills, cormorants and egrets feast on the seagrass, whilst the bays intertidal mudflats and salt marshes are essential habitats for a range of waterbirds that migrate from the Northern Hemisphere in the summertime. The rare and endangered Orange-Bellied Parrot also uses the salt marshes fringing Swan Bay as a winter refuge and feeding ground. In fact, nearly 200 different species of birds have been sighted in Swan Bay, making it a vital preservation area