Taroona Beach is a popular beach destination along the River Derwent in Taroona, Hobart, Tasmania. The south facing beach looks directly out to Storm Bay and the Tasman Sea, with views of the Derwent estuary, the City of Clarence on the eastern shore, Opossum Bay, South Arm, the Alum Cliffs and northern tip of Bruny Island. Taroona Beach is situated between Hinsby Beach and Crayfish Point, home of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Centre for the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.[2] Taroona Beach contains a boat ramp and is backed by Taroona Park which contains bathroom facilities,[3] a skate park, scout hall, the Taroona Tennis Club, and the Taroona Bowls and Community Club.
Taroona Beach | |
|---|---|
Beach | |
  Taroona Beach | |
| Coordinates: 42°57′09″S 147°21′07″E / 42.95250°S 147.35194°E | |
| Location | Taroona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |
| Offshore water bodies | River Derwent |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 500 metres (1,600 ft)[1] |
| Hazard rating | 3/10[1] |
| Access | Taroona Crescent, Niree Parade, Taroona Foreshore Track |
History
editTaroona Beach has historically been a popular staple of local activity, used for exercise, beach combing, kayaking, sailing, snorkelling, bodyboarding and swimming. Prior to the British colonisation of Tasmania, the land had been occupied for possibly as long as 35,000 years[4] by the semi-nomadic Mouheneener people, a sub-group of the Nuennone, or "South-East tribe".[5] The name Taroona is derived from the Mouheneener word for chiton, a marine mollusc found on rocks in the intertidal regions of Taroona Beach.[6][7] Mouheneener shell middens can be found scattered all along Taroona's foreshores.[6]
On 28 January 1810, a young sailor named Joseph Batchelor died onboard the vessel Venus incoming from India.[8] Batchelor was brought ashore and buried at Taroona Beach; his is reputed to be the oldest European grave in Tasmania.[8][9][10] Batchelor's Grave was a declared historical site by the Tasmanian Heritage Register on 21 March 1978.[11][12] A reenactment of Batchelor's body being brought to Taroona Beach was carried out to mark the 200th anniversary of the sailor's burial on Thursday 28th January 2010.[13]
During her time as a resident of Taroona, poet Gwen Harwood wrote popular beachside poems including At the Water's Edge, Last Meeting and Estuary which contain vivid descriptions of Taroona Beach and surrounds.
Horseriding on Taroona Beach was banned in 1950.[14] In 1952, the Kingborough Council requested financial aid from the Australian Government to build a swimming bath at Taroona beach as a means to protect children from sharks, although this never eventuated.[15][16]
In 2018, the eastern section of the beach became an off-leash dog zone.[17][18]
Marine life
editThe mouth of the River Derwent leading to Storm Bay was a major calving ground of the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) until the 19th century when whaling in Australia became a lucrative industry. Southern right whales display strong maternal fidelity to their calving grounds, and their numbers were so great that early settlers complained that sounds of cavorting whales kept them awake at night.[19] In July 1804, clergyman Robert Knopwood claimed that in crossing the River Derwent, "we passed so many whales that it was dangerous for the boat to go up the river unless you kept very near the shore".[20] By the 1890s southern right whales had been brought to the brink of extinction, with over 25,000 recorded whales killed in Australia and New Zealand.[21] The whaling industry ended in Tasmania in 1900.[22] Southern right whales have only intermittently made appearances in the Derwent estuary since, during months in winter and spring when their migration takes place.[23][24] In 2010, a southern right whale gave birth to a calf in the Derwent River just off the shore near Taroona Beach, the first birth recording in the estuary in approximately 190 years.[22][25]
A large Wedgenose skate (Dipturus whitleyi) weighing 187 pounds (85 kg) was caught off Taroona Beach in 1952.[26][27]
In the winter months of 2014, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and a minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) (being the first confirmed record of this species in the river) were recorded feeding in the River Derwent for the first time since the 1800s.[28]
Other marine life sighted from Taroona Beach include the Australian swellshark (Cephaloscyllium laticeps), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) and Burrunan dolphins (Tursiops aduncus australis), southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii)[29] and the rare spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus), whose only habitat is in the Derwent estuary and surrounds.
Caused by microscopic plankton, a bioluminescence phenomenon intermittently occurs in the beach's waters in the evening.[30]
Environment
editThe steep and narrow 500-metre (1,600 ft) beach has waves averaging .5 metres (1 ft 8 in) swells and is bookended by clusters of large boulder rocks.[1] The beach can be viewed from beachside homes along Niree Parade. Taroona Park contains native flora including Tasmanian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus subsp. globulus), black gum (Eucalyptus aggregata), sheoak (Casuarinaceae), Tasmanian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), hopbush, banksia, coast wattle, and saltbush.[7][31]
Access
editTaroona Beach is accessible from the Hobart City Centre via the Channel Highway. It is a two hour walk from the CBD, or a 25 minute metro bus ride. There is dedicated parking at the beach directly off Niree Parade and at Taroona Park. The beach can be accessed on foot via the Taroona Foreshore Track.[7][32][33]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Taroona Beach, Taroona, Hobart, Tasmania". beachsafe.org.au. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ "IMAS Taroona". tasfisheriesresearch.org. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "National Public Toilet Map - Taroona Beach, Niree Parade". toiletmap.gov.au. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ "History of Tasmania". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ Horton, David, ed. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. (See: Vol. 2, pp.1008–10 [with map]; individual tribal entries; and the 'Further reading' section on pp.1245–72).
- ^ a b "Taroona - About". taroona.tas.au. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ a b c "Taroona Foreshore track, Taroona, Kingborough". greaterhobarttrails.com.au. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Historic Grave at Taroona". The Mercury (Hobart). 17 February 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Taroona, Tasmania". ourtasmania.com.au. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ "Grave at Taroona". The Mercury (Hobart). 22 February 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Tasmanian Heritage Register Permanent and Provisional Registrations as at 22 Jan 2021 (PDF), Tasmanian Heritage Register, p. 10, retrieved 10 July 2022
- ^ Lord, Richard, Taroona 1808-1986 Farm Lands to a Garden Suburb - Bachelor's Grave - The Oldest Known Grave in Tasmania (PDF), Taroona Historical Group, p. 32, retrieved 10 July 2022
- ^ Gee, Peter (29 January 2010). "Remembering Tasmania's 200yo mystery man". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ "Ban on Beach Horse Riding". The Mercury (Hobart). 18 April 1950. p. 10. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Protection Wanted From Sharks". The Mercury (Hobart). 15 January 1952. p. 6. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Baths at Taroona Desired". The Mercury (Hobart). 9 February 1952. p. 6. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Mather, Anne (14 October 2018). "Battle on the beaches: Tensions brewing over Taroona off-leash zone". The Mercury. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ "Taroona Beach east". dogwalkingtas.org.au. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ Hosier, Phoebe (21 March 2019). "The history of our whales and how whaling brought species 'to brink of extinction'". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ Evans, Kathryn (2006). "Whaling". utas.edu.au. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ "Whales in the Derwent" (PDF). derwentestuary.org.au. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ a b Raabus, Carol (19 August 2010). "Return of the whales seen as the right move for the Derwent". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Came to Life". The Mirror (Western Australia). 18 October 1941. p. 3. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Whales in Derwent". The Mercury (Hobart). 29 September 1941. p. 5. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Skvortsova, Tanya (19 August 2010). "Whale gives birth to calf in Hobart's Derwent River". The Australian. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Hooked Off Taroona". The Mercury (Hobart). 25 March 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Species of the Derwent - Skate". derwentestuary.org.au. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "It's mighty mouth: Whales feeding in River Derwent". Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ Commercialising translocation of Southern Rock Lobster (PDF), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, p. 10, retrieved 12 May 2022
- ^ Howarth, Carla (3 May 2019). "Bioluminescence chasers capture elusive phenomenon". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ Brown, Michael J., Taroona 1808-1986 Farm Lands to a Garden Suburb - Flora (PDF), Taroona Historical Group, p. 4, retrieved 10 July 2022
- ^ "Taroona - About". alltrails.com. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ Hepper, John; Hobart Metropolitan Councils' Association, (issuing body.) (1990), Down by the Derwent : 21 foreshore parks to enjoy, Hobart Metropolitan Councils Association, retrieved 16 July 2022