Great Oyster Bay

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 spectacular views of the rugged granite peaks of the Hazards and Schouten Island of the Freycinet Peninsula which are incorporated in the Freycinet National Park.

Main 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. 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.

Activities include sea kayaking in the sheltered waters on the east side of the bay from Coles Bay exploring the many small and isolated beaches on the Freycinet Peninsula. Recreational fishing is also popular activity in the bay with flathead, Australian salmon, trevally, trumpeter and squid regularly caught. Dolphins and Australian fur seals can often be seen and whales often frequent the bay in winter.

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Wikipedia