South Passage (Queensland)

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South Passage between North Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island (centre right of image) Stradbroke Island.jpg
South Passage between North Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island (centre right of image)

South Passage is channel between the South Pacific Ocean and Moreton Bay. The other entrances to the bay are the North Passage or North Entrance and Jumpinpin Channel in the south.

Contents

It was once the main entrance for ships entering the bay. South Passage begins in the shallow sand-barred channel between Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island and continues along North Stradbroke Island past Amity Point to Dunwich. [1] The bay inside of South Passage consists of shallow water sandbanks. [2]

Crossing the channel by small boat is not recommended, especially during a high swell, due to the network of channels and shifting sand bars. The tidal flow is rapid with a rate of 150 cm per second during the flooding tide and slightly slower during the ebb tide of 100 cm per second. [3]

The passage has a return coefficient of 50%, meaning that half the amount of water that leaves the bay via the passage returns the same way on the flooding tide. [3]

History

The channel was not noticed by Lieutenant James Cook as he explored the coastline in May 1770. [4] On 14 July 1799, Matthew Flinders was the first European to discern an opening between the islands. In 1824 John Oxley aboard the Amity left Moreton Bay via the South Passage after he had explored the Brisbane River with Allan Cunningham. He was the first European sailor known to do so. [5]

The Lucinda was used as a mail vessel for delivering mail up and down the Queensland coast. The boat was largely captained by Captain James South who notably used South Passage to cut hours off the mail route. Some believed this is how South Passage came to be named, but it appears this is simply a coincidence. [6] There is clear reference to South Passage prior to Captain South surveying/sounding and using this route. [7]

On 11 March 1847, 44 people lost their lives when the SS Sovereign was wrecked as it passed through the passage; only 10 people were saved. [8] This led to the shipping route being moved to the northern entrance to the bay the next year, [1] while the pilot station was moved to Cowan Cowan on Moreton Island. [9]

Another wreck found in the passage is the Rufus King.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Moreton Island

Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) is an island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. The Coral Sea lies on the east coast of the island. Moreton Island lies 58 kilometres (36 mi) northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. 95% of the island is contained within a national park and a popular destination for day trippers, four wheel driving, camping, recreational angling and whale watching and a 75-minute ferry ride from Brisbane. It is the third largest sand island in the world. Together with Fraser Island, Moreton Island forms the largest sand structure in the world. It was the traditional country of the Ngugi before the onset of colonization.

Stradbroke Island

Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island, separated by the Jumpinpin Channel.

South Stradbroke Island Suburb of City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

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North Stradbroke Island Island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland

North Stradbroke Island, colloquially Straddie or North Straddie, is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was only one Stradbroke Island but in 1896 it split into North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island separated by the Jumpinpin Channel. The Quandamooka people are the traditional owners of North Stradbroke island.

Cape Moreton Point in Australia

Cape Moreton is a rocky headland at the north eastern tip of Moreton Island in South East Queensland, Australia. The surrounding area is part of the Moreton Island National Park. Flinders Reef is 5 kilometres (3 mi) north-west of Cape Moreton.

Bribie Island Island in Queensland, Australia

Bribie Island is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand islands forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island. Bribie Island is 34 kilometres long, and 8 kilometres at its widest. Archibald Meston believed that the name of the island came from a corruption of a mainland word for it, Boorabee. meaning 'koala'. However, the correct Joondaburri name for the island is in fact Yarun.

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Dunwich, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Dunwich, known as Goompi by the Quandamooka people, is a small town and locality on the western side of North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, Australia. Dunwich is part of the Redland City local government area, administered from the bayside town of Cleveland on the Queensland mainland. In the 2016 census, Dunwich had a population of 864 people.

Amity, Queensland Town in Queensland, Australia

Amity is a rural town and locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Amity had a population of 387 people.

<i>Lucinda</i> (steam yacht)

The Lucinda was a Queensland Government owned, 301-ton paddle steamer built by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1884.

Point Lookout Light, Australia

Point Lookout Light is an active lighthouse on Point Lookout, a headland on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia.

Bulwer, Queensland Suburb of City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Bulwer is a coastal town and locality at the north-western end of Moreton Island in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Bulwer had a population of 49 people.

<i>Amity</i> (brig)

Amity was a 148-ton brig used in several notable voyages of exploration and settlement in Australia in the early nineteenth century.

Moreton Island lighthouses

Moreton Island is a large sand island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. Due to the island's importance in navigating the northern passage into Moreton Bay and Brisbane, at least five lighthouses were constructed on the island, starting with Cape Moreton Light in 1857, the first lighthouse in Queensland, and followed by at least four more lighthouses established from the 1860s, at Comboyuro Point, North Point, Cowan Cowan Point and Yellow Patch. Comboyuro Point Light, Cowan Cowan Point Light and Yellow Patch Light all had to be moved from their original location due to coastal erosion. Of the five lighthouses, only Cape Moreton Light survived and is still active today.

Australasian Steam Navigation Company

The Australasian Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company of Australia which operated between 1839 and 1887.

Signal Station, Moreton Island

Signal Station, Moreton Island is a heritage-listed signal station at 25 Dorothy Newnham Street, Moreton Island, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built in the 1930s. It is also known as Former Navy Signal Station Fort Cowan. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 February 1995.

Dunwich Convict Causeway

Dunwich Convict Causeway is a heritage-listed causeway at Junner Street, Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1827 by convict labour for the Moreton Bay penal settlement. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 October 1999.

Dunwich Public Reserve

Dunwich Public Reserve is a heritage-listed archaeological site at Junner Street, Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1827 to 1828. It is also known as Privy Pit, Convict Barracks, and Convict Store within the Moreton Bay penal settlement. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2000.

SS <i>Rufus King</i> Liberty ship of WWII

SS Rufus King was a standard Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Rufus King and was wrecked in July 1942, upon Amity Bar aouth of Moreton Island and north of North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 Hogan, Janet (1982). Living History of Brisbane. Spring Hill, Queensland: Boolarong Publications. p. 23. ISBN   0-908175-41-8.
  2. ↑ Graham, Bruce (2004). The Green Coast: The Natural Environment of the Tweed-Moreton Bioregion. Tweed Heads, New South Wales. p. 129. ISBN   0-9751817-0-X.
  3. 1 2 Dennison, William C.; Eva G. Abal (1999). Moreton Bay Study: A Scientific Basis for the Healthy Waterways Campaign. Brisbane: South East Queensland Regional Water Quality Management Strategy Team. pp. 30–31. ISBN   0-9586368-1-8.
  4. ↑ Horton, Helen (1983). Islands of Moreton Bay. Spring Hill, Queensland: Boolarong Publications. pp. 1–2. ISBN   0-908175-67-1.
  5. ↑ Hacker, D. R. (1999). Petries Bight: a Slice of Brisbane History. Bowen Hills, Queensland: Queensland Women's Historical Association Inc. p. 2. ISBN   0-9590271-8-1.
  6. ↑ The Q.G.S.Y. Lucinda. J.M. Davis and M.W.D. White. Retrieved on 21 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "South Passage, Moreton Bay". Launceston Examiner . XXVII (95). Tasmania, Australia. 22 June 1867. p. 4. Retrieved 21 November 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Wreck Of The Sovereign Steamer On Thursday Morning Last. Forty-Four Lives Lost". The Moreton Bay Courier . Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 13 March 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Moreton Island National Park: Nature, culture and history". Department of Environment and Resource Management. The State of Queensland. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2009.

Coordinates: 27°22′43.47″S153°26′20.89″E / 27.3787417°S 153.4391361°E / -27.3787417; 153.4391361

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