Bruny

Native name: Lunawanna Allonah
Location of the Bruny Island in Tasmania
Etymology	Bruni d'Entrecasteaux
Geography
Location	Tasman Sea
Coordinates	43°22′S147°17′E / 43.367°S 147.283°E /-43.367; 147.283
Total islands	2
Area	362 km2 (140 sq mi)[1]
Highest elevation	571 m (1873 ft)
Highest point	Mount Mangana
Administration
Australia
State	Tasmania
LGA	Kingborough Council
Demographics
Population	1008 (2021 Census)
Pop. density	1.6/km2 (4.1/sq mi)
Additional information
Official website	www.brunyisland.org.au

Bruny Island is a 362-square-kilometre (140 sq mi) coastalisland ofTasmania, Australia, located at the mouths of theDerwent River andHuon Riverestuaries onStorm Bay on theTasman Sea, south ofHobart. The island is separated from the mainland by theD'Entrecasteaux Channel. The island and the channel are named after French explorer,Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.

The island'sAboriginal name is lunawanna-allonah, from which the island settlements ofAlonnah andLunawanna are named.

Bruny Island was inhabited byAboriginal Tasmanians people. Some people living on the island identify as being of Aboriginal descent.Abel Tasman was the first recorded European to sight the island, in November 1642 but did not determine it was an island.^[2] On 11 March 1773,Tobias Furneaux was the first British explorer to reach the island and his ship anchored atAdventure Bay (named after his ship) for four days and the crew ascertained the land was an island.^[3] Four years later, on 26 January 1777,James Cook's two ships, theResolution andDiscovery stayed in the bay area for two days. Cook carved his initials in a tree that was destroyed in a 1905 bushfire and is now commemorated by a plaque. In 1788 and again in 1792 with Matthew Flinders,William Bligh stayed in the Adventure Bay area.

The island is named after the French explorerBruni d'Entrecasteaux, who explored the channel region in 1792.^[4] It was known as Bruni Island until 1918, when the spelling was changed to Bruny.

Whaling was conducted off the coast of Bruny Island in the first half of the 19th century. The British whaler,Alexander, was reported to be whaling in Adventure Bay in 1804.^[5] In 1805, the British whalersRichard and Mary,Ocean and the Sydney whalerKing George were reported there in the winter months. The American whalerTopaz was there in 1807. Colonial entrepreneurs also operated shore-based whaling stations there. Bethune andKelly had a station operating in Adventure Bay by August 1826.^[6] Kelly and Lucas had another at Bull Bay. Young and Walford had one at Trumpeter Bay.Alexander Imlay applied for a site as a whaling station atCloudy Bay in 1837, and Brown and Rogers did the same in 1842.^[7] These stations had all ceased operating by 1850, although whaling vessels sometimes anchored offshore in the second half of the century.^[8]

Even though "Cooktown"^{[citation needed]} was marked on maps as early as the 1840s, the island was not officially opened up to European settlement until the late 1800s when the timber industry took off. South Bruny was opened up by numerous tramways and haulages, some horse-drawn and some using modified locomotives. The longest and best-preserved tramway runs from Adventure Bay to the far southeast corner of the island. Almost all settlements on South Bruny were originally opened as timber ports, owned by the different timber companies operating on the island.Lunawanna (formerly Daniels Bay),Alonnah (formerly Mills Reef) andAdventure Bay were some of the largest ports operating on the island. At Daniels Bay, the settlement was separated from the timber jetty as the tramway was forced to trace along the south side of the bay in order to reach deep water, as most of Daniels Bay was too shallow to bring boats in. Most settlements of South Bruny now serve as shack towns or holiday locations.

Since the 1920s, the island has become known as a holiday location with surfing beaches, National Parks and historical sites. In more recent history the Bruny Island was the site of a land transfer by the state government to local Aboriginal people.^[9]

Geologically, Bruny Island actually consists of two land masses—North Bruny and South Bruny—that are joined by a long, narrow, sandyisthmus, often referred to as "The Neck". The island has a total length of approximately 50 kilometres (30 miles). The holiday village ofDennes Point is located in North Bruny, while South Bruny is the site of the towns ofAlonnah,Adventure Bay, andLunawanna.

Outside its settlements, the island is covered with grazing fields and large tracts of dryeucalyptus forest. Inland forests have been logged, but other large sections—mostly along the southeastern coast—are preserved as the South Bruny National Park. While the seaward side of the island features two long beaches—Adventure Bay andCloudy Bay—it is for the most part extremely rugged, with cliffs ofdolerite over 200 metres (660 ft)AHD in altitude. Bruny's channel side is more sheltered and a favourite fishing and recreational boating area for local and interstate visitors. Adventure Bay is located on the eastern side of theisthmus, whileIsthmus Bay is located on the western side.^[10]

Access to the island is by vehicular ferry, funded by the State Government. Since 1954, four vessels have operated theBruny Island Ferry service between the island andKettering on the mainland. The service currently uses the vessel,Mirambeena, which is plied by aVoith-Schneiderpropulsion system rather than a conventionalpropeller. There is a public airfield,Bruny Island Airport located on North Bruny, just north of The Neck, however the small runway is mostly suited to small aircraft, and there are no scheduled flights.

The d'Entrecastaux Channel region, sheltered by Bruny Island, is increasingly subject to foreshore erosion. Some areas have begun sandbagging to reduce the effects.^[11]

Bruny Island has a cooloceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb) with short, cool summers and chilly, wet winters with snowfalls. The island is near-constantly buffeted bycold fronts off theRoaring Forties, even through the height of summer. The island is very windy with a mean 3 pm wind speed of 27.8 km/h (17.3 mph); cloud cover is likewise great, with 242 cloudy days and 19.2 clear days annually.

An extreme event on 15 November 2021 saw a fall of snow to beach level on the island,^[12] though historical temperature data indicate this may have also happened prior to that event − and perhaps even in the early summer.

Bruny Island is classified byBirdLife International as anImportant Bird Area because it supports the world's largest population of theendangeredforty-spotted pardalote, up to a third of the world population of theswift parrot, all 12 of Tasmania'sendemic bird species, and up to 240,000 breeding pairs of theshort-tailed shearwater (or Tasmanian muttonbird).^[15] In March 2021, awareness increased concerning the feral cat population on the island, which had been steadily growing over the last decade. Local residents opened an inquiry into the sudden large number of feral cats, concerned this spike in numbers may have adverse affects on the environment and wildlife. Initial findings suggest the feral cats migrated from the Eastern Shore of Tasmania, namely the Howrah/Tranmere region.

An alternative view taken by some wildlife ecologists^[16] is that cats are a naturalized alien species in much of Australia, and the best approach available at present to conserve species on which they predate is to ensure adequately large and intact habitats. Invasive cats may be eradicated on small islands, but some believe complete eradication is impractical at present on islands the size of Bruny.^{[citation needed]} Control methodologies alternative to complete eradication are currently being investigated.

Multiple vegetation types are seen across the island, including wet sclerophyll forest, coastal healthland and dry sclerophyll forests.^{[citation needed]}

A key contributor to Bruny Island's economy is its growing tourism industry. Being home to theSouth Bruny National Park, tourism on the island centres on the showcase of its natural assets.^[17][18]

TheCape Bruny Lighthouse, first lit in 1838, is an iconic Australian lighthouse. It was the third lighthouse built in Tasmania, and the fourth in all of Australia,^[19] and was the longest continuously staffed lighthouse in the country until it was automated in 1993.^[20] It was removed from service in 1996, and became part of the South Bruny National Park in 2000. Guided tours of the structure are available.^[19]

In 2010/11, overall visitors to Bruny Island increased 4% to 74,600.^[21] The island is primarily a day-trip destination with only 21,800 visitors staying on the island overnight.^[22] There are a growing number of tourism businesses on the island including a cheese factory, oyster farm, vineyard, smoke-house, lighthouse, museum, art gallery, two eco-cruises along with various accommodation properties and cafes.^[23]

Bruny Island is divided into eleven bounded localities. The two largest by area are North Bruny and South Bruny which consist of national park, state forest and some grazing areas and do not havepostcodes.

On North Bruny there are five populated coastal enclaves:Apollo Bay,Barnes Bay,Dennes Point,Great Bay andKillora. On South Bruny there are four:Adventure Bay,Alonnah,Lunawanna andSimpsons Bay.

• 
  "The Neck" connects the two halves of Bruny Island and is an important breeding site forshort-tailed shearwater andfairy penguins
• 
  Black-faced cormorants (Phalacrocorax fuscescens), Bruny Island, Tasmania
• 
  Rock formation off the coast of Bruny Island

• List of islands of Tasmania

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBruny Island.

has links to Bruny Island businesses and information.

• Bruny Island travel guide from Wikivoyage

• Bruny Island
• Islands of South East Tasmania
• Birdwatching sites in Australia
• Important Bird Areas of Tasmania
• Whaling stations in Australia

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