A damp & misty start to the day, so we walked down to the wharf at Snug Cove to see the fishing boats. Eden is renowned for its deep sea fishing & a fleet of trawlers operate daily catching fish & shellfish for the Sydney & Melbourne markets, & local trade. A seal was swimming around the boats looking for fish scraps & the acrobatic terns were diving in too.
Twofolds Bay is one of the deepest natural harbours in the world. Whaling was the main industry here from the mid 1800's until 1930. Eden Killer Whale Museum tells the fascinating tale of the Orca (Killer) Whales who, throughout that period, herded blubber bearing Baleen Whales ( blue whales, fin whales, right whales & humpbacked) into Twofold Bay for the whalermen to harpoon & kill. Old Tom the leader of the pack would sometimes seize the harpoon line to slow the whale down & even towed boats holding the tow rope in his teeth. His skeleton is the centrepiece of the museum & you can see his teeth are worn down on one side. The Orcas relationship with man went back to Aboriginal times & the white whalers would use Aborigine labour to man their vessels because of their skills & knowledge. After Old Tom died in 1930 no more Orcas returned to Twofold Bay & that coupled with the over exploitation led to the demise of whaling here. Whaling ceased in Australia in 1947, but Japan, Norway & Iceland still kill whales for their meat & blubber.
The Southern Right whales still pass through here & whale watching is one of the towns main attractions from Sept - Nov.
A clear afternoon & a walk to explore the lovely beaches. Aslings Beach to the north of Twofolds Bay.
Cocora Beach to the south where we took a picnic tea & had the beach pretty much to ourselves......who can ask for anything more?
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