POBBLEBONK
- ANIMALS OF THE MARIBYRNONG RIVER ESTUARY
THE EXHIBITION
This exhibition, Pobblebonk, is primarily about the animals or fauna of
the Maribyrnong River estuary. The purpose of this exhibition is to bring
attention to these animals and their habitat so that habitat can be better
understood and appreciated with the hope we can continue to keep it alive.
It has been put together with the help, support and input of a number
of organizations and individuals with a diverse range of backgrounds and
experience.
It is remarkable how many different species, indigenous and introduced,
still live in the estuary despite the battering it has undergone with
a city growing up around it. It is also remarkable what food chains, food
webs and biological neighbourhoods remain relatively intact or workable.
Descriptions and explanations in the exhibition are simple and brief (in
many cases no description is given at all) because more detail can easily
be found through many other sources. The exhibition is more an introduction
or a presentation of these wonders in our own neighbourhood.
THE
ESTUARY
The lower Maribyrnong River is an ‘estuary’, which is that part
of the river that meets, and is affected by the sea; or Port Phillip Bay
in this case. The estuary has a very different character from the familiar,
freshwater river upstream as it is influenced by both the salty waters
of the Bay and the freshwater that flows into it. The Maribyrnong River
has a long estuary, about 15 kms, that extends from the confluence with
the Yarra upstream to Solomons Ford at Avondale Heights. Near its mouth,
in the Port of Melbourne, the river is very deep, having been dredged
to a depth of 10 metres. Above the Port, for most of its length, the estuary
generally ranges from two to four metres in depth.
Click on the image to find out more about each of the animals in this panel.
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