The Bass Strait Triangle is a term for the waters that separate the states of Victoria and Tasmania, including Bass Strait

Bass Strait

Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...

, in south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Inspired by the Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....

, the term appears to have been first used following the Valentich Disappearance

Valentich Disappearance

The Valentich disappearance refers to the unexplained disappearance on 21 October 1978 of 20-year-old Frederick Valentich while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait in Australia...

 in 1978 although the region had a bad reputation (never ascribed to supernatural forces, however) long before that.

Geography of Bass Strait

Bass Strait is a generally shallow (average depth of 30 m (98.4 ft)) stretch of water approximately 300 km (186.4 mi) wide and 200 km (124.3 mi) from north to south, encompassed by the entire northern coastline of Tasmania and central to eastern coast of Victoria. The prevailing winds and currents are westerly, the latter being divided by King Island, Tasmania

King Island, Tasmania

King Island is one of the islands that make up the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is located in the Roaring Forties of Bass Strait, off the north-western tip of the main island of Tasmania, about half way between Tasmania and the mainland state of Victoria. The southernmost point is called Stokes...

 at the western entrance to the strait, causing unpredictable sea conditions, especially when strong winds occur. For example, strong southerly winds can cause a strong northerly current reflecting from the Victorian coast. The combination of wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

s, currents

Ocean current

An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...

, tidal flow and the shallow bottom often lead to tall wave

Wave

In physics, a wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy.Waves travel and the wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass...

s, often of short length, with a confused short swell often conflicting in direction.

All shipping to the busy ports of Melbourne, Stanley

Stanley, Tasmania

Stanley is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Travelling west, Stanley is the second-last major township on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Smithton being the larger township in the Circular Head municipality...

, Burnie

Burnie, Tasmania

- Sport :Australian rules football is popular in Burnie. The city's team is the Burnie Dockers Football Club in the Tasmanian State League.Rugby union is also played in Burnie. The local club is the Burnie Rugby Union Club. They are the current Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide Division Two Premiers...

, Devonport

Devonport, Tasmania

-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...

, Bell Bay

Bell Bay, Tasmania

Bell Bay is an industrial centre and port located on the eastern shore of the Tamar River, in northern Tasmania, Australia. It lies just south of George Town.- Industry :It hosts an aluminium smelter and a power station.- Transport :...

 and Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

 and the Bass Strait islands such as King Island

King Island, Tasmania

King Island is one of the islands that make up the state of Tasmania, Australia. It is located in the Roaring Forties of Bass Strait, off the north-western tip of the main island of Tasmania, about half way between Tasmania and the mainland state of Victoria. The southernmost point is called Stokes...

 and Flinders Island

Flinders Island, Tasmania

Flinders Island is an island in Bass Strait. It is from Cape Portland, the north-eastern tip of Tasmania, Australia and is the largest island in the Furneaux Group.-History:...

 must pass through Bass Strait, and it is also the route of choice for many ships passing from the Australian west to east coasts. Most air traffic between Tasmania and the Australian mainland flies at least in part over or adjacent to it.

History of Incidents - Marine

Bass Strait was discovered following the wreck of the ship Sydney Cove

Sydney Cove (ship)

Sydney Cove was a sailing ship wrecked in 1797 on Preservation Island off Tasmania while on her way from Calcutta to Port Jackson. She was among the first ships wrecked on the east coast of Australia.- Voyage :...

in 1797 and one of the vessels engaged in the salvage operation, the sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 Eliza, went missing on her return voyage to Sydney. Hundreds of vessels up to the size of bulk carriers have come to grief in Bass Strait since that time through hitting reefs, running aground on the coastline or on river bars while entering port, or foundering due to stress of weather, some dozens being lost without trace.

Actual north-south (and vice versa) crossing of Bass Strait seldom occurred until after Melbourne was established in 1835. From 1838-1840, at least seven vessels were lost with all hands on their way to or from the new settlement, wreckage from only three being identified. Rumours that some of these vessels had fallen victim to wreckers

Wrecking (shipwreck)

Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...

 appear baseless, the main cause probably being bad weather and poor charts. Over the next 100 years, dozens of other vessels have gone missing after entering the Straits, many without trace. One of the most significant disappearances was that of the British warship in 1858, in which well over one hundred lives were lost.

History of Incidents - Aviation

The first aircraft to go missing in Bass Strait was a military Airco DH.9

Airco DH.9

The Airco DH.9 - also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 - was a British bomber used in the First World War...

A that was engaged in a search for the missing schooner Amelia J in 1920 — it was believed to have gone into the sea off the southern coast of Flinders Island.

One of the first Bass Strait airliners, the De Havilland Express

De Havilland Express

The de Havilland Express was a four-engined passenger aircraft from the 1930s manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company.-Development:...

 Miss Hobart, went missing soon after entering service in 1934, only a small amount of wreckage being found on the Victorian coast. A year later, a similar aircraft was lost with all on board off Flinders Island. The cause of both accidents was probably a combination of human error with the known poor design of the aircraft.

During the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, several aircraft — mostly RAAF Bristol Beaufort

Bristol Beaufort

The Bristol Beaufort was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber....

 bombers — were lost during exercises in Bass Strait while on training flights out of air bases, mostly Sale, Victoria

Sale, Victoria

Sale is a city in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. It is the seat of the Shire of Wellington as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale and the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland. It has a population of around 13,336, and is expected to reach a population of 14,000 soon...

. These accidents were probably caused by the inexperienced crew crashing into the sea while performing low-level bombing practice — similar accidents occurred over land.

In 1972, a De Havilland Tiger Moth

De Havilland Tiger Moth

The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft...

 flown by Brenda Hean and Max Price went missing while on a flight from Tasmania to Canberra as part of protests against the flooding of Lake Pedder

Lake Pedder

Lake Pedder was once a natural lake, located in the southwest of Tasmania, Australia but the name is now used in an official sense to refer to the much larger artificial impoundment and diversion lake formed when the original lake was expanded by damming in 1972 by the Hydro Electric Commission of...

 for a hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 scheme. It was believed to have crashed at sea somewhere between the East Coast and Flinders Island. Sabotage

Sabotage

Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...

 by pro-development interests was alleged.

The most famous incident, and the one that has been the inspiration for paranormal

Paranormal

Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...

 explanations, was the Valentich Disappearance

Valentich Disappearance

The Valentich disappearance refers to the unexplained disappearance on 21 October 1978 of 20-year-old Frederick Valentich while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait in Australia...

in 1978.

External links

• Australia Broadcasting Corporation: transcript of TV program on the disappearance of Brenda Hean and Max Price. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rewind/txt/s1173814.htm