A. H. `Bert` WestPrint Page

The A. H. (Bert) West Boardwalk commemorates A. H. (Bert) West for his contribution to Phillip Island wildlife and the Penguin Parade.

In the 1920s, island residents Bert West, Bern Denham, and Bert Watchorn opened Summerland Beach up for the first organised viewings of the penguins.

They greeted visitors off the ferry and charged five shillings for a personalised tour of Phillip Island (an additional shilling would get you strawberries and cream).

Visitor numbers soared in the 40s when the bridge from the mainland to Phillip Island was erected. At this point, tourists began flocking to the pristine shores, and people began building houses around Summerland Beach.

People would take picnic baskets and blankets down to the beach and sit on the sand to watch the penguins waddle ashore, but soon this meant that the burrows and penguin habitats began to get damaged. This wasn’t helped by visitors bringing their dogs to the beaches, who sadly killed many of the Little Penguin colony. The population of these cute little sea birds began to decrease, calling for a radical change in how the penguins were treated by the public.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that fences and viewing stands were built to stop visitors standing on and ruining the penguins’ burrows. Ever since then, constant upgrades have been taking place, making the boardwalks, platforms, and viewing boxes safer for the penguins.

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