It is a little known fact that there was once a thriving commercial pipi industry in Victoria's Westernport Bay. These tiny clams attach themselves to rocks by fine threads, and the coastline between Point Leo and Flinders was especially heavily populated with them. These miniscule gourmet delicacies also prompted the development of unique watercraft, as pipi-fishers braved the waves in clinker-built gaff-rigged vessels that were often no more than two feet long. The short waterline length gave the boats the maneuverability they needed to negotiate the outer reaches of the reefs at low tide. While the sojourns were seldom far from land, this section of the bay is notorious for vicious off shore winds and dense fogs, and it was not unknown for the little craft to be swept deep into Bass Strait, never to be seen again.

In the early days of the industry, the rocks were fairly studded with the little bi-valves, and it was not unknown for killer whales to seek them out for the purposes of a good rub. Gannets would occasionally also land on them to sharpen their beaks.

The industry was never a large one, but at its peak vast numbers were packed with salt and placed in huge wooden crates, destined to travel to South Africa to feed the Australian troops during the Boer War.

Little remains now of this fascinating, but forgotten, corner of time. Perhaps the most curious relic of the period is the following snatch of sea shanty, believed to have been written somewhere in the Point Leo district in about 1870.

Oh, sing me a song of the pipi!

(Hoy!)

Sing me a song of the pipi!

(Ho!)

Sing me a song.

It will not take long,

For the pipi is small,

And not very strong,

Oh, sing me a song,

Sing me a song,

Sing me a song of the pipi!

(Hoy!)

(Alas, the tune would appear to have been lost.)

N.B. This is a work of fiction.© Stephen Whiteside 20.08.2014