The Baudin Expedition in Australian waters (1801-1803): the faunal legacy

Article | Updated 7 years ago

Diana S. Jones
Executive Director
Perth Museums & Collections
Western Australian Museum,

Introduction

In the 19th century, expeditions of discovery were accompanied by naturalists who made collections that were returned to Europe to be described by various experts. These expeditions heralded the commencement of the scientific study of the fauna and flora of many of the regions visited.

The Baudin voyage of discovery to the southern lands, Expédition aux terres australes (1800-1804), was initiated by Commander Nicolas Baudin, an experienced naval officer, endorsed by the First Consul, Napoléon, and briefed by France’s leading scientists and major scientific institutions. The expedition left Le Havre on 19 October, 1800 with 22 scientists, including five gardeners, two mineralogists, three botanists, six zoologists, two geographers and two artists aboard the aptly named corvettes, Géographe and Naturaliste. The two ships were packed with equipment. Space was added to accommodate the scientists, live animals and plants by adding an additional deck, as well as reducing the number of guns on the gun deck. A large library was also included, containing botanical and zoological texts, journals of mariners, maps and charts.

In the course of its vast itinerary, the Baudin Expedition explored the unknown coasts of Nouvelle Hollande (Australia) and Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania). The scientists amassed extensive collections of Australian fauna and flora, including the first major marine collections from Australian waters. These collections formed the foundations of an incipient understanding of the biodiversity of the newly discovered fifth continent. The value of this collection lay not only in its size but also in the information associated with the collections, as the zoologist, François Péron, noted dates, places of capture and other pertinent details for each specimen. Throughout the voyage, however, there were frictions between the scientists and their captain and other members of the crew. Science was a new profession, struggling for recognition and its practitioners struggling for assured status. Space aboard the already overcrowded ships was severely limited, due to accommodating the scientists, their equipment and the immense collections that needed to be on board. Scientific collection methodology also often conflicted with naval discipline, as Baudin explained:

I must say here, in passing, that those captains who have scientists … aboard their ships, must take with them a good supply of patience. I admit that although I have no lack of it, the scientists have frequently driven me to the end of my tether and forced me to retire testily to my room. However, since they are not familiar with our practices, their conduct must be excusable.

In addition, live animals were also brought back to France, creating additional stresses and difficulties. As some of the live kangaroos on the Géographe had died from the constant dampness, Baudin evicted the botanist, Leschenault, and a naval officer, Ransonnet, from their cabins in order to house the remaining kangaroos. Further diary entries note seasick kangaroos and emus that had to be force-fed.

Two young men, Charles-Alexander Lesueur and Nicolas-Martin Petit, both assistant gunners, who took over as expedition artists after the official artists jumped ship at Mauritius, also made an important contribution to science. Their drawings and paintings of birds, animals and marine creatures, of coastal profiles, and of the Aborigines, are among the most historically important and beautiful records of 19th century discovery. Lesueur was amongst the earliest colonial artists to record an Aboriginal corroboree, whilst Petit’s portraits of indigenous Tasmanians are sensitively depicted. Additionally, Péron and Lesueur brought together important zoological collections and united their efforts to study and curate specimens of almost all the zoological groups. Using pencil, paints and a fine camel-haired brush, often in wild seas, Lesueur made remarkable sketches, pencil drawings and water colours, later producing images of gossamer delicacy of the Australian fauna, forming an indispensable complement to Péron’s meticulous notes.

The Naturaliste, commanded by Hamelin, returned to Le Havre on 7 June, 1803, where André Thouin supervised the disembarkment of 33 huge cases of collections containing preserved animals and botanical specimens, which were mostly transported to the Muséum d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. The Géographe, commanded by Milius, who had succeeded Baudin after the latter’s death at Île de France (Mauritius), arrived in the port of Lorient on 25 March, 1804. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, professor of mammals and birds, was sent by the Paris Museum to take charge of all the natural and ethnographic materials discovered by the expedition. The vast collections were disembarked and the majority transported to the Paris Museum. The ethnographic collections, however, and the hundreds of species of live plants (such as Australian myrtles, acacias and eucalypts), over 600 species of seeds, and live animals (including black swans, a lyre bird, wombats, parakeets, emus and kangaroos from Australia as well as others, including a lion, panther, monkeys, mongoose, zebra, and hyena from the Cape, South Africa), were transported to Malmaison, the Empress Josephine’s Paris retreat, to stock her park and menagerie, or to other menageries and herbaria. Baudin had been instructed to make a special collection for Mme Bonaparte, wife of the First Consul.

You will make up this collection of living animals of all kinds, insects, and especially of birds with beautiful plumage. As regards animals, I don’t need to tell you how to choose between those intended for the menageries and those for a collection of pure pleasure. You will appreciate that it must compromise flowers, shrubs, seeds, shells, precious stones, timber for fine works of marquetry, insects, butterflies, etc….

The Faunal Legacy

On the return of the Baudin expedition to France, the immense work of the scientists and naturalists in amassing the huge collections was noted by Jussieu (1804) and the enormous scientific contributions of Péron and Lesueur were specifically mentioned in a note to the government (Cuvier et al., 1806).

…the zoological collection of the Museum has been enriched by 2542 new species and by a large number which were lacking among the 1330 already described in several works……..We must add that 906 paintings or drawings by the young Lesueur again bear witness to his zeal and activity.

Jussieu, 1804

The professors of the Paris Museum compiled an inventory of the zoological collections - a total of 18,414 specimens, comprising 3,872 species of which 2,542 were deemed to be new to science. These collections, which were ten times more than Cook had brought back from his famous second voyage, doubled the collections of the Museum and became the nucleus of its vast present-day holdings.

The monumental collections also formed the basis for the landmark expedition reports, which remain a lasting legacy and one of the remarkable achievements of the Expedition. The first historical volume of the expedition was written by Péron and published in 1807. At the same time, the first part of the Atlas by Lesueur and Petit was also published (1807), with the second part, an album of the maps of Freycinet, published in 1811. Péron had begun the second historical text but, after his untimely death in 1810, it was finished by Freycinet and published in 1816.

Little acknowledgement has been given to the difficulties of biological collection and preservation of terrestrial and marine biota under the conditions of the expedition at that time, and the difficulty of the non-scientist crewmembers to understand the rigours and requirements of biological collecting. Some scientists became hopelessly lost on the land in the ardours of their pursuits and search parties had to be despatched to find them.

On seeing me thus covered with wounds and bruises, and drenched in blood, many of my friends could not withhold their tears, and the commandant himself appeared concerned at my deplorable situation.” 

Péron on getting lost on Bernier Island [Shark Bay]

This is the third escapade of this nature that our learned naturalist has been on, for he shall not go ashore again unless I myself am in the same boat.

Baudin, in his Journal, commenting on Péron getting lost on Bernier Island [Shark Bay]

Sampling a terrestrial biota was difficult enough, but acquiring even a superficial representation of the marine invertebrates, especially enigmatic elements such as the pelagic marine fauna, was an enormous task. Due to the loss of naturalists, either through desertion, illness or death, Péron and Lesueur gathered, observed, prepared and mounted the marine and terrestrial animals of these distant regions. Birds and mammals were skinned roughly in the field, some were salted and others preserved in fluid. Péron acknowledged that Lesueur killed and prepared all the stuffed animals aboard the Geographe and Naturaliste. Many of the specimens collected were preserved in alcohol, usually rum that was purchased en route. Péron and Lesueur sacrificed their meagre weekly ration of alcohol, using it to preserve certain zoological specimens. All the material was conscientiously labeled by Péron, each jar and the number of samples in the contents was listed in an inventory and references to the corresponding drawings of Lesueur were made, along with references to the descriptions in Péron’s notebooks and journal (Roux & Bonnemains, 1984a, 1984b).

Specific methodologies also needed to be devised for recording the data pertaining to the vast and diverse number of taxa collected. For example, Péron and Lesueur constructed a special frame to reproduce the exact proportions of fish specimens and to enlarge small specimens. Lesueur’s pencil drawings of the specimens were of enormous reality and great precision, despite the difficulties of sketching and drawing animals at sea. Anatomical details, such as the structure of the teeth and scales, indications of the dimensions (e.g. ½ natural size) and the number of spines of the fins can be found on his drawings. Every specimen that might be illustrated in colour in the official reports had to be executed in water-colour, in order to illustrate the natural color. However, the vast number of specimens precluded drawing everything in complete detail. The descriptions were generally written in Latin by Péron and in French by Lesueur. The naturalists also made comparative notes. For example, they compared the fish fauna of the Mediterranean with that found on the expedition - “rien de semblable en Méditerranée” (“nothing resembling it in the Mediterranean”) - and even commented on the culinary and aphrodisiac qualities of the species. Lesueur noted that the fins of the shark, Squalorum rajarumque pinna, were regarded by the Chinese as a powerful aphrodisiac, but that their preparation was not as simple as that for holothurians (sea cucumbers) as they needed to be dried and, whether or not they had aphrodisiac qualities, they were good eating and made excellent, nourishing jelly. He also commented that the flesh of Squale rhinophanes had a very bad taste but that the school shark, Galeorhinus galeus, tasted excellent and could give rise to an important commercial fishery. Specimens other than fish, such as oysters, mussels, turtles, birds and mammals, were also used as fresh food. An albatross was reported to have been prepared as a fairly successful ragout and, at Shark Bay, WA, Baudin “preferred the dog-fish to kangaroo and especially enjoyed the oysters”.

However, despite the achievements and the scientific accolades, on the return of the voyage to France in 1804 there was a changed political environment and a government that had lost interest. The government had other naval concerns on its mind and, from Napoleon down, was prejudiced by the insistent rumours against Baudin spread by former colleagues on the voyage.

Although little thought had been given to the ultimate fate of the vast collections of flora and fauna that the explorers were expected to bring back, it is difficult to explain fully the subsequent decrease in the usefulness and value of the collections, as they were the first major collection of exotic animals to be returned to France. Péron and Lesueur published very little of the scientific results of the voyage, producing only a few short papers - for example on sea temperatures at various depths (Péron, 1804a), the zoology of the southern hemisphere (Péron, 1804b), the medicinal use of the betel nut (Péron, 1804c) and the maintenance of zoological collections (Péron & Lesueur, 1810a). They collected numerous new species during the voyage but, again, published few of them. Of the several new species of sharks discovered, only four were published, two by Péron (1807) and two by Lesueur (1822). The remaining new species were described and published many decades later by a number of other naturalists. For example, the manuscript name Squale Daubenton of Péron and Lesueur was described by Günter in 1870 as the gummy shark, Mustelus antarcticus, and the Australian ichthyologist, Gilbert Whitely, described Squale Risso of Péron and Lesueur as the whiskery shark, Fur macki, in 1943. It was only in 1991 that a list of the sharks observed by Péron and Lesueur, including the 11 species drawn by Lesueur, was published (Roux, 1991).

Similarly, knowledge about the enigmatic pelagic marine fauna began with the work of Péron and Lesueur during the Baudin expedition. They published a new pyrosome genus (Péron, 1804d) and on the Medusae (Péron & Lesueur, 1809, 1810b). The Medusae (jellyfish) were treated as a separate zoological group for the first time and, during and after the voyage, Péron and Lesueur became pioneers in the study of the diversity of these animals. In Shark Bay, on the western coast of Australia, they observed their bioluminescence, morphology and swimming behaviour, a remarkable feat considering the fragility of these animals. Lesueur made very specific descriptions and highly accurate drawings, and 122 species and 29 genera were described from the coasts of northwestern Australia (Goy, 1990). Their work was first read to the Academy of Sciences in 1808 and a table published in the Annales du Muséum d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (Péron & Lesueur, 1809b). However, except for the first 14 plates (some of which were of damaged animals) published by Lesueur in 1815, the majority of drawings and most of the manuscript notes by Péron were not published. In later years, their work was used without proper acknowledgement as the basis of accounts of the Medusae in many of the important texts of the time (e.g. Cuvier, 1817, 1830; Lamarck, 1816; Blainville, 1834; Lesson, 1843; Milne-Edwards, 1841). In 1980, some 170 years later, Péron’s 400 page unpublished manuscript, the 96 plates painted by Lesueur and the text published in the Annales were finally gathered together and deposited in the Muséum d’Histoire naturelle at Le Havre (Goy, 1992).

The professors of the Paris Muséum also studied the expedition collection, frequently mentioning it in the Annales du Muséum and publishing some of the results. Lamarck (1818) described seven species of barnacles from material collected by Péron & Lesueur, and many of the ornithological specimens were described by Vieillot from 1807 to 1819. Some of the marine algae were described by Lamarck (1815), Lamouroux (1812, 1813, 1816) and Agardh (1821, 1824), and other sections of the material were described in the Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle. However, in general, the results of the expedition were published in piecemeal fashion. Moreover, when publications did occur, authors often omitted to acknowledge Péron and Lesueur. Lamarck (1816), describing 13 of the 39 new species of Asterides (sea stars) collected and recognized by Péron and Lesueur, gave the original geographic collecting localities of the species but omitted to mention the names of the collectors, and made no reference to Lesueur’s illustrations. The remaining new species of sea stars were published later, principally by Müller and Troschel (1842, 1843) and Perrier (1875), who did refer to the existence of Lesueur’s illustrations, but it was not until 1984 that Jangoux published a complete list of Lesueur’s illustrations of the Asterides.

It is now impossible to trace the fate of all the specimens collected by the expedition. The condition of those that do remain is variable, and specimens preserved in alcohol have fared better than prepared specimens. The crustacean specimens for example, apart from those preserved in alcohol, are in various states of deterioration and the state of none of them is good. Some of the echinoderms, such as the starfishes, brittle stars and sea urchins, have withstood the ravages of time, as have some of the molluscs. Some marine invertebrates are so delicate (e.g. soft-bodied forms without shells, such as jellyfish) that they are difficult or impossible to preserve, even under ideal conditions. Consequently, these may not have been preserved after paintings, drawings and notes had been made of them on the expedition. It is also probable that some specimens preserved in alcohol later dried out, or that some dried specimens deteriorated over time, all to be eventually discarded. No doubt, during the expedition and the return of the collections to the Paris Museum, errors in specimen labelling, locality determination and data handling occurred, over time labels were misplaced, collections were split and installed in study collections, and the locations of many specimens became uncertain. In addition, the delay in publication and the restricted distribution of the Expedition reports may also have led to the specimens being overlooked by many investigators.

Another complicating factor is that, as well as being available for description and publication, the specimens were also regarded as curiosities and put on public display, common museum practice in the first half of the 19th century, but also causing them to escape scientific recognition. Over ensuing decades and centuries, some of the specimens have gradually been rediscovered and described. However, the scientific work of this expedition remained little known to French and Australians alike until the monumental efforts of Mme Jacqueline Bonnemains who, has worked and collaborated with various specialists around the world to enable the cataloguing of the vast Lesueur Collection of illustrations, notebooks and manuscripts at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Le Havre (see Bonnemains et al., 2001, for a summary of contemporary studies on the material collected by the Baudin expedition).

The Contemporary Context

Today, the biodiversity of Australia is still being explored and documented, and scientists have a wealth of new technologies to assist them in their studies and descriptions of terrestrial and marine life. The use of SCUBA diving for scientific discovery began in the 1950s, championed by Jacques Cousteau. Today, GIS technology provides accurate and immediate locality data, cameras record digital images, and data can be entered into electronic databases directly whilst in the field and transmitted to distant repositories. Maps of the seabed are now made using hydro-acoustic technology, using sound to measure the depth and the texture of the sea -bed. Towed cameras and ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) are used to film the organisms that live on the seabed beyond diving depths and the use of BRUVs (baited remote underwater videos) records fish species and their abundances. All this information can be overlaid to create a picture of our marine and terrestrial environments. These data can then be compared to historic information, allowing us to measure change into the future and helping us to manage and protect our biodiversity heritage and precious natural resources.

The notebooks, specimens and drawings of the scientists of the Baudin expedition provide fascinating glimpses of Australia as it was when European settlement was just beginning, or about to begin. Their observations and records contain important information regarding biodiversity, faunal and floral distributions that are pertinent to contemporary scientists such as zoologists, botanists, geologists, ecologists and anthropologists, and to the world in which we currently live. The modern armoury of equipment and technology available to scientists today makes that available to the scientists of the Baudin expedition vessels at that time meagre by comparison, although it emphasises the importance of their rigour, their acute observations and precise illustrations. For example, ‘Zoology Case no. 12’ of the Géographe contained:

‘12 insect boxes lined with cork; 5 braces of pistols; 3lbs of thread in bundles; 3lbs of thread in skeins; 2 insect nets; roughly 10,000 insect pins; 400 sewing needles; 100 insect needles; 1 scalpel box; 3 pairs of dentist’s tweezers; 6 pairs of flat pincers; 3 pairs cutting pliers; 1 pair of insect tweezers; 6 paintbrushes; 4 game-bags; 2 elbow shaped powder flasks; 1 ream of brown paper; 5 squires of white paper; 3 small hammers’.

Although still the least explored state, Western Australia is recognised for its mega diversity, with eight of the 15 Australian biodiversity hotspots and 26 bioregions represented, the most for any state. It is richly endowed with a unique and extensive biota, with nearly 700,000 species reported, and is considered by some to have the world's greatest marine biodiversity. Knowledge of the natural science and biodiversity of WA began with the collections of the early expeditions of discovery, including the Baudin voyage. In WA, the scientists of the Baudin expedition recorded the first published references to many native species (e.g. native land snails; Péron, 1807). Very many marine and terrestrial species were described and named in the publications of the expedition and in the works of other scientists using the collections made by the expedition (e.g. sea stars; Müller & Troschel, 1842). Some of the species described are now considered to be rare or endangered (e.g. Lagostrophus fasciatus; Péron & Lesueur, 1807), the Banded Hare-Wallaby; Calyptorhynchus baudinii Lear, 1832, Baudin’s Black Cockatoo; Kangurus brachyurus now Setonix brachyurus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830), the Quokka), or are now extinct (e.g. Dromaius ater Vieillot, 1817, the Dwarf Emu subspecies of King I., Bass Strait and Dromaius baudinianus Parker, 1984, the Dwarf Emu subspecies of Kangaroo I., S Australia).

Mainly using the locality of Shark Bay, WA, the following examples demonstrate how the observations of the Baudin expedition have relevance to contemporary scientists. Shark Bay was noted by the scientists of the Baudin Expedition for its natural treasures and great marine biodiversity and, 190 years later, these values were recognized globally when Shark Bay was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991.

Péron, Maugé and Lesueur were astounded by the shoals of cnidarians, zoophytes and molluscs that they sailed through on entering Shark Bay. They recorded an abundance of fish, reporting that 600 pounds of fish were caught from the Géographe on the first day alone. Péron also found six types of fish undescribed by science and considered that no other country in the world was as rich in fish species as the Shark Bay region –“No place in the world can be as fishy as Shark Bay”.

Péron also compiled a list of marine invertebrates specimens obtained at the islands in the Bay. He noted swimming crabs, crayfish, terrestrial and marine molluscs (including oysters and clams), coral, and two species of echinoderms, one of which was luminescent at night. Prior to the Baudin expedition, little was known of the crustaceans as a group, apart from the work of Fabricius (1775, 1781, 1787, 1793) and his student Daldorff (1798). Many crustaceans were collected and studied by Péron and Lesueur during the Baudin voyage but, despite their important number of discoveries, they did not publish their observations, although Péron made mention of them in his report to the professors of the Paris Museum. Some of their discoveries were also mentioned in later French publications (e.g. Desmarest 1822; Latreille, 1829) but it was not until 1990 that the crustaceans collected by the Baudin expedition were dealt with as a whole, when a compilation of published and manuscript data of the Crustacea of the collection was published (Bonnemains & Jones, 1990). In 1990, the first documentation of the crustacean fauna of Shark Bay since the records of these early naturalists was also published (Jones, 1990a, 1990b).

Whilst few extant crustacean specimens remain from the expedition, the accuracy of the notes and drawings of Péron and Lesueur ensure that species and specific collection localities can be identified today. For example, we know that the specimen of Ibacus peronii, now commonly known as the Balmain Bug, was collected at King Island at about 39º50’S 144º00’E, in Bass Strait, between Tasmania and the Australian mainland, where the Baudin expedition explored between 7 and 29 December in 1802 (Holthuis, 1996). This crustacean species was named by Leach, 1815, in honour of Péron.

Some of the bivalve molluscan specimens collected in Shark Bay by Péron and fellow members of the Baudin Expedition in 1801 and 1803 served as the basis of descriptions of a number of new species (Péron, 1807; Lamarck, 1818; 1819). In 1990, a checklist of the bivalve fauna of Shark Bay was compiled for the first time, recording 218 species (Slack-Smith, 1990). The composition of this fauna is in part related to the latitudinal location of the area, a fact that was recognised by Péron (1816), who remarked upon the many tropical molluscan species found there and their abundance. As a habitat for bivalves, Shark Bay has proved to be of major significance on the Western Australian coast, with species diversity as well as the densities of many species high (Slack-Smith, 1990).

Sea snakes were also numerous in the waters of Shark Bay and snakes and lizards abounded on the land. Péron’s observations and studies concluded that the sea snakes were predominantly fish eaters but, whilst sleeping on the surface of the water, were themselves eaten by sharks. In the week’s stay, Maugé collected 10 species of birds, including one that appeared to live on fish and shellfish, which he named sea eagle, and 10 species of insects.

Riedlé collected 70 species of new plants at Shark Bay and the first extensive botanical collections were made by Leschenault de la Tour and studied by Decaisne & Gaudichaud (1824) and Gaudichaud (1826), who made Shark Bay the type locality of many plants.

Some of the mammals that occur on the islands of Shark Bay were amongst the earliest Australian species known to Europeans, due to the publications and illustrations of the Baudin explorers. Following the arrival of Europeans, there was a devastating, Australia-wide pattern of local or general extinction of many native mammal species (Ride, 1968). The Baudin scientists collected new mammal species and their observations and records contain important information regarding past patterns of faunal distributions. Some of the species named and recorded are now extinct, or considered to be rare and endangered in Australia. Péron and Lesueur described and named Kangurus faciatus, which is now known as Lagostrophus fasciatus (Péron & Lesueur, 1807), the Banded Hare-Wallaby. A young was taken from its dead mother’s pouch and was taken aboard the Géographe. It survived, but unfortunately died later in Timor due to an accident. Péron stated that the species occurred in large numbers on Bernier, Dorre and Dirk Hartog Islands (Ride & Tyndale-Biscoe, 1962). Historically, this species was once common across the semi-arid regions of southwestern Australia. Fossils and a single specimen collected in South Australia last century show that within the past 3000 to 5000 years it once extended across the southern Nullarbor Plain into the lower Murray River region of South Australia. The last recorded evidence of the Banded Hare-Wallaby on the Australian mainland was in 1906 and it is believed to have been extinct on the mainland since 1963. Today, the species is restricted to small populations that are only found on Dorre and Bernier Islands, where it was originally found. The disappearance of this species is purported to be associated with the clearing of vegetation for agriculture, competition for food with introduced rabbits and livestock, and predation by introduced cats and possibly foxes.

Records of past distributions also have relevance to scientists looking at animal species that have commercial importance, especially those that are being exploited, some to the verge of collapse. Péron commented on the number of whales the expedition encountered, both at the entrance of and inside Shark Bay, when the Naturaliste entered by the channel north of Bernier Island, now known as the Geographe Channel, on June 25, 1801. He described their wild leaping and spouting and a battle between a whale and a huge swordfish, and speculated on the possibility of a French whale fishery in Shark Bay one day, should water be found. This remark was extremely pertinent, as whaling for humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) was one of the first viable industries established in the Swan River Colony following the arrival of British settlers in 1829. Humpbacks were exploited intermittently between 1912 and 1963 by shore-based, hunting operations from Point Cloates and Carnarvon, to the north of Shark Bay. However, the lack of fresh water and safe harbours made whaling along the WA coast difficult and over-exploitation closed these fisheries. Today, whale watching has become a booming tourist industry on the western and northwestern coasts of WA, due to the increase of humpback numbers since the cessation of commercial whaling.

In late April 1803, in the far north-western waters of WA, the Baudin expedition named Holothuria Banks for the numbers of holothurians (sea cucumbers, also known as trepang or bêche de mer) found there. At nearby Cassini Island, they saw a “Malay” (Indonesian) flotilla consisting of 20 praus. Lesueur and Péron were invited to board one of the vessels. Whilst Lesueur made sketches, Péron spoke with the captain, who told them the flotilla was fishing for sea cucumbers and that the industry had existed for untold generations on this coast. Today, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exists between Indonesia and Australia, whereby traditional fishermen from the islands of Roti, South Sulawesi and East Java can fish within stipulated boundaries in these northwestern Australian waters. Tensions, however, exist and there are allegations that huge increases in the number of boats and fishing effort, plus illegal fishing outside of the MOU area, are posing a threat to the fishing industry, the marine environment, and biodiversity and biosecurity in general. Recent reports have documented a serious decline in populations of sea cucumbers and other commercially exploited species such as giant clams – a faint and poignant remnant of the abundance once noted by the Baudin expedition at these reefs, banks and shoals.

Throughout the voyage, Péron took daily hydrological observations. He recorded the temperature of the seawater and used these data to propose the first concepts of marine ecology, by comparing geographic distributions and seasonal annual variation for different species of Medusae in the northern and southern hemispheres (Goy, 1992). Some of Péron’s hydrological observations may also indicate the first evidence of the Leeuwin Current. This low salinity, warm ocean current flows strongly southwards down the WA coast during the austral autumn and winter (April to September). It raises ocean temperatures several degrees more than would otherwise be experienced and is responsible for the transportation of tropical species down the west coast and across into the Great Australian Bight. In 1897, during a study of marine life of the more southerly Abrolhos Islands (29ºS), naturalist William Saville-Kent suspected that there was probably a warm southward-flowing current off Western Australia, but it was only with the advent of satellite technology in the 1970’s that the existence of the southward current was finally confirmed. It was named the Leeuwin Current (Cresswell & Golding, 1980) after the Dutch merchant ship Leeuwin, meaning Lioness, which explored the south west coast of WA in 1622.

Over 200 years later, tangible memories of the Baudin expedition still persist today through the many species that have, and continue to be, named in acknowledgement of the accomplishments of the expedition and its participants. The map of Western Australia also shows the influence of these early explorers, with almost 300 French place names along the coasts associated with the Baudin expedition (e.g. Baudin Island, Cape Boulanger, Cape Naturaliste, Faure Island, Freycinet Reach, Geographe Bay, Hamelin Bay, Point Peron, etc.), although only about 60 geographical names are mentioned in Péron’s Voyage (1807). The French names of bays, capes, islands, etc., are named after Napoleon’s family, generals and admirals who fought in the Napoleonic campaign and revolutionary wars, statesmen and civil servants, writers, scientists and historical figures. More recently, these connections are continuing through the names of some of the burgeoning vineyards of the southwest of Western Australia (e.g. Vasse Felix – named after Timothée Vasse, who during the first exploration of Geographe Bay in 1801).

Epilogue

The Baudin Expedition took a tremendous toll of the scientific party – of the 22 scientists, 10 left at Île de France (Mauritius) and only three returned at the end of the voyage. Péron was the only zoologist to survive and complete the journey. In spite of the mistakes, the arguments and the deaths, the expedition was an epoch of French and Australian history filled with adventure and accomplishment. A milestone in the development of French and Australian science, it made enormous scientific contributions to various nascent scientific fields and marked the important transition of science to an occupation of professionals, rather than an avocation of amateurs. The scientists and artists of the expedition gathered and described thousands of natural history specimens and artefacts – a treasure trove of exotica. Their fieldwork and published reports established France’s credentials in botany, vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, anthropology, geology and geography in the international scientific community.

More than 200,000 dried and preserved specimens and objects were brought back to France; 3,872 animal species and 1500 plant species were collected; 2,542 animal species and over 640 plant species were new to science; 72 live animals survived, the first major collection of exotic animals to come to France, including emus, dingoes, long-necked tortoises, wombats, parakeets, kangaroos, and black swans from Australia, as well as lions, panthers, ostriches, porcupines, deer, monkeys, mongooses, tortoises, a zebra, a hyena and a gnu from the Cape and Île de France; hundreds of species of live plants and trees and over 600 species of seeds were gathered; 796 mineral samples were returned to France; a very large number of observations were recorded of unknown lands; contact with Aborigines had been made; and 206 native artefacts were collected. The voyage surveyed and charted islands and thousands of kilometres of coast. Lesueur and Petit produced a magnificent legacy of pictorial records; Lesueur’s drawings and paintings numbered 1500 but no estimate of Petit’s work exists, although 154 have since been recovered. The expedition reports by Péron and Freycinet, and the accompanying Atlases by Lesueur and Petit, and Freycinet, are also remarkable accomplishments of the Expedition.

Together, all these achievements provide an extraordinary record of an event that, quite literally, helped put Australia on the map. The enormity of the work of the scientists of this and other early expeditions of discovery is still being realised and appreciated today. These early expeditions gave a succinct snap shot of the biodiversity of the times and the emerging science of historical ecology in recognising that this information has importance in helping to inform today’s decision makers and managers to better plan for restorative conservation. Moreover, the scientists’ meticulous historical records and illustrations will assume even more importance as we face challenges such as global warming and species extinctions, as they contain answers to questions that we have yet to ask.

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