Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Photographs of Darwin Beer Can Regatta and Cheynes Bay Whaling Station
Photographs of Darwin Beer Can Regatta and Cheynes Bay Whaling Station

Photographs of Darwin Beer Can Regatta and Cheynes Bay Whaling Station

Date1976 - 1978
Object numberANMS1304
NameArchive series
Copyright© Laurence Bell
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mr Laurence Bell
DescriptionThis archive series numbered [001] - [035] consists of colour slides of the Beer Can Regatta boats and whaling scenes in Western Australia taken by photographer engineer Laurence Bell. It includes 28 images of preparations and race day of the 1976 and 1978 Darwin Beer Can Regatta, Northern Territory; and seven slides depicting Cheynes Beach Whaling Station at Frenchman Bay, Western Australia in March 1977.SignificanceThis collection of photographs depicting Darwin’s Beer Can Regattas of 1975, 1976 and 1978 are significant in illustrating this unusual event. Conceived in the Northern Territory as a community and tourist event, and to raise funds for charity, the 1975 Beer Can Regatta was held only six months after the devastation of Cyclone Tracy, reflecting the resilience of the people of Darwin who went ahead with the Regatta with renewed community spirit.

The images of the whaling station at Cheynes Bay in Western Australia have historical significance in documenting aspects of the whaling industry in Australia in its dying years in the 1970s.