Editing River Derwent (Tasmania) (section)

==History==
The River Derwent valley was inhabited by the [[Mouheneener]] people for at least 8,000 years before British settlement.<ref>[http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ha/So&Sessionals.pdf Parliament of Tasmania – House of Assembly Standing Orders] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604173725/http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ha/So%26Sessionals.pdf |date=4 June 2009 }} "We acknowledge the traditional people of the land upon which we meet today, the Mouheneener people."</ref> Evidence of their occupation is found in many middens along the banks of the river.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} The first European to chart the river was [[Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux|Bruni d'Entrecasteaux]], who named it the ''Rivière du Nord'' in 1793.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies|title=River Derwent|url=https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/R/River%20Derwent.htm|website=The Companion to Tasmanian History|access-date=17 October 2021}}</ref> Later that same year, [[John Hayes (explorer)|John Hayes]] explored the river and named it after the [[River Derwent, Cumbria|River Derwent]], which runs past his birthplace of [[Bridekirk]], [[Cumberland]].<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Roe|first=Margriet|year=1966|id=A010487b|title= Hayes, Sir John (1768–1831)|access-date=20 August 2009}}</ref>

When first explored by Europeans, the lower parts of the valley were clad in thick [[she-oak]] forests, remnants of which remain in various parts of the lower foreshore.<ref name="DEP"/>

There was a thriving whaling industry until the 1840s when the industry rapidly declined due to over-exploitation.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/historic/swhaling/history.html | title=A History of Shore-Based Whaling | publisher=Parks.tas.gov.au | date=25 July 2008 | access-date=6 January 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612184148/http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/historic/swhaling/history.html | archive-date=12 June 2008 }}</ref>
[[Image:Flock of Little Pied Cormorants.jpg|thumb|[[Little pied cormorant]]s on the River Derwent]]