Tourism agency deletes ‘pristine swimming spot’ post about unpatrolled beach on Mornington Peninsula
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Video removed as Life Saving Victoria carries out 145 rescues – ‘We don’t remember when we’ve been that busy’. Victoria’s tourism agency has removed a social media post that described an unpatrolled ocean beach on the Mornington Peninsula as a “pristine swimming spot” amid almost 150 rescues on the state’s beaches on Saturday.
![[A sign erected by local residents warns of dangerous conditions at Number 16 beach]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/10f2b72642e566cde03251cea1581056a015a4b3/0_252_3024_3780/master/3024.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Number 16 beach, on the Bass Strait side of Rye, is described on the Visit Victoria website as “recommended for experienced surfers only” as it is not patrolled by lifesavers. It has a reputation among local residents as dangerous. A woman who lives on the peninsula told Guardian Australia that a post on Visit Melbourne’s Instagram page on Friday – at the start of a weekend heatwave – described the location as a “pristine swimming spot”. The wording was later changed to “pristine beach” before the post was removed altogether.
The Instagram page has 1.1 million followers. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said the post – a video of water cascading over rocks at the beach – had been removed after she emailed Visit Victoria on Saturday morning. Drew Cooper, a member of the Mornington Peninsula Back Beaches Collective, said the surf beach’s rock pool was popular among photographers.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. “When the sun goes down, photographers flock down to the reef and wait for the perfect shot,” he said. “It’s become a big thing on social media – people encouraging everyone to go down there.”.
