Discovery Bay Coastal Park is a 104.6 km² linear protected area of coastal land in western Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, south-eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It extends along the coast of Discovery Bay from Cape Nelson

Cape Nelson State Park

Cape Nelson State Park, near Portland on Victoria's southwest coast is a state park. Attractions include a clifftop walk and a visit to the Cape Nelson lighthouse. The lighthouse was completed in 1884 and today offers accommodation in the Light Station Keepers Cottages. Fauna include the Heath...

 north-westwards for 50 km to the border with South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. It lies within the traditional lands of the Gunditjmara

Gunditjmara

Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...

 people. The route of the Great South West Walk

Great South West Walk

The Great South West Walk is a 250 kilometre walking track, established in 1981 and situated in the south west of Victoria, Australia. It is administered, maintained and promoted by The Friends of the Great South West Walk Inc, a volunteer organisation, in partnership with Parks...

 passes through the park, which is listed on Australia’s Register of the National Estate

Register of the National Estate

The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...

.

History

After being recommended as a coastal reserve in 1973 by Victoria’s Land Conservation Council, the park was first included in Schedule 3 of the Victorian National Parks Act in 1979, with an area of 84.5 km². Additional parcels of land were acquired in 1981, 1987 and 1997.

Landforms

Geologically the area is basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

 overlain by limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 with the coastal landforms characterised by the rugged cliffs and headlands of Cape Nelson and Cape Bridgewater

Cape Bridgewater, Victoria

Cape Bridgewater is a locality in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the western shore of Bridgewater Bay, 21 kilometres south-west of Portland, and 383 kilometres from Melbourne. It lies within the Discovery Bay Coastal Park....

, dunefields, and by swamps and freshwater lakes further inland. The limestone contains mammalian fossil deposits of Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 age.

Flora and fauna

Some 320 native vascular plant species have been recorded in the park. An important wetland is Long Swamp, fed by a groundwater aquifer, where declining water levels have led to encroachment by Bare Twig-Sedge (Baumea sp.) whose seeds are a favoured food of the Ground Parrot

Ground Parrot

The Eastern Ground Parrot of Australia is one of only five ground-dwelling parrots in the world, the others being its closest relatives, the Western Ground Parrot , the extremely rare Night Parrot , the somewhat closely related Antipodes Parakeet , and the unrelated highly...

. As water levels continue to decline, Woolly Tea-tree

Leptospermum lanigerum

Leptospermum lanigerum is a shrub, commonly called the Woolly Tea-tree, which is endemic to Australia. Plants are found growing in montane eucalypt forest and coastal areas in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria....

 is beginning to colonise formerly sedge-dominated areas. The swamp’s sedge habitat is also an important site for an endangered damselfly

Damselfly

Damselflies are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest...

, the Ancient Greenling

Hemiphlebia mirabilis

Hemiphlebia mirabilis, the Ancient Greenling, is a species of damselfly in family Hemiphlebiidae. It is very small with a long, metallic green body and clear wings. It is the only member of its genus and family. It is endemic to south-eastern Australia...

.

The park forms much of the Discovery Bay to Piccaninnie Ponds Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

, identified by BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 as being of global significance for several bird species. Two threatened birds, the Hooded Plover

Hooded Plover

The Hooded Dotterel or Hooded Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is endemic to southern Australia and Tasmania. There are two recognized subspecies, both of which are classifed as Endangered....

 and Little Tern

Little Tern

The Little Tern, Sternula albifrons or Sterna albifrons, is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It was formerly placed into the genus Sterna, which now is restricted to the large white terns . The former North American and Red Sea S. a...

, nest on the beaches. The Ground Parrot, Australasian Bittern

Australasian Bittern

The Australasian Bittern , also known as the Brown Bittern, is found in south-western and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Ouvea. Populations in Australia and New Zealand have declined in the 20th century.It is a large bittern, patterned and streaked brown, buff...

 and Brolga

Brolga

The Brolga , formerly known as the "Native Companion", is a bird in the crane family. The bird has also been given the name "Australian Crane", a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithological artist John Gould in his Birds of Australia.The Brolga is a common gregarious wetland bird species in...

 frequent the wetlands while the Orange-bellied Parrot

Orange-bellied Parrot

The Orange-bellied Parrot is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only two species of parrot which migrate. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller...

, Rufous Bristlebird

Rufous Bristlebird

The Rufous Bristlebird is a species of bird in the Dasyornithidae family.It is endemic to Australia.Its natural habitat is temperate forests.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Australia:...

, Striated Fieldwren

Striated Fieldwren

The Striated Fieldwren or Calamanthus is a species of bird in the Acanthizidae family, endemic to Australia.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on 25 July 2007....

 and Beautiful Firetail

Beautiful Firetail

The Beautiful Firetail is a common species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000 km². The species inhabits temperate shrubland habitats in Australia...

 have been recorded in the dunes and shrublands. Threatened fish species, include the Yarra Pygmy Perch

Yarra Pygmy Perch

The yarra pygmy perch is a species of perch-like fish in the Percichthyidae family.It is found only in Australia.-Source:* Wager, R. 1996. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....

 and Dwarf Galaxias. Mammals found in the park include the Long-nosed Potoroo

Long-nosed Potoroo

The Long-nosed Potoroo is a species of Australian potoroo. It is listed as Endangered in Victoria , Vulnerable in Queensland and nationally , although the IUCN lists it as Lower Risk.At first glance the Long-nosed Potoroo with its...

, Heath Mouse

Heath Mouse

The Heath Mouse is one of the larger pseudomyine rodents found in Australia with a body mass of 55-90g, head and body length of 90-120 mm and a tail length of 80-110 mm . Its fur is grey brown dorsally, flecked with buff and black, with a distinctly paler belly...

 and Swamp Antechinus

Swamp Antechinus

The Swamp Antechinus , also known as the Little Tasmanian Marsupial Mouse, is a species of shrew-like marsupial of the Dasyuridae family and as such is related to dunnarts, quolls and the Tasmanian Devil.-Taxonomy:...

. There are Australian Fur Seal colonies on rock platforms at Capes Nelson and Bridgewater.

External links

• Parks Victoria: Discovery Bay Coastal Park