Shark Bay Marine Park
Encyclopedia
Shark Bay Marine Park is located at Shark Bay World Heritage Site
, Western Australia
, over 800 km (497.1 mi) north of Perth
.
It is the site of the world's largest seagrass
meadows
, with a total of twelve species of seagrass in the park.
Shark Bay Marine Park is also home to a variety of marine life, including sea turtles, dolphins, whales, dugong
s, and smaller animals such as prawns and scallops.
Major reference points of its boundaries include Steep Point
at the south side of Dirk Hartog Island
and Cape Inscription at the north side.
The Fisheries department also produces a Species Identification Guide to coincide with the rules
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. It is an area centred approximately on , 800 kilometres north of Perth, on the westernmost point of Australia. An expedition led by Dirk Hartog happened upon the area in 1616, becoming the second group of Europeans...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, over 800 km (497.1 mi) north of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
It is the site of the world's largest seagrass
Seagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
meadows
Wooramel Seagrass Bank
Wooramel Seagrass Bank is a large deposit of carbonate sediment, a sand bank, formed by diverse communities of seagrasses off the coast of Carnarvon, Western Australia. The mattes of seagrass meadows and stands consolidate a shallow platform of sandy substrate by acting as an organic baffle against...
, with a total of twelve species of seagrass in the park.
Shark Bay Marine Park is also home to a variety of marine life, including sea turtles, dolphins, whales, dugong
Dugong
The dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow , was hunted to extinction in the 18th century...
s, and smaller animals such as prawns and scallops.
Major reference points of its boundaries include Steep Point
Steep Point, Western Australia
Steep Point is the westernmost point of the Australian mainland, located at . It is located within the Shark Bay World Heritage site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia....
at the south side of Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island
Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about 80 kilometres long and between 3 and 15 kilometres wide and is Western Australia's largest and most western island. It covers an area of 620 square kilometres and is...
and Cape Inscription at the north side.
Fishing Rules
The marine park comes under the Gascoyne Fishing Rules and these rules specify the waters of the Shark Bay area as such (these are also known as the Shark Bay Inner gulfs): -- Eastern Gulf Zone (that is east of the Peron PeninsulaPeron PeninsulaPeron Peninsula is a long narrow peninsula located in the Shark Bay World Heritage site in Western Australia, at about 25o51' S longitude and 113o30' E latitude. It is some 80 miles long, running north-northwesterly, located east of Henri Freycinet Harbour and west of Havre Hamelin and Faure...
and north from Cape Peron North ( 25° 30.2‘ S. 113° 30.6’ E) to a line at (25° 16.6’ S) and east to the coast of the mainland. The southern portion of this zone - the Hamelin Pool Marine Nature ReserveHamelin Pool Marine Nature ReserveHamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is located in the Shark Bay World Heritage Site of Western Australia adjacent to the historic Hamelin Pool Telegraph Station about west of the Overlander Roadhouse on the North West Coastal Highway. Access is via Hamelin Pool Rd and then through the Hamelin Pool...
has no fishing allowed.
- Denham Sound also known as Western Gulf Zone south to line at Goulet BluffGoulet BluffGoulet BluffIs a point on the western side of the Peron Peninsula in the Shark Bay World Heritage Sitethat acts as an important marker between the Denham Sound or northern portion of the Western Gulf Zone from the southern fishing zone of Freycinet Estuary....
( 25° 13’ S ) which separates the Freycinet Estuary
The Fisheries department also produces a Species Identification Guide to coincide with the rules
Further reading
- Sumner, Neil R and R.A. Steckis (1999) Statistical analysis of Gascoyne region recreational fishing study July 1996 North Beach, W.A. : Fisheries Western Australia. Fisheries research report, 1035-4549 ; no. 115
- Thomson, Carolyn (1997) Discovering Shark Bay Marine Park and Monkey Mia Como, W.A. Department of Conservation and Land Management. ISBN 0-7309-6854-5