Commonly used Bureau of Meteorology coastal landmarks
Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in
Australia, at 10,194 km[1] or 12,889 km (20,781 km including islands).[2][a] It is a significant portion of the
coastline of Australia, which is 35,877 km (59,736 km including islands).[2]
The earliest full charting of the coastline occurred during exploration in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[3]
The coastline has some features or organisms that are found on the entire length,[4] while some others are specific to particular coastal regions.[5][6]
Various government map posters have been created over time, which have examples of coastal form, or types of coast such as the 1984 map with photos.[7]
Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA)
The
IMCRA has offshore regions delineated in a systematic appraisal of ecology and geography.[8]
Coastal regions used in weather reports
Standard
Bureau of Meteorology reports include the following reference points for coastal weather reports:[9]
North Kimberley Coast:
WA/NT border (or to Kuri Bay
Esperance Coast: Bremer Bay to
Israelite Bay (Southeast coastal land region)
Eucla Coast: Israelite Bay to
SA Border (Eucla land region)
General coastal regions
There are groupings for wider regions that are based very close to the land regions; one made in the 1980s[10] has 8 coastal regions, while the 2003 Coastal Planning and Management Manual has five regions with component sections:[11]
Kimberley Coast: Northern Territory / Western Australia border to Broome (2003 manual, figure 2-2 Pilbara Kimberley Region)
Canning: Broome to Port Hedland (
Cape Keraudren – east of the De Grey River delta in the 2003 manual)
Pilbara Coast: Port Hedland to Onslow
Coral Coast or Gascoyne region – Onslow to Kalbarri (Shark Bay in the 2003 manual)
Kalbarri to Cape Naturaliste: which includes,
Batavia Coast, the Central West also known as the
Turquoise Coast and another further south known at the
Sunset Coast
South West Capes: Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin (to Albany in the 2003 manual)
South Coast: Cape Leeuwin to Israelite Bay – incorporates the coastal region between Cape Leeuwin and Windy Harbour, usually considered part of the south west
South Coast Region or the South East: Israelite Bay (Albany in the 2003 manual) to the Western Australia / South Australian border (Eucla)
Under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 there are four main regions on the Western Australian coast.[12]
North Coast (Pilbara/Kimberley): from the
Western Australian and Northern Territory border to 114° 50' E 21° 46' S, just west of the mouth of the
Ashburton River
Gascoyne Coast:[b] from 114° 50' E 21° 46' S, just west of the mouth of the
Ashburton River Mouth to 27° S – about halfway between
Kalbarri and
Denham
The coastal regions include a range of beaches, cliffs, and coastline features that are dependent upon the underlying geology; the geological provinces have direct relationship to the coastal forms:
^Not to be confused with the tourist coast region which might have slightly different start and finish points from the fisheries designated coast
References
^Short, Andrew D (2005)Beaches of the Western Australian Coast: Eucla to Roeback BayISBN0-9586504-3-8. page 1
^
ab"Coastline Lengths". Geoscience Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. 18 November 2010. Archived from
the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
^Freycinet, Louis de, 1779-1842 (1919),
[Chart of Western Australian coastline], H.J. Pether, Govt. Lithographer, retrieved 10 July 2015{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^Bradshaw, Elizabeth (December 1995), "Dates from archaeological excavations on the Pilbara coastline and islands of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia", Australian Archaeology (41): 37–38,
ISSN0312-2417
^Sircombe, K.N; Freeman, M.J (1 October 1999), "Provenance of detrital zircons on the Western Australia coastline – implications for the geologic history of the Perth basin and denudation of the Yilgarn craton.(Statistical Data Included)", Geology, 27 (10), Geological Society of America, Inc: 879(4),
doi:
10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0879:podzot>2.3.co;2,
ISSN0091-7613
^Chape, Stuart; Hesp, P. A. (Patrick Alan); Western Australia. Coastal Management Co-ordinating Committee; Western Australia. Dept. of Agriculture; Western Australia. Dept. of Conservation and Environment (1984),
Western Australian coastline, Coastal Management Coordinating Committee, retrieved 10 July 2015
^Woods, P.J and Eliot, Ian (1980) The Western Australian Coast being Number 6 of Coastal Management in Western Australia Bulletin Number 49 of the Department of Conservation and Environment
^Recreational fishing guides published by the Department of Fisheries (W.A.) in September 2008 map titled 'Western Australia's Fisheries Bioregions'
^Rippey, Elizabeth and Rowland, Barbara (2004) Coast plants:Perth and the south-west region Second Edition. University of Western Australia Press. Crawley, Western Australia.
ISBN1-920694-05-6. page 245 – also Part Three: Descriptions and Illustrations of the Seagrasses pp.243-260
Further reading
Flora
Rippey, Elizabeth and Rowland, Barbara (2004) Coastal Plants: Perth and the south-west region Second Edition, Crawley, W.A. University of Western Australia Press.
ISBN1-920694-05-6
Conferences
WA State Coastal Conference (3rd : 2005 : Mandurah, Bunbury and Busselton, W.A.)
Title 3rd WA State Coastal Conference, Mandurah – Bunbury – Busselton, November 2005 : coastal solutions : balancing the waves of change : program and papers. Canning Bridge, W.A. : Promaco Conventions Pty Ltd, 2005.
ISBN1-86308-126-7
Locations
Murray, Ian and Marion Hercock (2008) Where on the Coast is That? Victoria Park, Western Australia. Hesperian Press.
ISBN978-0-85905-452-2
Government reports
Department of Conservation and Land Management, 1994: A Representative Marine Reserves
System for Western Australia: Report of the Marine Parks and Reserves Selection Working Group (the Wilson Report).
Government of Western Australia, 1998: New Horizons: the Way Ahead in Marine Conservation and Management.
Government of Western Australia, 2002b: Focus on the Future: the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy, Consultation Draft.
Government of Western Australia, 2002c: A Biodiversity Conservation Act for Western Australia, Consultation Paper.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2001: Coastal Zone Management Policy for Western Australia, for public comment.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2002: Coastal Planning Program – Status of Coastal Planning in Western Australia 2001/02.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2003a: Statement of Planning Policy No. 2.6: StateCoastal Planning Policy.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2003b: Coastal Planning and Management Manual
Commonly used Bureau of Meteorology coastal landmarks
Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in
Australia, at 10,194 km[1] or 12,889 km (20,781 km including islands).[2][a] It is a significant portion of the
coastline of Australia, which is 35,877 km (59,736 km including islands).[2]
The earliest full charting of the coastline occurred during exploration in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[3]
The coastline has some features or organisms that are found on the entire length,[4] while some others are specific to particular coastal regions.[5][6]
Various government map posters have been created over time, which have examples of coastal form, or types of coast such as the 1984 map with photos.[7]
Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA)
The
IMCRA has offshore regions delineated in a systematic appraisal of ecology and geography.[8]
Coastal regions used in weather reports
Standard
Bureau of Meteorology reports include the following reference points for coastal weather reports:[9]
North Kimberley Coast:
WA/NT border (or to Kuri Bay
Esperance Coast: Bremer Bay to
Israelite Bay (Southeast coastal land region)
Eucla Coast: Israelite Bay to
SA Border (Eucla land region)
General coastal regions
There are groupings for wider regions that are based very close to the land regions; one made in the 1980s[10] has 8 coastal regions, while the 2003 Coastal Planning and Management Manual has five regions with component sections:[11]
Kimberley Coast: Northern Territory / Western Australia border to Broome (2003 manual, figure 2-2 Pilbara Kimberley Region)
Canning: Broome to Port Hedland (
Cape Keraudren – east of the De Grey River delta in the 2003 manual)
Pilbara Coast: Port Hedland to Onslow
Coral Coast or Gascoyne region – Onslow to Kalbarri (Shark Bay in the 2003 manual)
Kalbarri to Cape Naturaliste: which includes,
Batavia Coast, the Central West also known as the
Turquoise Coast and another further south known at the
Sunset Coast
South West Capes: Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin (to Albany in the 2003 manual)
South Coast: Cape Leeuwin to Israelite Bay – incorporates the coastal region between Cape Leeuwin and Windy Harbour, usually considered part of the south west
South Coast Region or the South East: Israelite Bay (Albany in the 2003 manual) to the Western Australia / South Australian border (Eucla)
Under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 there are four main regions on the Western Australian coast.[12]
North Coast (Pilbara/Kimberley): from the
Western Australian and Northern Territory border to 114° 50' E 21° 46' S, just west of the mouth of the
Ashburton River
Gascoyne Coast:[b] from 114° 50' E 21° 46' S, just west of the mouth of the
Ashburton River Mouth to 27° S – about halfway between
Kalbarri and
Denham
The coastal regions include a range of beaches, cliffs, and coastline features that are dependent upon the underlying geology; the geological provinces have direct relationship to the coastal forms:
^Not to be confused with the tourist coast region which might have slightly different start and finish points from the fisheries designated coast
References
^Short, Andrew D (2005)Beaches of the Western Australian Coast: Eucla to Roeback BayISBN0-9586504-3-8. page 1
^
ab"Coastline Lengths". Geoscience Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. 18 November 2010. Archived from
the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
^Freycinet, Louis de, 1779-1842 (1919),
[Chart of Western Australian coastline], H.J. Pether, Govt. Lithographer, retrieved 10 July 2015{{
citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
^Bradshaw, Elizabeth (December 1995), "Dates from archaeological excavations on the Pilbara coastline and islands of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia", Australian Archaeology (41): 37–38,
ISSN0312-2417
^Sircombe, K.N; Freeman, M.J (1 October 1999), "Provenance of detrital zircons on the Western Australia coastline – implications for the geologic history of the Perth basin and denudation of the Yilgarn craton.(Statistical Data Included)", Geology, 27 (10), Geological Society of America, Inc: 879(4),
doi:
10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0879:podzot>2.3.co;2,
ISSN0091-7613
^Chape, Stuart; Hesp, P. A. (Patrick Alan); Western Australia. Coastal Management Co-ordinating Committee; Western Australia. Dept. of Agriculture; Western Australia. Dept. of Conservation and Environment (1984),
Western Australian coastline, Coastal Management Coordinating Committee, retrieved 10 July 2015
^Woods, P.J and Eliot, Ian (1980) The Western Australian Coast being Number 6 of Coastal Management in Western Australia Bulletin Number 49 of the Department of Conservation and Environment
^Recreational fishing guides published by the Department of Fisheries (W.A.) in September 2008 map titled 'Western Australia's Fisheries Bioregions'
^Rippey, Elizabeth and Rowland, Barbara (2004) Coast plants:Perth and the south-west region Second Edition. University of Western Australia Press. Crawley, Western Australia.
ISBN1-920694-05-6. page 245 – also Part Three: Descriptions and Illustrations of the Seagrasses pp.243-260
Further reading
Flora
Rippey, Elizabeth and Rowland, Barbara (2004) Coastal Plants: Perth and the south-west region Second Edition, Crawley, W.A. University of Western Australia Press.
ISBN1-920694-05-6
Conferences
WA State Coastal Conference (3rd : 2005 : Mandurah, Bunbury and Busselton, W.A.)
Title 3rd WA State Coastal Conference, Mandurah – Bunbury – Busselton, November 2005 : coastal solutions : balancing the waves of change : program and papers. Canning Bridge, W.A. : Promaco Conventions Pty Ltd, 2005.
ISBN1-86308-126-7
Locations
Murray, Ian and Marion Hercock (2008) Where on the Coast is That? Victoria Park, Western Australia. Hesperian Press.
ISBN978-0-85905-452-2
Government reports
Department of Conservation and Land Management, 1994: A Representative Marine Reserves
System for Western Australia: Report of the Marine Parks and Reserves Selection Working Group (the Wilson Report).
Government of Western Australia, 1998: New Horizons: the Way Ahead in Marine Conservation and Management.
Government of Western Australia, 2002b: Focus on the Future: the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy, Consultation Draft.
Government of Western Australia, 2002c: A Biodiversity Conservation Act for Western Australia, Consultation Paper.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2001: Coastal Zone Management Policy for Western Australia, for public comment.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2002: Coastal Planning Program – Status of Coastal Planning in Western Australia 2001/02.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2003a: Statement of Planning Policy No. 2.6: StateCoastal Planning Policy.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2003b: Coastal Planning and Management Manual