Introduction

• Our Coastal & Marine Environments
• Biodiversity
• Social and Cultural Significance

Onkaparinga Estuary (Photo: Doug Fotheringham)

Our Coastal & Marine Environments

South Australia’s diverse coastal and marine environments are a valuable community resource, providing recreation and pleasure for residents and tourists alike. In addition, these resources are of great biological and economic value to the State. For these reasons the management and protection of coastal and marine environments is a priority of the Department for Environment and Heritage. For more information see Strategies and Policies.

The coastline of South Australia extends 4,250 km (excluding the islands) and ranges from the rocky shores and sandy beaches of the South East and West Coast to the extensive calm water mud flats, seagrass and mangrove habitats in the gulf regions.

Our nearshore territorial waters, which extend over 60,000 km², show a wide range of variability across surface sea temperatures, salinities and oceanographic conditions (eg currents, upwellings, gulfs). This variability provides for a broad range of habitats and many ecological niches, which are used for a variety of commercial purposes including sea transport, mineral and petroleum exploration, and commercial fishing and aquaculture.

Biodiversity

Our marine and estuarine waters are among the most biologically diverse in the world, with many varieties of flora and fauna endemic to the region. Some examples help to illustrate this diversity:

• Over 1,100 different species of green, brown and red algae have been recorded.
• There are extensive and diverse seagrass meadows that provide critically important breeding and nursery habitats for fish, crustaceans and other marine animals.
• Over 370 marine fish species have been recorded, of which 77 are used commercially. These include traditionally fished species such as King George whiting, snook, snapper, garfish, Tommy ruff and Australian salmon, as well as those meeting developing markets – pilchards, ocean jackets, sand crabs, blue crabs and calamari.
• Southern Right Whales regularly visit coastal bays and inlets around South Australia. The Head of the Bight is one of the most significant habitats for the breeding and calving of Southern Right Whales in the world.
• Eight species of seals and sea lions are found in our waters, including the rare Australian sea lion and the New Zealand fur seal, both of which breed here.

(Photo: A Eaton, Coasts and Marine Branch)	(Photo: A Eaton, Coasts and Marine Branch)

Social and Cultural Significance

Our coastal and marine environments are also very important socially and culturally. The coast is recognised as an icon of Australian culture, providing both a principal tourist attraction and an important recreational venue for our residents.

The South Australian coastline is known for its sandy beaches, uncluttered headlands and unpolluted waters and has become widely recognised and valued as a key feature of our high quality of life.

Activities include sailing, swimming, diving, fishing and education. Key locations are metropolitan beaches, Kangaroo Island, the coasts of the Fleurieu, Yorke and Eyre peninsulas, offshore islands and the Great Australian Bight Marine Park.

There are also many maritime heritage sites including shipwrecks, jetties and wharves, and many sites of great Aboriginal significance including the middens and fish traps of the Narrunga people along the western coast of Gulf St Vincent.

For more information on coastal and maritime heritage visit the Heritage section of this site.