Bathurst Channel

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Bathurst Channel
Relief Map of Tasmania.png
Red pog.svg
Bathurst Channel
Location on the south west coast of Tasmania
Location South Western Tasmania
Coordinates 43°20′24″S146°01′12″E / 43.34000°S 146.02000°E / -43.34000; 146.02000
Type Channel
Etymology 3rd Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
Part ofPort Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve
Primary inflows Bathurst Harbour
Primary outflows Port Davey
Basin  countriesAustralia
References [1]

The Bathurst Channel is a narrow offshore stretch of water that links Port Davey with Bathurst Harbour in the South West region of Tasmania, Australia. [2] [3] [4] The Bathurst Channel is contained within the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve, [5] and the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Contents

Features and location

The channel has been studied for estuarine and introduced marine species. [6] [7] [8]

The channel's water is stained red and provides a low light; this allows deeper-water creatures to live in the shallow water. The water is pitch black 6 metres (20 ft) below the surface. The channel attracts researchers and divers because they can observe deep underwater life without travelling thousands of feet with expensive equipment.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Protected areas of Tasmania consist of protected areas located within Tasmania and its immediate onshore waters, including Macquarie Island. It includes areas of crown land managed by Tasmanian Government agencies as well as private reserves. As of 2016, 52% of Tasmania's land area has some form of reservation classification, the majority is managed by the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service. Marine protected areas cover about 7.9% of state waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest National Park</span> National park in Tasmania, Australia

Southwest National Park is an Australian national park located in the south-west of Tasmania, bounded by the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park to the north and the Hartz Mountains National Park to the east. It is a part of a chain of national parks and state reserves that make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Covering an area of 6,183 km2 (2,387 sq mi), it is Tasmania's largest national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Harbour</span> Large inlet on the West Coast of Tasmania

Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately 315 square kilometres (122 sq mi), and has an average depth of 15 metres (49 ft), with deeper places up to 50 metres (160 ft). It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channel's curve. This man-made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow, rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow. A reported Aboriginal name for the harbour is Parralaongatek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Harbour Penal Station</span> Former convict colony on Sarah Island, Tasmania

The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed male convicts, with a small number of women housed on a nearby island. During its 11 years of operation, the penal colony achieved a reputation as one of the harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies. The formal penal station is located on the eight-hectare (twenty-acre) Sarah Island that now operates as a historic site under the direction of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Wilderness</span>

The South West Wilderness of Tasmania, Australia is a remote and inaccessible region of South West Tasmania containing unspoilt scenery, rugged peaks, wild rivers, unique flora and fauna, and a long and rugged coastline. Parts of the wilderness are more than 50 km from the nearest road, so the only access to the area is by foot, air or sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breaksea Islands (Tasmania)</span> Island group in Tasmania, Australia

The Breaksea Islands Group is a group of six islands, in the Southern Ocean, off the southwestern coast of Tasmania, Australia.

Kathleen Island is a steeply cliffed island that lies within Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The island has an area of approximately 11.35 hectares and is contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South West Tasmania</span> Region in Tasmania, Australia

South West Tasmania is a region in Tasmania that has evoked curiosity as to its resources over the duration of European presence on the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service</span> Government body of Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service is the government body responsible for protected areas of Tasmania on public land, such as national parks, historic sites and regional reserves. Historically it has also had responsibility for managing wildlife, including game.

Bathurst Harbour is a shallow bay located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. Bathurst Harbour is contained within the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve, and the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Davey</span> Oceanic inlet of Tasmania, Australia

Port Davey is an oceanic inlet located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia.

The Maugean skate or Port Davey skate is an endangered species of fish in the family Rajidae. It is endemic to Tasmania, only found in the brackish estuarine waters of Macquarie Harbour and Bathurst Harbour. The species was discovered in 1988 by Dr Graham Edgar. It was named in honour of René Maugé, zoologist on the Baudin expedition to Australia, who died in Tasmania in 1802.

The Davey River is a perennial river located in the south-west region of Tasmania, Australia.

The Low Rocky Point is a location on the south west coast of Tasmania and Australia, that is used as a location for weather forecasting. It is almost due west of Hobart, it is south of Point Hibbs and north of South West Cape.

The Big Caroline Rock is an unpopulated island located close to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. Situated near where the mouth of Port Davey meets the Southern Ocean, the 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) island is part of the Swainson Islands Group, and comprises part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.

The Fitzroy Islands comprise a group of four rocky islets that lie within the upper reaches of Payne Bay in Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The islands have a combined area of approximately 0.18 hectares and are contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.

The Mavourneen Rocks is a group of four steep, rocky islets that lie within Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The islets have a combined area of approximately 0.88 hectares and are contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.

Munday Island is a small island that lies between Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, and Bathurst Channel, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The island is contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.

The Port Davey Track, officially the Old Port Davey Track, is a bushwalking track located in the south western region of Tasmania, Australia. The 70-kilometre (43 mi) track traverses remote wilderness within the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site, and is managed as a wilderness walk. The Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service recommend that experienced bushwalkers can take four-to-five days to cover the track in one direction.

James Kelly Basin is a bay inside Port Davey in South West Tasmania, in the Southwest National Park. It lies below Davey Head (346m), and opens into Payne Bay, a northern arm of Port Davey that is west of Bathurst Harbour. It was named after James Kelly, an early explorer of the Tasmanian coastline.

References

  1. "Bathurst Channel (TAS)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  2. Australian Hydrographic Service (2008), Port Davey including Bathurst Channel, Australia - Tasmania (2nd ed.), Australian Hydrographic Service, retrieved 20 January 2013
  3. Australia. Royal Australian Navy. Hydrographic Service (1980), Bathurst Channel (Sheet 1), Tasmania - west coast, Port Davey, Hydrographic Service, R.A.N, retrieved 11 July 2015
  4. Australia. Royal Australian Navy. Hydrographic Service (1983), Bathurst Channel (sheet 2), Tasmania-west coast, Port Davey from a survey by Lieut.-Comm.r Kenneth Mackenzie, R.N., assisted by Lieutenants T. Nixson, R.A.N., D.M. Branson, R.N., G.P. Dixon, R.N., H.M. Australian Surveying Ship "Geranium", 1922, Hydrographic Service, R.A.N, retrieved 11 July 2015
  5. "Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve". Sea Fishing & Aquaculture: Area Restrictions: Marine Reserves. Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmanian Government. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  6. Hirst, AJ; Barrett, NS; Meyer, L; Reid, C (2007), NRM Final Report: A detalied benthic faunal and introduced marine species survey of Port Davey, Bathurst Channel and Bathurst Harbour in SW Tasmania, NRM South, retrieved 20 January 2013
  7. Barrett, N. S.; Oh, E.; Meyer, L.; Jones, D.; Edgar, G. J. (2 November 2010), A biological monitoring survey of reef biota within Bathurst Channel, Southwest Tasmania, University of Tasmania, retrieved 20 January 2013
  8. Barrett, Neville; Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute; Barrett, Neville; Edgar, Graham; Lawler, Miles; Halley, Vanessa (2007), "A quantitative video baseline survey of reef biota and survey of marine habitats within Bathurst Channel, SW Tasmania 2002", Technical Report Series, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, ISBN   978-1-86295-372-7, ISSN   1441-8487

Further reading