Cape Blanche

Last updated

Cape Blanche
Australia South Australia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cape Blanche
Coordinates: 33°01′05″S134°08′24″E / 33.01806°S 134.14000°E / -33.01806; 134.14000
Country Australia
State South Australia
LGA
Location
Elevation
[1]
94 m (308 ft)

Cape Blanche is a headland located on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) south-south-west of the town of Streaky Bay and about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) west of the town of Sceale Bay. [2] The headland rises to an elevation of 94 metres and overlooks the waters of the Great Australian Bight. [1]

Contents

History

The coastline in the vicinity of Cape Blanche was first charted by Matthew Flinders on 9 February 1802 during his circumnavigation of Australia aboard HMS Investigator. Flinders did not name the cape, possibly because the coastline was obscured by a thick haze at the time of his passage. [3]

The cape was subsequently named during the governorship of Richard Graves MacDonnell, the sixth Governor of South Australia (1855–1862). It is reported as being one of sixteen geographic features in South Australia named after Blanche Ann Skurray, MacDonnell's wife. [4] [5] Other features named for Lady MacDonnell include Blanchetown on the Murray River and Blanche Port, the inner harbour of Streaky Bay. [5]

Conservation

Cape Blanche and its surrounds are protected within two overlapping conservation designations established in 2012.

Cape Blanche Conservation Park

The cape lies within the Cape Blanche Conservation Park, proclaimed on 9 February 2012 under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 . [6] The park was established to protect important breeding habitat for the eastern osprey (Pandion cristatus) and white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), as well as a diverse range of flora including the West Coast mintbush (Prostanthera calycina). [6] The park also provides habitat for threatened shorebirds and migratory birds, including the hooded plover (Thinornis rubricollis), sooty oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus), and sanderling (Calidris alba). [6]

West Coast Bays Marine Park

The waters adjoining the cape's shoreline lie within a sanctuary zone of the West Coast Bays Marine Park, also established in 2012. [7] The marine park's sanctuary zones protect exposed cliff shoreline, heavy limestone or calcarenite reef habitats, and seagrass meadows that serve as nursery areas for fish and invertebrate species. [8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (DMH) (1985), The Waters of South Australia: a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs, Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia, pp. charts 39 & 41, ISBN   978-0-7243-7603-2
  2. ↑ "Search for feature SA0007257 (Cape Blanche (SA))". Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Flinders, Matthew (1966) [1814]. A Voyage to Terra Australis: Undertaken for the Purpose of Completing the Discovery of that Vast Country, and Prosecuted in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803, in His Majesty's Ship the Investigator. Adelaide: Libraries Board of South Australia. p. 221. LCCN   66070225. OCLC   4565366. OL   38607138M. Wikidata   Q133875246.
  4. ↑ "The Manning Index – Blanche Cup". State Library of South Australia. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  5. 1 2 Manhood, C. C. "MacDonnell, Sir Richard Graves (1814–1881)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . Australian National University . Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "National Parks and Wildlife (Cape Blanche Conservation Park) Proclamation 2012". South Australian Legislation. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  7. ↑ "West Coast Bays Marine Park Management Plan 2012" (PDF). Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. 2012. p. 23. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "West Coast Bays Marine Park – Preliminary Sanctuary Zone Scenario" (PDF). South Australian Government. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.