Cape Spencer South Australia | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coordinates | 35°18′0″S136°53′0″E / 35.30000°S 136.88333°E Coordinates: 35°18′0″S136°53′0″E / 35.30000°S 136.88333°E | ||||||||
Elevation | 79 m (259 ft) [1] | ||||||||
LGA(s) | Yorke Peninsula Council | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Footnotes | Climate [2] |
Cape Spencer is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the south west tip of Yorke Peninsula in the gazetted locality of Inneston. It was named after George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer by Matthew Flinders during March 1802. It has been the site of an operating navigation aid since 1950 and has been located within the Innes National Park since 1970.
Cape Spencer is located about 125 kilometres (78 miles) south west of the municipal seat of Maitland in the gazetted locality of Inneston. [3] It is the most south westerly point of the Yorke Peninsula coast and defined by Flinders as being the eastern side of the mouth of Spencer Gulf. [4] It is the termination for a pair of coastlines - the western coastline extending from Corny Point in the nouth and the southern coastline extending from Troubridge Point in the east. [5] It is described as appearing ‘as a cone with a ledge of rocks at its base’ when viewed from the south. [1] Cape Spencer is accessible via a walking trail from within the Innes National Park. Access extends to the area around the Cape Spencer Lighthouse where views of both the adjoining coastline and nearby islands are available and the presence of interpretative signage provides information about the locality’s maritime history. [6]
Cape Spencer was formed when the sea reached its present level 7,500 years ago after sea levels started to rise at the start of the Holocene. [7] The cliff line which includes Cape Spencer consists of base strata of both Gleesons Landing Granite and Tourneforte Metadolerite with an overlay of a Bridgewater Formation calcarenite rock. [8] The water adjoining the wave-cut platform at the base of Cape Spencer drops to a maximum depth of 14.8 metres (49 feet). [9]
Cape Spencer was named on 20 March 1802 by Matthew Flinders after George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer who was one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty in office at the time of the planning of the expedition to New Holland, or Terra Australis as Flinders called the continent in his book, A Voyage to Terra Australis. [4] The cape was subsequently also named by the Baudin expedition to Australia as Pointe Mornay or Pointe des Malfaisants (English: 'Point of Evil'). [3]
The current concrete lighthouse was built in 1975 to replace a small automatic beacon erected in 1950. [10] The cape is also the site of a high frequency radar station which is used to collect data about wind direction and wave height. [11]
Cape Spencer has been located within the protected area known as the Innes National Park since the park's declaration in 1970. [12] As of 2012, the waters surrounding its shores are within the boundaries of a habitat protection zone within the Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park. [13]
Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park, formerly Innes National Park, is an IUCN-designated protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the southwest tip of Yorke Peninsula about 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of the state capital of Adelaide. It is a popular destination for camping, bushwalking, fishing, surfing and scuba diving.
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and Eyre Peninsula in the west to Cape Spencer and Yorke Peninsula in the east.
Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Spencer Gulf, from which it is separated by Yorke Peninsula. On its eastern side the gulf is bordered by the Adelaide Plains and the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Sibsey Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located in Spencer Gulf within the Sir Joseph Banks Group. It was discovered on 21 February 1802 by Matthew Flinders. Currently, the island is uninhabited.
Investigator Strait is a body of water in South Australia lying between the Yorke Peninsula, on the Australian mainland, and Kangaroo Island. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his ship, HMS Investigator, on his voyage of 1801–1802. It is bordered by the Gulf St Vincent in the northeast.
The Investigator Group is an archipelago in South Australia that consists of Flinders Island and five island groups located off the western coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It is named after HMS Investigator by her commander, Matthew Flinders when he explored the area in 1802. The Group lies within the Great Australian Bight. All the islands except Flinders Island, and a part of Pearson Island, are within the Investigator Group Wilderness Protection Area and the Waldegrave Islands Conservation Park.
The Backstairs Passage is a strait in South Australia lying between Fleurieu Peninsula on the Australian mainland and Dudley Peninsula on the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. The western edge of the passage is a line from Cape Jervis on Fleurieu Peninsula to Kangaroo Head on Kangaroo Island. The Pages, a group of islets, lie in the eastern entrance to the strait. About 14 km wide at its narrowest, it was formed by the rising sea around 13,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene era, when it submerged the land connecting what is now Kangaroo Island with the Fleurieu Peninsula. Backstairs Passage was named by Matthew Flinders whilst he and his crew on HMS Investigator were exploring and mapping the coastline of South Australia in 1802.
Cape Catastrophe is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the southeast tip of Jussieu Peninsula on Eyre Peninsula. It is one of the natural features named by the British navigator Matthew Flinders in memory of the eight crew who were lost from a cutter that capsized sometime after being launched from HM Sloop Investigator to search for water on 21 February 1802. Flinders also nominated the headland as being the western point of the mouth of Spencer Gulf. It is currently located within the gazetted locality of Lincoln National Park and the protected area known as the Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area.
Little Island is an island in the Australian state of South Australia located in Spencer Gulf off the east coast of Jussieu Peninsula on Eyre Peninsula approximately 28 kilometres (17 mi) south-east of Port Lincoln. It was named by Matthew Flinders in memory of John Little who was one of the eight crew lost from a cutter that capsized sometime after being launched from HM Sloop Investigator to search for water on 21 February 1802. Since 2004, the island has been part of the Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area.
Smith Island is an island located in Spencer Gulf off the east coast of Jussieu Peninsula on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia approximately 32 km (20 mi) south-east of Port Lincoln. It was named by Matthew Flinders in memory of William Smith who was one of the eight crew lost from a cutter that capsized sometime after being launched from HM Sloop Investigator to search for water on 21 February 1802. Since 2004, the island has been part of the Memory Cove Wilderness Protection Area.
Anxious Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula about 275 kilometres west north-west of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders on 21 February 1802. It is one of four ‘historic bays’ located on the South Australian coast.
Troubridge Hill is a hill on the south coast of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia located in the locality of Honiton about 13.5 kilometres south west of Edithburgh and about 3.8 kilometres west of Troubridge Point. It was discovered, reported as being a ’hummock upon this low part ’ and named by Matthew Flinders on 24 March 1802 after Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet. Since 1980, it has been the site of an operating lighthouse known as the Troubridge Hill Lighthouse. Its adjoining coastline borders a protected area of the same name - the Troubridge Hill Aquatic Reserve.
Pondalowie Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the west coast of the south-west tip of Yorke Peninsula in Spencer Gulf about 12 kilometres west of Marion Bay. The coastline of Pondalowie Bay is both within the gazetted locality of Inneston and the Innes National Park.
Cape Donington is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the most northerly part of the Jussieu Peninsula on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula in about 10 kilometres east of the city of Port Lincoln.
West Cape is a headland located on the west coast of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia in the gazetted locality of Inneston about 14 kilometres west of the town of Marion Bay. It is the most westerly point of Yorke Peninsula. Since 1970, the headland has been located within the Innes National Park while the waters adjoining its shoreline have been located within the Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park since 2012. Since 1980, it has been the site of a navigation aid in the form of a lighthouse.
Point Whidbey is a headland located at the southern western extremity of both Coffin Bay Peninsula and Avoid Bay on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia about 34 kilometres west of the town of Coffin Bay. It was described in 2012 as being “fronted by low cliffs and rises to a round hill, 62 metres high, about 1 mile inland.” It is one of the features named by Matthew Flinders in February 1802 after his friend and Royal Navy officer, Joseph Whidbey. The point is currently located within the boundaries of the protected area, the Coffin Bay National Park.
Point Avoid is a headland located at the south eastern extremity of both Coffin Bay Peninsula and Avoid Bay on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia about 15 kilometres south west of the town of Coffin Bay. It was described in 2017 as being “fronted on all of its seaward sides by limestone cliffs, about 46 metres high, which change abruptly to sand hills E of its S(outhern) extremity.” It was named by Matthew Flinders on 17 February 1802 to acknowledge the navigational hazards present around its shores. The point is currently located within the boundaries of the protected area, the Coffin Bay National Park.
Cape Radstock is a headland located on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia about 45 kilometres south south-east of the town of Streaky Bay and about 9.3 kilometres (5 nmi) south east of Point Labatt. The cape is both the north western extremity of Anxious Bay and the southern extremity of the Calca Peninsula. The cape is described as being “steep and bold” and where the cliffs reach a height of 135 metres, being the high point of a line of cliffs starting at Point Labatt in the west and from within Anxious Bay in the east. It was named by Matthew Flinders on 9 February 1802 after William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock. Since 2012, the waters adjoining its shoreline are within a habitat protection zone in the West Coast Bays Marine Park.
Slade Point is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in the locality of Sceale Bay about 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of the town of Streaky Bay. The point is the northern extremity of Searcy Bay and the southern extremity of a promontory that separates Searcy Bay in the south east from Sceale Bay in the north west. While it is within the coastline first charted by Matthew Flinders on 9 February 1802, it is not named by Flinders possibly due to the coastline being obscured by a thick haze. Slade Point was named in 1908 after “the late Mr. W. E. Slade” who served as the Assistant Engineer of Harbours in the South Australian Government. The cape has adjoined the boundary of the Cape Blanche Conservation Park since 2012 while the waters adjoining its shoreline have been within a habitat protection zone in the West Coast Bays Marine Park also since 2012.
Cape Blanche is a headland located on the west coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia about 25 kilometres south south-west of the town of Streaky Bay and about 4 kilometres west of the town of Sceale Bay.