Stokes Inlet is an inlet in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.
The inlet is situated 65 kilometres (40 mi) west of Esperance in Stokes National Park and is set is a large river valley with permanent deep water and high dunes located on either side. Thick bushland and paperbark trees surround the inlet and grow down to the waters edge. It is in a largely unmodified condition. The inlet functions primarily as a result of wave energy and is a wave dominated estuary.
Stokes Inlet was named in 1848 by John Septimus Roe, the Surveyor General of Western Australia, while leading a five-man exploration expedition along the coast, commemorating John Lort Stokes' work on HMS Beagle, surveying the Western Australian coast. [1] [2]
The inlet is managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation with a catchment that extends over 100 kilometres (62 mi) inland and is fed by two main rivers, the Young and Lort Rivers. The inlet itself is 10 kilometres (6 mi) long and 2 kilometres (1 mi) wide with an area of 14 square kilometres (5 sq mi), and receives an annual flow of 5 million cubic metres. [3] The central basin has an area of 8.6 square kilometres (3 sq mi) with intertidal flats having an area of approximately 2 square kilometres (1 sq mi). [4]
The mouth of the river is in the middle of Dunster Castle Bay; it is closed by a sandbar that cuts the estuary off from the sea and only opens every few years. As a result, the salinity and water level fluctuate greatly dependent upon the amount of evaporation and river flow. [5]
The aquatic flora of the estuary are dominated by the small green algae Polyphysa peniculus , the stonewort Lamprothamnium papulosum , and the seagrass Ruppia megacarpa . The waterbody of the inlet is fringed with salt water paperbarks with sedges and samphire common along the sandy sections. [6]
Marine species flourish at times when the bar is open; blue manna crabs, juvenile prawns, cockles and mussels have all been identified in the inlet. Many fish species inhabit the estuary, such as the common minnow, hardyheads, gobies, and larger species such as black bream and sea mullet.
Stokes National Park is a national park in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, 538 km south-east of Perth. The National Park is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Esperance on the southern coast.
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately 1,004 kilometres (624 mi). It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in North West Queensland and flows generally north-west through the Gulf Country, across a large, flat clay pan, before entering the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The Shire of Esperance is a local government area in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) south of the town of Kalgoorlie and about 720 kilometres (450 mi) east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 42,547 square kilometres (16,427 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Esperance, where about three-quarters of the Shire's population resides.
The Shire of Ravensthorpe is a local government area in the southern Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, about halfway between the city of Albany and the town of Esperance and about 530 kilometres (329 mi) southeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 13,551 square kilometres (5,232 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Ravensthorpe.
The Oldfield River is an ephemeral river in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia that rises 95 kilometres (59 mi) inland from the South Coast at the edge of the Yilgarn plateau. The river starts at 300 metres (984 ft) above sea level then flows in a south easterly direction crossing the South Coast Highway near Munglinup.
The Young River is a river on the South coast of Western Australia that rises south of the Frank Hann National Park then flows in a south easterly direction for a distance of 95 kilometres (59 mi) before flowing into Stokes Inlet which discharges into the Southern Ocean.
Munglinup is a small town located in the Shire of Ravensthorpe in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia.
Lort River is a river located in the Goldfields-Esperance region and the Eastern Mallee sub-region of Western Australia.
Wilson Inlet is a shallow, seasonally open estuary located on the coast of the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Irwin Inlet is an inlet in the located on the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
The Munglinup River is an ephemeral river in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.
Culham Inlet is an inlet located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The inlet is also referred to as a coastal salt lake or a transient estuary, as the sand bar that prevents it discharging is almost always closed. The wetlands formed by the system are DIWA listed due to their ecological significance.
The Vasse-Wonnerup Estuary is an estuary in the South West region of Western Australia close to the town of Busselton. The estuary is listed with DIWA. It was also recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on 7 June 1990 when an area of 1,115 ha was designated Ramsar Site 484 as an important dry-season habitat for waterbirds. It is also the main part of the 2,038 ha (5,040-acre) Busselton Wetlands Important Bird Area.
Oldfield Estuary is an estuary in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.
Gordon Inlet is an estuarine inlet, located in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. The inlet is at the south west corner of the Fitzgerald River National Park and approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) north west of the town of Bremer Bay.
The Hamersley River is an ephemeral river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
Torbay Inlet is an estuarine inlet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the town of Denmark, Western Australia.
Beaufort Inlet also locally known as Pallinup Estuary is an inlet located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia about 130 kilometres (81 mi) east of Albany.
Oldfield Land District is a land district of Western Australia partly within the Eucla and South-West divisions on the state's south coast. It spans roughly 33°15'S - 34°00'S in latitude and 119°45'E - 121°10'E in longitude.
The Moyle River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia.