Beaufort Inlet also locally known as Pallinup Estuary is an
inlet
An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Overview
In marine geogra ...
located in the
Great Southern region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
about east of
Albany.
The inlet functions mostly as a result of
wave energy
Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC).
Waves are generated by wind p ...
and is a wave dominated
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
.
The estuary is in a highly modified condition as a result of substantial clearing within the catchment and is
eutrophied and prone to
fish kill
The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (2005) ''Plant Management in Fl ...
s.
Covering a total area of , with the central basin having an area of the inlet is fed with waters from the
Pallinup River
Pallinup River is a river located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It was previously known as Salt River.
The Pallinup rises 10 km southeast of Broomehill, and flows in a southeasterly direction toward the coast passin ...
(Salt River).
The inlet holds a volume of and is enclosed by a long sandbar that opens periodically at intervals of several years.
[ ]
References
Great Southern (Western Australia)
Inlets of Western Australia
South coast of Western Australia
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