Coffin Bay National Park is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, which is located about 301 km west of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and about 46 km west of

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

. The town of

Coffin Bay Coffin Bay, originally Coffin's Bay, is a town at the southern extremity of the Eyre Peninsula, a wheat growing area of South Australia. At the 2016 census, Coffin Bay had a population of 611. Material was copied from this source, which is avai ...

is near the entrance to the national park. The national park occupies the Coffin Bay Peninsula - a long peninsula with a sheltered bay to its north, coastal dunes, swamps and a coastline which overlooks islands, reefs, limestone cliffs and white surf beaches. To the east of Point Avoid are Almonta and Gunyah Beaches, used for

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

. Reefs extend out to sea from Point Avoid to Golden Island with Price Island further out. There is a camping area at Yangie Bay with camping fees payable on entry to the National Park. Access to the majority of the park's area north of Yangie Bay is via four wheel drive tracks only. The historic former Coffin Bay Whaling Site at Point Sir Isaac lies within the national park and is listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

Wildlife

There is a great variety of wildlife in the national park. Many seabirds can be seen including

white-bellied sea eagle The white-bellied sea eagle (''Haliaeetus leucogaster''), also known as the white-breasted sea eagle, is a large diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Originally described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, it is closely related t ...

s and

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

s as well as various

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...

es and

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. Description The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...

s. The volunteer organisation Friends of Coffin Bay Parks have worked to re-introduce native plants and eradicate feral animals and weeds.

Associated protected areas

Statutory

The waters adjoining the coastline of the national park are within the Thorny Passage Marine Park.

Non-statutory arrangements

The area covered by the national park is also overlapped by the Coffin Bay Important Bird Area, a non-statutory classification determined by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

. This particular IBA supports over 1% of the world populations of

pied A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

and

sooty oystercatcher The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its fea ...

s, as well as significant numbers of

fairy tern The fairy tern (''Sternula nereis'') is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as " Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is " Critically Endangered". There are three subspecies: * Australian f ...

hooded plover The hooded dotterel or hooded plover (''Thinornis cucullatus'') is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to southern Australia, where it inhabits ocean beaches and subcoastal lagoons. There are two recognised subspecies whic ...

western whipbird Western whipbird may refer to the following bird species and subspecies: * '' Psophodes nigrogularis'', the black-throated whipbird ** subspecies: '' Psophodes nigrogularis nigrogularis'', 'western heath' ** subspecies: '' Psophodes nigrogularis ob ...

rock parrot The rock parrot (''Neophema petrophila'') is a species of grass parrot native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1841, it is a small parrot long and weighing with predominantly olive-brown upperparts and more yellowish underparts. Its h ...

s and

blue-breasted fairy-wren The blue-breasted fairywren (''Malurus pulcherrimus''), or blue-breasted wren, is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is non-migratory and endemic to southern Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in So ...

Gallery

Image:Coffin Bay National Park coastal heath.jpg, View over coastal heath Image:22 Yangie Bay 06.JPG, Yangie Bay Image:Coffin Bay National Park Almonta Beach.jpg, Almonta Beach

References

External links

Coffin Bay National Park official webpageCoffin Bay National Park webpage on protected planet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin Bay National Park National parks of South Australia Eyre Peninsula Protected areas established in 1982 1982 establishments in Australia Eyre Yorke Block