Germein Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

in the Australian state of

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 ...

located at the northern end

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...

on the gulf's east coast to the immediate north of the city of

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South ...

. Its extent includes the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

known as ‘Port Pirie’ and the former port of

Port Germein Port Germein is a small sea-side town in the Australian state of South Australia located about north of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide and about north of the city of Port Pirie on the eastern side of South Australia's Spenc ...

. Since 2012, the majority of the bay has been within the

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 ...

known as the

Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

Description

Germein Bay is located in South Australia at the northern end of Spencer Gulf on the gulf's east coast to the immediate north of the city of Port Pirie. It lies between the headland of Point Jarrold at its southern extremity and Ward Spit, a

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

exposed at low tide, which extends west from Ward Point on the mainland at its northern extremity. The bay's south coastline consists of “thick

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s with partially-flooded land behind; it is bordered by drying sand and mud flats, which dry for a distance of .” The mangroves extend along the east side of the bay up to the southern side of a feature known both as

Weeroona Island Weeroona Island is a 77 ha island in the Australian state of South Australia located in Germein Bay, Spencer Gulf between the city of Port Pirie and town of Port Germein. It features the wreck of the ''York'', coastal shacks, sandy beaches and ...

and as Mount Ferguson. The western side of Weeroona Island and the remainder of the coastline of the bay (not including Ward Spit) are “free of mangroves and dominated by low energy beaches fronted by wide sand flats.”SLSA, 2013 The bay's coastline includes the following settlements - the city of

on the west and south sides of the estuary of the Port Pirie River,

on Weeroona Island in the south-east corner of the bay and

in the north-east corner of the bay. The bay is described in an American source as being “fouled by numerous shoals, banks, and shallow depths.” The middle of the bay is occupied by a shoal called Cockle Spit which is exposed at low tide. Water depths within the bay are less than with exception to the part of the bay between Cockle Spit and Ward Spit in the bay's northern side where depths are greater than with a charted maximum depth of .

History

The bay is reported as being named after John Germein, a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

employed by the South Australian government during the 19th century and a brother of Benjamin Germein.

Port

Official extent of harbor and port

A portion of the bay and some waters to its immediate west have been declared under the ''Harbors and Navigation Regulations 2009'' both as a '

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

' and as a

known respectively as the 'Harbor of Port Pirie' and as 'Port Pirie'. The 'harbor' is enclosed by a line from Ward Point in the northeast to a point located in Spencer Gulf to the west about north-west of Mount Ferguson and then to a point in the south on the south coast of the bay immediately west of Port Pirie. The port consists of part of the Port Pirie River, the channel extending north to the Port Germein jetty and the channel extending west from the jetty to the middle of Spencer Gulf and the western limit of the harbor.

Approach to port facility

Ships need to pass through the bay in order to reach to the port facility at Port Pirie. This is achieved by entering the bay on its northern side where the water is the deepest. This passage is known as the ‘northern channel’. At a point between Cockle Spit and the jetty at Port Germein, a dredged channel needs be entered in order to proceed in a southerly direction to the estuary of the Port Pirie River where berths are located. This channel is known as the ‘Port Pirie shipping channel’.

Port infrastructure

Port infrastructure within the bay consists of a

port facility A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

, a range of

navigation aid Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

s, a

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

and a number of

boat ramp A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

s. The port facility which is located in the Port Pirie River consists of eight berths catering both for ships up to in length and the bulk loading of materials such as acid, grain and ores such as lead and coal. The facility is managed by

Flinders Ports Flinders Ports Pty Limited is a company incorporated in 2001 that manages seven of South Australia's ten ports fronting the Great Australian Bight, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent. It is the state's largest port operator, employing more than 800 ...

. Navigation aids located within the bay consist of lit beacons along the alignment of both the northern channel and the Port Pirie shipping channel, flashing lights on both the Port Germein jetty and the south side of Weeroona Island and a number of buoys and other markers in the southern side of the bay to identify specific navigation hazards. A jetty is located at Port Germein which was originally constructed in 1881 for use as a wharf for loading ships and which is now used for recreational activities such as fishing.Collins, 2005, pages 63-65 Boat ramps are located (from south to north) in the Port Pirie River in the suburbs of Solomontown and Port Pirie, on Weeroona Island and at Port Germein.

Protected area status

The part of the bay's extent which has not declared to be a port under state law has been occupied by the Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park since 2012.

Citations and references

Citations

References

* * * * * {{Bays of South Australia, state=collapsed Bays of South Australia Spencer Gulf