Lacepede Bay (french: Baie Lacépède) is a bay 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 on the state's south-east coast about northwest of

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

and about southeast 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 ...

. It was named in 1802 by the Baudin expedition of 1800-03 after

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

, the French naturalist. It is one of four ‘historic bays’ located on the South Australian coast.

Extent & description

Lacepede Bay lies between a locality known as Granite Rocks at its northern extremity and

Cape Jaffa Cape Jaffa is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located at the south end of Lacepede Bay on the state's south east coast about south west of the town centre of Kingston SE. The cape is described as being "a low sandy point" ...

at its southern extremity on the south-east coast of South Australia. The bay is described as:

The sandy shore is backed by sandhills, gradually decreasing in height, for a distance of S
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of Granite Rocks. Kingston is situated on the S
uth UTH or Uth may refer to: Universities * University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston * University of Texas at Houston (School of Public Health, Medical School, Dental Branch, ...) * University of Thessaly, Greek University * Universidad Tec ...
side of the entrance to Maria Creek, at the head of the bay. Between Kingston and Cape Jaffa, the land is low and swampy, with a wooded bank behind the sandy beach; there is a prominent white sand patch on the bank above the beach, SW of Kingston.

Lacepede Bay is one of four bays on the South Australian coast considered by the

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

to be a ‘historic bay’ under the ''Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973'' and was proclaimed as such in 1987 and again in 2006 and 2016 with the result that the mouth of the bay is on the territorial seas baseline and the waters within the bay are

internal waters According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes wat ...

as per the definition used in

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

European discovery

Lacepede Bay was named in 1802 by Peron and Freycinet of the Baudin expedition of 1800-03 after Bernard Germain de Lacépède, the French naturalist.

Ports and other settlements

The following settlements are located on its shores: Kingston, SE and

. Both settlements have port infrastructure consisting of

jetties 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 while Cape Jaffa has a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

Protected areas

The following

protected areas 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 ...

are located within the bay’s waters or adjoin its extent: the

Upper South East 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 ...

and the

Butchers Gap Conservation Park Butcher Gap Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Limestone Coast of South Australia overlooking Lacepede Bay about south of the town of Kingston SE. The conservation park was proclaimed under the ''National Parks and Wildlife A ...

References

{{Bays of South Australia, state=collapsed Bays of South Australia Limestone Coast