Maupertuis Bay (french: Baie Maupertuis) 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 south-west coastline of

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

. It faces to the south-west and extends for a distance of about from an unnamed headland in the north-west to

Cape du Couedic Cape du Couedic is a headland in the Australian state of South Australia located on the southwest tip of Kangaroo Island in the locality of Flinders Chase. It was named after a French naval officer, , by the Baudin expedition to Australia dur ...

in the south-east. Its coastline is located within the locality of Flinders Chase. Rivers draining into the bay includes the Rocky River which rises from within a catchment located in both the

Flinders Chase National Park Flinders Chase National Park (formerly Flinders Chase) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the west end of Kangaroo Island about west-south west of the state capital of Adelaide and west of the municipal ...

and the

Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area is a protected area located on the west end of Kangaroo Island in South Australia about west of Kingscote. It was established in 1993 on land previously part of the Flinders Chase National Park. ...

. ''Maupertuis Bay'' was named after mathematician and philosopher

Pierre Louis Maupertuis Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (; ; 1698 – 27 July 1759) was a French mathematician, philosopher and man of letters. He became the Director of the Académie des Sciences, and the first President of the Prussian Academy of Science, at the ...

by the French explorer

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

. On 24 April 1899, the Scottish

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

Loch Sloy ''Loch Sloy'' was a Scottish sailing barque that operated between Great Britain and Australia from the late 19th century until 1899. Her name was drawn from Loch Sloy, a freshwater loch which lies to the north of the Burgh of Helensburgh, ...

'' was wrecked off the coast from Maupertuis Bay resulting in the deaths of all but three of its 32 crew and passengers. Since 2012, the waters of the bay have been located within a "habitat protection zone" with the

Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park __NOTOC__ Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park (formerly Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is a marine protected area located south of South Australia in waters within the Australian Exclusive economic zone to the south-west ...

which is managed by the Government of South Australia.

References

{{AusplacesnamedbyFrench , state=collapsed Bays of Kangaroo Island

See also

References