Great Australian Bight Marine Park — Attraction in South Australia

The coastline of the Great Australian Bight is characterised by cliff faces (up to 60 metres or 200 feet high), surfing beaches and rock platforms, ideal for whale-watching. This is a popular activity during the southern hemisphere winter, when increasing numbers of southern right whales migrate to the region from their summer feeding grounds in the Antarctic. The whales come to the Bight region, especially to the Head of Bight, to calve and breed, and do not feed until they return to the Antarctic.Their numbers were severely depleted by whaling, particularly during the 19th Century, but have since recovered to some extent.

The Nullarbor Plain, which borders much of the length of the Bight's coastline, is a former seabed, uplifted during the Miocene. Consisting of limestone, it is very flat, and has an arid or semi-arid climate with very little rainfall, and high summer temperatures and high evaporation rates. It has no surface drainage, but has a karst drainage system through cave formation in the underlying limestone. North of the Nullarbor lies the Great Victoria Desert, which has an internal drainage system terminating in numerous small salt lakes.

The lack of surface runoff and terrestrial nutrients results in the relatively shallow waters of the Great Australian Bight being generally low in nutrients, and therefore oligotrophic, compared with many other continental shelves which support major fisheries. Seasonal upwelling of deep ocean water along the coast of the Eyre Peninsula in the eastern part of the Bight brings nutrients to the surface waters, with the resulting fertility creating an important...

Epic scenery.. If you go 134km east of Eucla you'll find a track heading for the dunes. Beyond those dunes are the best views of the cliff's. Luckily the second time I went there it wasn't that windy so I stayed the night. There are no facilities there. But you can free camp. Take your own firewood.. EPIC SCENERY... There are tracks all the way along the Nullarbor but this one is probably the closest one to the coast.. easy 1km to the cliffs . The whole coast is amazing... DO...

Great stop to view and photograph the unspoiled coastline. Small admission fee and an easy walk to the cliff edge. Ramps make it an easy trek. The visitor centre has local information of flora and fauna, a small souvenir section and light refreshments. Toilets and picnic table and chairs are...