Thorny Passage
Famous as a whale watching site, Thorny Passage Marine Park has up to 13 species of whales that gather in the area, including the southern right whale.
The park includes the waters off lower Eyre Peninsula, extending from Frenchman Bluff on the west to Memory Cove on the east. Its varied and deep-water habitats consist of diverse communities of sponges and invertebrates on the hard bottom, and unique underwater sand dune fields, which can rise up to 5m.
Be sure to visit Coffin Bay, a wetland of national importance and an important breeding and calving site for bottlenose and common dolphins. The sheltered bays and inlets of Coffin Bay are also popular fishing havens where you can cast your line from the surf, boats and nearby jetties. Oyster farms also feature predominantly in the area.
If you love diving, then the beauty of the uncommon deep velvet fish, and reef fish such as the western blue groper will not disappoint. Bird watchers can marvel at the shore and seabirds, including the white-bellied sea eagle, that come to the park to breed and feed.
Access to the Thorny Passage Marine Park is from Coffin Bay, Kellidie Bay, Dutton Bay, Farm Beach, Little Douglas, Point Avoid and Sleaford Bay.
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