The Bunurong Marine National Park () is a

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

marine national park located off the coast of

Cape Paterson Cape Paterson () is a cape and seaside village located near the town of Wonthaggi, south-east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the disc ...

in the

South Gippsland South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promon ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. The marine national park is located about southwest of and about off the coastline. The coastal waters protect a range of habitats including intertidal reefs, subtidal rocky reefs, algal gardens and seagrass beds. The waters are cool, akin to Victoria’s central and western coasts. However, they are relatively protected from south-westerly swells due to the location of far away King Island,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The Bunurong Marine National Park is an outstretching middle section of the

Bunurong Marine Park The Bunurong Marine and Coastal Park () collectively are a marine park and a coastal park located along the reef and coast of Harmers Haven, Cape Paterson and Inverloch in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Collectively, the ...

. Both parks draw their name from the

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...

Bunurong The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...

people who are the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

of the land and water in the region.

Etymology

The Bunurong parks are named after the Bunurong Aboriginal people whom were custodians of this stretch of coast for thousands of years prior to

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

settlement. The Boakoolawal clan lived in the Kilcunda area south of the Bass River, and the Yowenjerre were west of the Tarwin River along what is now the Bunurong Marine and Coastal Parks near

Wonthaggi Wonthaggi is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsl ...

Middens A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofac ...

containing charcoal and shellfish mark the location of their

campsites A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using ten ...

along the coast.

Features

The principal features of the park are the striking rock formations including the large rock structure called Eagles Nest, located adjacent to the coastline at the eastern end of the marine national park. Eagles Nest also resembles the top half of a map of Australia. Other attractions include Flat Rocks where there are large

rockpool A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

s for rockpool rambling and direct access from Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road. The Bunurong Marine National Park is accessed at many different points along this coast, a popular one being near Cape Paterson

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

on Surf Beach Road as it has a modified rockpool for swimming. Direct and more difficult access to the marine national park is via car parks off Cape Paterson-Inverloch Road. Exploring,

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

are popular. There are boat launching facilities at Inverloch on

Anderson Inlet Anderson Inlet (Boonwurrung: ''Toluncan''), sometimes incorrectly referred to as Andersons Inlet, is a shallow and dynamic estuary in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia where the Tarwin River enters Bass Strait. It forms a almost enclosed ...

. Australia’s first dinosaur bone, the Cape Paterson Claw, was discovered in 1903 by William Ferguson at what is now Bunurong Marine Park at Eagles Nest beach in Inverloch. Since then more than bones and teeth of small dinosaurs, mammals, birds, turtles and fish have been excavated. There is a dinosaur exhibition at the Inverloch Shell Museum.

Ecology

Together with the Bunurong Marine Park, the Bunurong Marine National Park supports many marine animals including seastars, featherstars, crabs, snails, 87 species of fish, whales and seals. It has the highest recorded diversity of intertidal and subtidal

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

in eastern Victoria. The range of seaweed species is large.

Restrictions

It is prohibited to kill or take any matter (i.e., catch fish,

collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...

seashells A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

or kill or take any sea or land creature, living or dead) from the Bunurong Marine National Park, but fishing (only with a rod) is permitted in the Bunurong Marine Park, which is located adjacent to the marine national park.

References

External links