HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Gippsland Lakes are a network of coastal
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s,
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found ...
es and
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...
s in
East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres (14%) of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: East Gippsland (St ...
, Victoria,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
covering an overall area of about between the rural towns of
Lakes Entrance Lakes Entrance is a seaside resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Ent ...
, Bairnsdale and Sale. The largest of the lakes are Lake Wellington (
Gunai language The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai ( ) language, also spelt Gunnai, Kurnai, Ganai, Gaanay, or Kurnay ) is an Australian Aboriginal dialect cluster of the Gunaikurnai people in Gippsland in south-east Victoria. Bidawal was either a divergent di ...
: ''Murla''), Lake King (Gunai: ''Ngarrang'') and Lake Victoria (Gunai: ''Toonallook''). The lakes are collectively fed by the Avon, Thomson, Latrobe,
Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territ ...
, Nicholson and Tambo Rivers, and drain into the
Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island states and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Bo ...
through a short
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
about southwest of Lakes Entrance town centre.


History

The Gippsland Lakes were formed by two principal processes. The first is
river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rare ...
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...
deposition of sediment brought in by the rivers which flow into the lakes. Silt deposited by this process forms into long jetties which can run many kilometres into a lake, as exemplified by the
Mitchell River silt jetties The Mitchell River silt jetties are an unusually long, thin landform in the Gippsland Lakes region in Victoria, Australia. A type of digitate delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River d ...
that run into Lake King. The second process is the action of sea current in Bass Strait which created the Ninety Mile Beach and cut off the river deltas from the sea. Once the lakes were closed off a new cycle started, whereby the water level of the lakes would gradually rise until the waters broke through the
barrier beach Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...
and the level would drop down until it equalised with sea-level. Eventually the beach would close-off the lakes and the cycle would begin anew. Sometimes it would take many years before a new channel to the sea was formed and not necessarily in the same place as the last one. In 1889, a wall was built to fix the position of a naturally occurring channel between the lakes and the ocean at
Lakes Entrance Lakes Entrance is a seaside resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Ent ...
, to stabilise the water level, create a harbour for fishing boats and open up the lakes to shipping. This entrance needs to be dredged regularly, or the same process that created the Gippsland Lakes would render the entrance too shallow for seagoing vessels to pass through. Due to flooding in 2011, Gippsland Lakes experienced blooms of bioluminescent ''
Noctiluca scintillans ''Noctiluca scintillans'' is a marine species of dinoflagellate that can exist in a green or red form, depending on the pigmentation in its vacuoles. It can be found worldwide, but its geographical distribution varies depending on whether it i ...
''.


Overview


Tourism

The Gippsland Lakes provide a major hub for tourism, particularly for recreational boating and fishing enthusiasts. The lakes network can be explored by cruise, water taxi, or boat and kayak hire. On the fringes of the lakes are several tourist towns that swell to support the tourist trade, particularly in the summer months.
Lakes Entrance Lakes Entrance is a seaside resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Ent ...
is the largest of the towns on the lakes with a population of 4,500. The town is well serviced with resorts, hotels and facilities. It is located with easy access to both the lakes network and the surf beach on Ninety Mile Beach, which is patrolled each summer. Metung is a small village located on the tip of a peninsula sitting in the Gippsland Lakes, surrounded almost completely by water. It is an upmarket tourist destination with many dining options and artisan galleries. Much of Paynesville’s accommodation and infrastructure are located on the network of canals. One of the key attractions is
Raymond Island Raymond Island (Gunai language, Gunai/Kurnai language: Bunjil-baul) is a small island in the Gippsland Lakes in eastern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, about from Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne. The island is approximately long b ...
, known for its koala population. The diversity of the brine waters of the lakes, surf beaches along Ninety Mile Beach and fresh water streams that feed the lakes, make the Gippsland Lakes a popular fishing destination. Local fish varieties include bream, mullet, flathead, luderick and trevally. Paynesville, Lakes Entrance and Metung all offer a number of jetties, boat ramps and berthing facilities.


Environment

The lakes support numerous species of wildlife and there exist two protected areas within:
The Lakes National Park The Lakes National Park is a national park in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located approximately east of the capital city of Melbourne. Location and features The park is set on the east shore of the ...
and Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park. The Gippsland Lakes wetlands are protected by the international
Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It ...
on wetlands. There are also approximately 400 indigenous flora species and 300 native fauna species. Three plants, two of them being
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...
species, are listed as endangered. The numbers of
southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
s and
humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...
s using the Lake Entrance area show increases in recent years, as the populations have started to recover from illegal hunts by the Soviet Union with help from Japan in 1960s-1970s.


Burrunan dolphins

The lakes are home to about 50 of the recently described species of
bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the comm ...
, the Burrunan dolphin (''Tursiops australis''). The other 150 or so of this rare species are to be found in Port Phillip.


Birds

The wetlands provide habitat for about 20,000 waterbirds – including birds from as far afield as
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
and
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...
. The lakes have been identified by
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
as an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...
(IBA) because they regularly support over 1% of the global populations of
black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon ...
s,
chestnut teal The chestnut teal (''Anas castanea'') is a dabbling duck found in Australia. It is protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Taxonomy The chestnut teal was described by the English naturalist Thomas Campbell Eyton in 1838 under ...
s and musk ducks, as well as many fairy terns.


Photo


See also

* Banksia Swamp *
Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park The Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park is a coastal park in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The park is located approximately east of the capital city of Melbourne. Location and features The park was established in April 1979 a ...


References


External links

*
Official East Gippsland tourism website

Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park
webpage at
Parks Victoria Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia. Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria A ...

Gippsland Coastal Board

The Lakes National Park & Gippsland Lakes Coastal Park Plan

Gippsland Ports Authority
website
Gippsland Lakes Ministerial Advisory Committee
website * {{Ramsar sites in Australia Lakes of Victoria (Australia) Ramsar sites in Australia Regions of Victoria (Australia) Important Bird Areas of Victoria (Australia) East Gippsland Places with bioluminescence