
Peron Peninsula is a long narrow
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...
located in the
Shark Bay World Heritage site in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...
, at about 25°51' S longitude and 113°30' E latitude. It is some long, running north-northwesterly, located east of
Henri Freycinet Harbour and west of Havre Hamelin and
Faure Island. It is the largest of the Shark Bay peninsulas. Significant settlements include
Denham and
Monkey Mia. An airport (
Shark Bay Airport) is located there.
It is the location of former
Pastoral leases Peron and Nanga stations.
It is the main location of land access to points within the World Heritage site. The northern area contains the
Francois Peron National Park. It is surrounded by the
Shark Bay Marine Park and its lower southeast part is adjacent to the
Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve.
The
Taillefer Isthmus, the narrowest section of the peninsula, is between Nanga and Goulet Bluff - which has
Shell Beach located on the eastern side which lies in the
L'Haridon Bight.
The northernmost point is Cape Peron which has a namesake further south in the metropolitan
Perth
Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...
coastal area.
History
The peninsula is named for French naturalist
François Péron
François Auguste Péron (22 August 1775 – 14 December 1810) was a French naturalist and explorer.
Life
Péron was born in Cérilly, Allier, in 1775, the son of a tailor (not a harness maker as is frequently asserted). Although intended for ...
, who visited the area with the
Geographe expeditions of 1801 and 1803. The peninsula was used as a sheep station from the late 1880s until being purchased by the national government in 1990. In 1919 Peron Peninsula Station had a total area of divided into 25 paddocks and was stocked with 12,000 sheep.
Peron Homestead Artesian Bore
The Peron Historical Homestead is near Denham. It includes a visitor center. Peron Peninsula is part of the Carnarvon Basin, a geological structure lacking permanent fresh surface water. During the 1900s artesian bores were sunk to provide a greater quantity and quality of water. The resulting water comes up hot (35-60 °C) and has high salt and mineral content.
[Tourism website]
References
Further reading
*(1830) ''Account of Peron's Peninsula, in Shark's Bay, Western Australia : with remarks on its capabilities and fitness to receive a small fishing settlement : compiled from various sources by a gentleman in the service of the Hon. East India Company''. From the Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geographical Science, Vol. II, 1830, pp. 249–257.
(available as a photocopy at
Battye Library
The J S Battye Library (more properly known as the J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History) is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia. It stores much of the state's historical records and original publications including books, ...
)
* Thomson, Carolyn (1997) ''Discovering Shark Bay Marine Park and Monkey Mia'' Como, W.A. Department of Conservation and Land Management. page 52 for aspects of Cape Peron
{{AusplacesnamedbyFrench , state=expanded
Peninsulas of Western Australia
Shark Bay