Coastal regions of Western Australia

Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in Australia, at 10,194 km or 12,889 km. It is a significant portion of the coastline of Australia, which is 35,877 km.
The earliest full charting of the coastline occurred during exploration in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
The coastline has some features or organisms that are found on the entire length, while some others are specific to particular coastal regions.
Various government map posters have been created over time, which have examples of coastal form, or types of coast such as the 1984 map with photos.

Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA)

The IMCRA has offshore regions delineated in a systematic appraisal of ecology and geography.

Coastal regions used in weather reports

Standard Bureau of Meteorology reports include the following reference points for coastal weather reports:

North Kimberley Coast: WA/NT border (or to Kuri Bay

General coastal regions

There are groupings for wider regions that are based very close to the land regions; one made in the 1980s has 8 coastal regions, while the 2003 Coastal Planning and Management Manual has five regions with component sections:

Kimberley Coast: Northern Territory / Western Australia border to Broome
Canning: Broome to Port Hedland
Pilbara Coast: Port Hedland to Onslow
Coral Coast or Gascoyne region – Onslow to Kalbarri
Kalbarri to Cape Naturaliste: which includes, Batavia Coast, the Central West also known as the Turquoise Coast and another further south known at the Sunset Coast
South West Capes, or simply Capes Region: Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin
South Coast: Cape Leeuwin to Israelite Bay – incorporates the coastal region between Cape Leeuwin and Windy Harbour, usually considered part of the south west
South Coast Region or the South East: Israelite Bay to the Western Australia / South Australian border

Fisheries bioregions

Under the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 there are four main regions on the Western Australian coast.

North Coast : from the Western Australian and Northern Territory border to 114° 50' E 21° 46' S, just west of the mouth of the Ashburton River
Gascoyne Coast: from 114° 50' E 21° 46' S, just west of the mouth of the Ashburton River Mouth to 27° S – about halfway between Kalbarri and Denham
West Coast: from 27° S: about halfway between Kalbarri and Denham south to 115 ° 30' E – Black Point east of Cape Leeuwin
South Coast: from 115 ° 30' E: Black Point east of Cape Leeuwin, to the South Australian Border

Features

The coastal regions include a range of beaches, cliffs, and coastline features that are dependent upon the underlying geology; the geological provinces have direct relationship to the coastal forms:

Eucla Basin – Eucla – Israelite Bay – Limestone
Yilgarn craton – Point Malcolm – Cape Arid and Point Hood to Point D'Entrecasteaux
Bremer Basin – Israelite Bay – Point D'Entrecasteaux
Perth Basin – Augusta – Murchison River
Carnarvon Basin – Murchison River – Cape Preston
Pilbara craton – Cape Preston – Port Hedland
Canning Basin – Port Hedland – King Sound
Kimberley Basin – Kimberley Coast
Bonaparte Basin – Cambridge Gulf

Gulfs

Sounds

Specifically referring to Sound (geography)

Archipelagoes and island groups

Aquatic flora

The Western Australian coastline has the greatest diversity of seagrasses in the world, and the meadows they form are among the largest on earth.

Amphibolis antarctica, Wireweed, Sea Nymph
Amphibolis griffithii
Halophila australis
Halophila decipiens
Halophila ovalis, Paddle Weed, Sea Wrack
Heterozostera tasmanica
Posidonia angustifolia
Posidonia australis, Fireball Weed
Posidonia coriacea
Posidonia denhartogii
Posidonia robertsoniae
Posidonia sinuosa
Syringodium isoetifolium
Thalassodendron pachyrhizum

Flora

Rippey, Elizabeth and Rowland, Barbara Coastal Plants: Perth and the south-west region Second Edition, Crawley, W.A. University of Western Australia Press.

Conferences

WA State Coastal Conference
Title 3rd WA State Coastal Conference, Mandurah – Bunbury – Busselton, November 2005 : coastal solutions : balancing the waves of change : program and papers. Canning Bridge, W.A. : Promaco Conventions Pty Ltd, 2005.

Locations

Murray, Ian and Marion Hercock Where on the Coast is That? Victoria Park, Western Australia. Hesperian Press.

Government reports

Department of Conservation and Land Management, 1994: A Representative Marine Reserves
System for Western Australia: Report of the Marine Parks and Reserves Selection Working Group.
Government of Western Australia, 1998: New Horizons: the Way Ahead in Marine Conservation and Management.
Government of Western Australia, 2002b: Focus on the Future: the Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy, Consultation Draft.
Government of Western Australia, 2002c: A Biodiversity Conservation Act for Western Australia, Consultation Paper.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2001: Coastal Zone Management Policy for Western Australia, for public comment.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2002: Coastal Planning Program – Status of Coastal Planning in Western Australia 2001/02.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2003a: Statement of Planning Policy No. 2.6: StateCoastal Planning Policy.
Western Australian Planning Commission, 2003b: Coastal Planning and Management Manual