Attractions – Natural
Point Cook Marine Sanctuary
Point Cook Road, Point Cook, Victoria, 30
Website: www.parkweb.vic.gov.au
The Point Cooke Marine Sanctuary, which is protected
from the bustle of the suburbs by coastal dunes and adjacent wetlands,
consists of a rock platform, isolated boulders, soft sands and
mud and supports an array of algae, benthic (bottom dwelling)
fauna, invertebrates and fish. The significant wetlands of the
adjoining Point Cooke Coastal Park are part of the Port Phillip
(Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar wetland site.
The principal plant on the reef is the bushy
brown seaweed, Sargassum, which harbours innumerable tiny animals
and plants between its leaf-like fronds. Prickly sea urchins are
abundant near crevices, while the exposed sections of rock support
a range of life including masses of worm tubes, carpets of anemones
and meadows of tufting coralline and filamentous algae. In darker
corners, sponges grow plentifully.
Small sharks and skates patrol the surrounding
eelgrass beds and muddy seafloor, feasting off the bivalves that
lie deep in the sediment. In late summer, swarms of jellyfish
pulsate over the reefs, clearing the water of the microscopic
plants and animals that build up in the nutrient rich environment.
Bryozoans, sea stars, ascidians, bivalves, crustaceans, molluscs,
sharks, skates and many other species of fish also occur in the
area.
Point Cooke includes a typical example of the
very shallow western shore of Port Phillip, with narrow beaches
of sand and mud. The combination of rocky, sandy and muddy habitats
present supports a fascinating range of marine life. Off the coast,
a series of low basalt reefs rise from the muddy seafloor, the
remains of a larval flow that poured out across the plains thousands
of years ago.
For
more information on Point Cook Marine Sanctuary, including activities
and facilities, please click here.
BACK
|
