Shallow Inlet

Shallow Inlet is a marine inlet, opening onto Waratah Bay on the western side of the Yanakie Isthmus in South Gippsland, Victoria, south-eastern Australia. It lies close to the small holiday communities of Sandy Point and Yanakie, as well as to Wilsons Promontory and the Wilsons Promontory National Park.

Shallow Inlet
A map of Victoria with a mark indicating the location of Shallow Inlet
A map of Victoria with a mark indicating the location of Shallow Inlet
Shallow Inlet
Location in Victoria
LocationWilsons Promontory, South Gippsland, Victoria
Coordinates38°48′28″S 146°08′56″E[1]
Primary outflowsWaratah Bay
Basin countriesAustralia
Frozennever
SettlementsSandy Point; Yanakie

Description

The inlet is a shallow, curving, 18 km2 tidal embayment with a single channel to the sea. On the seaward side it is enclosed by a barrier of sandy spits, bars and mobile dunes. The extensive intertidal mudflats and areas of sand provide habitat for waders, or shorebirds. Fringing the mudflats are areas of saltmarsh.[2]

Birds

The inlet has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports over 1% of the world populations of double-banded plovers and red-necked stints, and has supported the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.[3] Other birds recorded as using the site in significant numbers include eastern curlews, Pacific golden plovers, curlew sandpipers and sanderlings.

Panorama of Shallow Inlet showing expanses of water and sand with distant hills in the background
Panorama of Shallow Inlet, looking south-east with the hills of Wilsons Promontory in the distance

References
  1. "Shallow Inlet (VIC)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  2. BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Shallow Inlet. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2011-10-07.
  3. "IBA: Shallow Inlet". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 7 October 2011.


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