Geographe Bay

Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia around 220 km southwest of Perth.

Geographe Bay at sunset looking towards Cape Naturaliste

The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, after his ship, Géographe. The bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from Cape Naturaliste past the towns of Dunsborough and Busselton, ending near the city of Bunbury. The bay is protected from the rough seas of the Indian Ocean by Cape Naturaliste (named after Naturaliste), which makes it a popular destination for recreational boaters. The bay is extremely shallow, limiting the entrance of large ships. To alleviate this problem the two-kilometre-long Busselton Jetty, the longest in the southern hemisphere, was built.

The Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Swan was sunk in the bay off the town of Dunsborough on 14 December 1997, for use as a dive wreck.

The bay attracts whale watchers, who see it as an alternative to Flinders Bay.

The north west part of the bay is the location of a number of surf breaks.

The environment of the drainage systems into the bay, and the bay itself have attracted research and studies.[1][2][3]

Notes
  1. Coastal Zone Inquiry (Australia); Western Australia. Department of Planning and Urban Development; Australia. Resource Assessment Commission; Western Australia. Coastal Management Co-ordinating Committee; Meridian Environmental (1993), Western Australian case study report : study area: Geographe Bay, The Commission, ISBN 978-0-644-28610-7
  2. Geographe Bay Land and Sea Conference (1994 : Busselton, W.A.); Geographe Bay Advisory Committee (W.A.) (1994), Geographe Bay Land and Sea Conference 1994, The Committee, retrieved 28 November 2013
  3. Western Australia. Ministry for Planning; Geographe Bay Advisory Committee (1995), Geographe Bay integrated catchment management strategy (draft) : guidelines for people managing Geographe Bay and its catchment area, Western Australian Planning Commission, ISBN 978-0-7309-5357-9

Further reading
  • Edward Duyker François Péron: An Impetuous Life: Naturalist and Voyager, Miegunyah/MUP, Melb., 2006, ISBN 978-0-522-85260-8,
  • Fornasiero, Jean; Monteath, Peter and West-Sooby, John. Encountering Terra Australis: the Australian voyages of Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders, Kent Town, South Australia, Wakefield Press, 2004. ISBN 1-86254-625-8
  • Frank Horner, The French Reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia 1801–1803, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1987 ISBN 0-522-84339-5.
  • Marchant, Leslie R. French Napoleonic Placenames of the South West Coast, Greenwood, WA. R.I.C. Publications, 2004. ISBN 1-74126-094-9
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