Coastal regions of 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
- Pilbara Coast East: Wallal Downs to Cape Preston
- Pilbara Coast West: Cape Preston to North West Cape
- Ningaloo Coast: Northwest Cape to Carnarvon
- Gascoyne Coast: north of Carnarvon to Kalbarri
- Geraldton Coast: north of Kalbarri to Jurien Bay
- Lancelin Coast: Jurien Bay to Two Rocks
- Perth Local Waters: Two Rocks to Dawesville
- Perth Coast:west of Rottnest and Perth Local Waters
- Bunbury Geographe Coast: Dawesville to Busselton,
- Leeuwin Coast: Busselton to west of Denmark
- Albany Coast: west of Denmark to Bremer Bay
- Esperance Coast: Bremer Bay to Israelite Bay
- Eucla Coast: Israelite Bay to SA Border
General coastal regions
- 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: 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
Ports, settlements and towns
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 half way between Kalbarri and Denham
- West Coast: from 27° S: about half way 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
- 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
- Admiralty Gulf
- Cambridge Gulf
- Exmouth Gulf
- Joseph Bonaparte Gulf
Sounds
- Camden Sound
- Cockburn Sound
- King Sound
- Yampi Sound
- York Sound
- King George Sound
Archipelagoes and island groups
- Archipelago of the Recherche
- Bonaparte Archipelago
- Buccaneer Archipelago
- Houtman Abrolhos
- Monte Bello Islands
- Thevenard Island
- Direction Island
Aquatic flora
- 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
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