Bass Point Reserve

DESCRIPTION

NameBass Point ReserveTypePark/ReserveShellharbour City CouncilGeolocation^[1] Last edited by: Will Chittick

DescriptionLocated 25km south of Wollongong, Bass Point Reserve is a 4km-long natural promontory of rocky shorelines and sandy embayments that supports a diverse collection of natural and cultural elements.

As a cultural landscape, Bass Point Reserve includes sites of Aboriginal archaeological significance and others of European historical significance. Fourteen sites associated with the sustained Aboriginal occupation of the land have been identified - 13 of which are coastal shell middens and one meeting and camping place. Sites of European occupation include potential remnants of the original jetty (to the west of the existing jetty) and, on Boston Point, a memorial to the 1943 shipwreck of the Cities Service Boston and the four lives lost during the rescue operation.

In the waters surrounding Bass Point Reserve, six shipwrecks have been identified and the associated artefact scatter recorded. These wrecks include Bertha (1879), Our Own (1880), Alexander Berry (1901), Comboyne (1920), Kiltobranks (1924) and the Cities Service Boston (1943).

The Bass Point Marine Area surrounding the reserve is regarded as highly significant for its biodiversity and pristine condition. This relatively undisturbed environment supports a variety of common, rare and endangered fauna and flora species. The shallow and sheltered waters have seen the development of a significant but fragile Sea Grass Habitat that provides a suitable environment for many aquatic animals to shelter, feed and breed.

To the eastern point of Bass Point Reserve is Bushrangers Bay Aquatic Reserve. Made up of beaches, intertidal rock pools, seagrasses and submarine cliffs the reserve provides important habitats for a variety of animals including fish, anemones, sponges, crabs, molluscs and urchins.

Bass Point Reserve also supports diverse headland vegetation and significant littoral rainforest - making it one of the most important and unique natural landscapes in southern NSW. Littoral rainforest is generally a closed forest with its structure and composition strongly influenced by its close proximity to the marine environment. Positioned on coastal headlands or beach sand dunes, littoral rainforest is considered an Endangered Ecological Community in NSW. The natural vegetation of Bass Point Reserve supports a variety of flora and fauna, both common and rare to the region.

Today, the spectacular visual interplay of the bush vegetation, beaches, headlands, cliffs, ocean and sky makes Bass Point Reserve a scenic location for recreation visitors.