Location and Maps

About the Natural Environment

The waterways in the Barker Inlet region are an interconnected network of tidal creeks and deepened channels, opening into Gulf St Vincent. The shoreline has wide tidal mudflats and an extensive belt of mangroves fringing the samphire saltmarsh flats and low-lying dunes of the coastal plain.

Torrens and Garden Islands lie within the Barker Inlet and are surrounded on either side by the Port Adelaide River, Torrens Reach and the St Kilda channel. The coastal and marine wetlands of Barker Inlet, St Kilda and Port Gawler have been identified as Wetlands of National Importance.

The Port Adelaide River waters are more highly modified with isolated pockets of mangroves and salt marsh along the shoreline. Extensive re-development is planned and in progress throughout this area.

Sanctuary Boundaries

The Sanctuary is 118 km² extending from the upper reaches of the Port Adelaide River to North Haven, through North Arm and Barker Inlet, extending into Gulf St Vincent to Pt Gawler Conservation Park.

The Sanctuary includes all waters within the area in addition to Mutton Cove and Torrens Island and Pt Gawler Conservation Parks.

When establishing the Sanctuary, the significance of the natural features to dolphins and their well being was carefully considered. Waterways where dolphins are regularly seen and waterways supporting probable food sources for the dolphins were included within the Sanctuary.

Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary map	Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary air overview	Northern Adelaide - aerial photo
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