LMSC Regional Information

(Biosphere original image (above) from NASA. The colours represent vegetation and phytoplankton levels - the full image is available from the NASA web site).

Sea Surface Temperature image for 23/2/95 (left) adapted by courtesy CSIRO Remote Sensing - full image is available from the CSIRO web site.)

Location
The Lincoln Marine Science Centre is located at Kirton Point in Port Lincoln, a town of about 13000 people in South Australia. Port Lincoln is right on the coast at the base of the Eyre Peninsula. This is a triangular peninsula south of central Australia, roughly the size of Tasmania.

The town is located on the shore of Boston Bay overlooking Boston Island (which is just one of over 150 islands in the region), and the Lincoln National Park which covers much of the base of the peninsula.

In the picture below taken from Winter Hill Lookout, the national park and Bickers islands can be seen just beneath the horizon, and the southern tip of Boston island is above the end of the long grain-loading wharf, which runs approximately N-S.

The LMSC is located about 2km ESE of the centre of Port Lincoln at 34.44°S, 135.53°E. With its temperate climate, picturesque scenery, national parks, and abundant flora, fauna & marine life, the region is a highly-regarded tourist destination.

Port Lincoln is somewhat isolated - it is a 650 km (400 mile) drive from the nearest major city of Adelaide (pop. 1.1 million). However, it is only about 50 minutes away by plane and there are several flights each day. Despite its popularity with tourists the region has a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere and even in summer finding a deserted beach is not difficult. Click here to go for a virtual scenic tour around the region.

Accommodation & Services
Port Lincoln has numerous hotels, motels, caravan parks & camping areas, and many styles of holiday accommodation. The LMSC is located right next to one of the larger caravan parks which has on-site vans, camping areas and holiday cabins. The town also boasts:

• huge safe boating harbourmarina (well-serviced, for both commercial & recreational craft)
• leisure/sports centre (with pool, water-slide, basketball stadium & gym)
• cinema
• boat tours (to the many local islands, marine viewing platform, tuna farms, etc)
• yachting holidays
• 4WD tours & safaris
• boat fishing safaris

If you are interested in further details about any of these, please refer to the Eyre Peninsula tourism web site.

The town has all the usual services you would expect in a regional centre, including 2 large supermarkets, and a wide variety of clothing, hardware, sports and food stores. There are also a number of marine suppliers and service organisations, to cater for the numerous commercial and recreational vessels. Living expenses are similar to those in Adelaide.

Climate
The Eyre Peninsula's climate ranges from arid in the northern areas, through to temperate in the southern areas. In Port Lincoln, summer temperatures (Dec-Feb) average 25°C - 29°C (77°F-84°F) and winter temperatures (Jun-Aug) normally range from 15°C - 18°C (59°F-64°F), with a total annual rainfall of 490mm (19"). Sea temperatures are usually in the range 13°C - 22°C (57°F-72°F).

Topography & Wildlife
The landscape is mainly low and gentle, below 150 metres in height. The picturesque Gawler Ranges in the northern part of the Peninsula however contain gorges and some hills of over 300 metres. The coastline ranges from spectacular cliffs, particularly on the west coast towards the Nullarbor Plain, to long sandy beaches at numerous locations.

Much of the land is farmed, but there are a number of national parks where the original mallee scrub exists. Local wildlife includes kangaroos, emus, koalas, wombats, and many species of birds including the colourful Port Lincoln Parrot.

The abundant marine wildlife includes a wide variety of fish species (inc. snapper, King George whiting, garfish, Australian salmon, mulloway, tuna, kingfish, snook, flathead, etc). Large numbers of common and bottle-nosed dolphins, and colonies of sea lions & fairy penguins inhabit many of the islands and rocky points.

Economy
The Eyre Peninsula's top three industries are agriculture (mainly wheat & sheep), fishing/aquaculture (mainly tuna, abalone, rock lobster & prawns) and tourism. Collectively those sectors are worth about A$500 million to the Australian economy. Interestingly, the rapidly growing aquaculture industry alone is estimated to have a potential value by the year 2000 of the same amount (A$500m).
To achieve that and to protect the resources, natural beauty and water quality of the region, the industry will need to be well-managed and researched. The local aquaculture industry pioneers along with the Flinders University, Spencer Institute of TAFE and the local community, are all working hard to ensure this goal is achieved. The Lincoln Marine Science Centre is a concrete example of that commitment.

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