What is Great Australian Bight?
{{Coord|33|S|130|E|scale:5000000|display=title}} [[File:Great Australian Bight map.png|thumb|230px|right|Map of Australia, showing the Great Australian Bight.]] [[Image:Australia.A2002231.0145.250m NASA Nullarbor.jpg|thumb|right|230px|The Great Australian Bight south of the [[Nullarbor]]. Credit Jacques Descloitres, Visible Earth, [[NASA]].]] The '''Great Australian Bight''' is a large [[bight (geography)|bight]], or open bay. It is off the central and western parts of the southern coastline of mainland [[Australia]]. The Bight's boundaries are from [[Cape Pasley]], [[Western Australia]], to [[Cape Carnot]], [[South Australia]]. This is a distance of 1,160&nbsp;km or 720 miles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242885/Great-Australian-Bight|title=Great Australian Bight|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> The much more accepted name in Australia for the connected waterbody is the [[Southern Ocean]] rather than the [[Indian Ocean]]. The settlements along the coastline with access to the Bight and facilities are [[Ceduna, South Australia|Ceduna]] and [[Eucla, Western Australia|Eucla]]. Some other locations on the [[Eyre Highway]] or on the [[Nullarbor Plain|Nullarbor]] do not have facilities or easy access. ==Natural history== [[Image:Great Australian Bight Marine Park.jpg|230px|thumb|right|Great Australian Bight]] The coast line of the Great Australian Bight has cliff faces (up to 60 m high), surfing beaches and rock platforms, ideal for whale-watching. The Great Australian Bight receives very little of the runoff that fertilises most continental shelves. It is essentially a marine desert. It is probably best noted for the large number of [[shark]]s that frequent its coastal waters, as well as the increasing numbers of [[Right whale|Southern Right Whales]] that migrate in the region. One location on the bight that is for the understanding of the natural history on its coastline is the [[Eyre Bird Observatory]]. ==References== {{reflist}} ==Ot