Toilets, parking, BBQ, shady trees, picnic tables, grassy area and change rooms

The Barker Inlet is associated with the following protected areas – the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary, the Barker Inlet-St Kilda Aquatic Reserve, the southern part of the St Kilda – Chapman Creek Aquatic Reserve and the Torrens Island Conservation Park. It also forms part of the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park – Winaityinaityi Pangkara.

Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary is a marine protected area located on the east coast of Gulf St Vincent in and adjoining the north-western part of the Adelaide metropolitan area. It was established in 2005 for the protection of a resident population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). It is a real delight to encounter these wonderful creatures when you paddle in this area – something that happens quite frequently.

The Barker Inlet-St Kilda Aquatic Reserve was declared in 1973 principally to protect mangrove seagrass communities which serve as nursery areas for specie such as blue swimmer crabs, and several species of whiting and prawn.

The Torrens Island Conservation Park was proclaimed in 1963 to protect areas of mangrove forest, samphire shrubland and sand dune systems.
Both these reserves share territory with the St Kilda – Chapman Creek Aquatic Reserve which helps provide a buffer area between commercial fishing activity and the other reserves.

The area around Garden Island and Barker Inlet boasts the most southerly mangrove forest, and it is an extremely fragile environment. Avoid damaging the exposed pneumataphores of mangrove trees as these are part of the root system that helps anchor the plant in the soft mud and also bring oxygen to the plant in the anaerobic (low oxygen) water soaked soil. Be aware that mosquitoes can be a problem at times and will be numerous close to dawn and dusk.

The area around Garden and Torrens Islands has great scenic value with numerous water-birds nesting both in the mangroves and on Section Bank (sometimes referred to as Bird Island) at the northern end of Torrens Island. Much of this area forms part of the Adelaide Bird Sanctuary. Within this sits the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park – Winaityinaityi Pangkara. The Bird Sanctuary encompasses over 60km of coastline north of Adelaide, adjacent to Gulf St Vincent and Adelaide’s northern suburbs. Winaityinaityi Pangkara means ‘a country for all birds and the country that surrounds these birds’ in the language of the Kaurna people.

The Bird Sanctuary is one of the key feeding and roosting sites for migratory birds who use the East Asian-Australasian Flyway each year. Birds fly from as far as Siberia and Alaska, passing through 22 countries. The area acts as a crucial habitat on this migratory route which is used by more than 5 million birds a year, 27,000 of which call Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary home.

The Bird Sanctuary helps protect resident and migratory shorebirds, including threatened species such as Curlew sandpiper, Ruddy turnstone, Red knot and Eastern Curlew. Do not enter the rookery area on Section Bank where you will find nesting ibis, spoonbills, pelicans, cormorants, and other water-birds.

There are also opportunities for photography, fishing and viewing marine mammals, such as Long-nosed fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri), Southern eagle rays (Myliobatis tenuicaudatus) which may grow up to 3m in length, Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) and of course the resident dolphins.
Hint: Some of the Dolphin Sanctuary’s resident dolphins have even been given names, like Twinkle and Hunter. You may like to familiarise yourself with their unique markings and see how many you can recognise on your next visit.