The new Point Cooke Marine Sanctuary covers 290 hectares and is located 10 kilometres east of Werribee, adjoining Point Cooke Coastal Park and including the existing Point Cooke Marine Reserve.
The Point Cooke Marine Sanctuary, which is protected from the bustle of the suburbs by coastal dunes and adjacent wetlands, consists of a rock platform, isolated boulders, soft sands and mud and supports an array of algae, benthic (bottom dwelling) fauna, invertebrates and fish. The significant wetlands of the adjoining Point Cooke Coastal Park are part of the Port Phillip (Western Shoreline) and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar wetland site.
Things to Do
Try diving at Point Cooke where you may encounter, amongst other marine life, entertaining little fish called Southern Blennies.
Facilities
The beach picnic area provides public facilities including picnic shelters, free gas barbeques, toilets, change rooms and showers. Carparks and toilets are available for disabled visitors.
Fauna
The principal plant on the reef is the bushy brown seaweed, Sargassum, which harbours innumerable tiny animals and plants between its leaf-like fronds. Prickly sea urchins are abundant near crevices, while the exposed sections of rock support a range of life including masses of worm tubes, carpets of anemones and meadows of tufting coralline and filamentous algae. In darker corners, sponges grow plentifully.
Small sharks and skates patrol the surrounding eelgrass beds and muddy seafloor, feasting off the bivalves that lie deep in the sediment. In late summer, swarms of jellyfish pulsate over the reefs, clearing the water of the microscopic plants and animals that build up in the nutrient rich environment. Bryozoans, sea stars, ascidians, bivalves, crustaceans, molluscs, sharks, skates and many other species of fish also occur in the area.
