Gordon Inlet

	Gordon Inlet at a glance
	Average annual rainfall over inlet		600 millimetres
	Extent of tidal influence		13 kilometres
	Annual flow from Gairdner River		9.4M cubic metres
	Data selection

      

The Gordon Inlet is relatively shallow, with high evaporation, and could more correctly be called a 'transient estuary'. Salinity is very high - varying from slightly less than sea water to more than four times that of the sea, making it an unfavourable environment for most marine animals and plants. There is frequent catastrophic estuarine fauna mortality, since the inlet often dries up almost completely.

The low sea bar may remain closed for several years, and will only open after heavy rain. It remains open for some months.

The inlet is difficult to reach, and attracts mainly commercial and some amateur fishermen. When the Bremer River bar is closed the inlet is also visited by tourists with four-wheel drive vehicles.

The Gordon Inlet is showing signs of eutrophication, for example the upper estuary of the inlet had a blue green algal bloom in autumn 1988.

Further Information:

Estuaries and Coastal Lagoons of South Western Australia: Beaufort Inlet and Gordon Inlet. Environmental Protection Authority, Perth, Western Australia. Estuarine Studies Series Number 4 November 1988.