Bunurong Marine National Park

The Bunurong Marine National Park is a protected marine national park located off the coast of Cape Paterson in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The 2100ha marine national park is located about southwest of and about off the coastline. The coastal waters protect a range of habitats including intertidal reefs, subtidal rocky reefs, algal gardens and seagrass beds. The waters are cool, akin to Victoria’s central and western coasts. However, they are relatively protected from south-westerly swells due to the location of far away King Island, Tasmania.The Bunurong Marine National Park is an outstretching middle section of the Bunurong Marine Park. Both parks draw their name from the Australian Aboriginal Bunurong people who are the traditional owners of the land and water in the region.EtymologyThe Bunurong parks are named after the Bunurong Aboriginal people whom were custodians of this stretch of coast for thousands of years prior to white settlement. The Boakoolawal clan lived in the Kilcunda area south of the Bass River, and the Yowenjerre were west of the Tarwin River along what is now the Bunurong Marine and Coastal Parks near Wonthaggi. Middens containing charcoal and shellfish mark the location of their campsites along the coast.