Seascapes

Sandy beaches

Sandy beaches occur on all foreshores in Jervis Bay, many interspersed with rocky reefs. Some, including Blenheim, Greenfield and Chinamans Beach are small. Others, such as Callala Beach, extend for 5 km. Outside Jervis Bay, find large sandy beaches in Wreck Bay and from Kinghorn Point to Currarong.

Estuaries, creeks and rivers

The marine park has six estuaries, excluding Jervis Bay.
Four small coastal creeks (Callala Creek, Carama Inlet, Currarong Creek and Wowly Gully).
Two larger, wave-dominated estuaries (Currambene Creek and Moona Moona Creek).

Seagrass

Jervis Bay Marine Park has some of the state's most extensive seagrass beds.

Four seagrass species are abundant:

Zostera capricorni (eelgrass);
Posidonia australis (strapweed);
Heterozostera tasmanica;
Halophila ovalis (paddleweed).

Seagrasses are important nurseries for fish, providing food and shelter for many recreationally and commercially valuable species such as snapper, bream, luderick, whiting and flathead.

Seagrasses support a diverse range of plants and animals, including the algae that is the food chain base for many marine species.

Rocky shores

Rocky shores are found adjacent to most headlands in Jervis Bay, and almost continuously along the Beecroft and Bherwerre peninsulas.

A highly diverse range of invertebrate and algal species inhabit the park's rocky shores.
The shores provide important roosting and feeding habitat for shorebirds, including the threatened sooty oystercatcher.
While some organisms on rocky shores occupy a range of habitats, many are restricted to certain areas such as rock pools and crevices.

Reefs

The reefs in Jervis Bay Marine Park support a wide range of biodiversity, including habitat for commercially and recreationally valuable fish and for invertebrates such as cuttlefish, crabs and rock lobsters. The shallow and intermediate reefs off Currarong Beach in Crookhaven Bight are the park's most extensive.
There are extensive shallow nearshore reefs in Wreck Bay and the reefs in Crookhaven Bight.
Inside Jervis Bay, nearshore reefs are adjacent to many rocky headlands.
An extensive reef surrounds Plantation Point and smaller reefs also occur at the mouths of Moona Moona and Currambene creeks.
Substantial reefs around Callala Point, fringing reef from Green Point to Montague Point, and reef along Groper Coast between Bindijine and Dart Point, are all in Jervis Bay's north.