EstuaryWatch Data Portal

Wreck Creek is a small intermittently closing and opening estuarine lagoon located on the western edge of Inverloch. From the coast the estuary follows Cape Paterson - Inverloch Road towards the Inverloch RACV resort, for approximately 800 metres, before the creek becomes fresh. The creek has two main branches, one that begins well above the RACV resort (including the resorts wetlands) and the other flows out of farmland through the residential area to the north. For the majority of the year two branches of the creek are mostly dry (apart from a few ponds and billabongs that have been sighted on private property upstream). These creeks begin to flow during wet times (winter / spring), and for the majority of the time the main habitat available to biota is the estuarine lagoon itself.  

Plant communities / species (Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs) and Bioregional Conservation Significance in Victoria);

• 1 Coastal Dune Scrub Mosaic
• 2 Coast Banksia Woodland (Vulnerable)
• 3 Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland (Vulnerable)
• 161 Coastal Headland Scrub (Depleted)

Fish identified during sampling in January 2017

• Short-finned Eel
• Common Galaxias
• Spotted Galaxias
• Flatheaded Gudgeon
• Black Bream
• Yellow-eyed Mullet

Significant bird species (Conservation Status Victoria);

• Australasian Shoveler (Vulnerable)
• Black-faced Cormorant (Near Threatened)
• Caspian Tern (Near Threatened)

Threats to estuary health include;

• Growing population
• High levels of recreational use
• Unpermitted estuary entrance mouth openings
• Changes in water regimes
• High levels of sediment and nutrients
• Pollution events
• Habitat modification
• Land reclamation through drainage of wetlands
• Invasion by weeds or pests
• Salinization and acidification.
• Degraded water quality
• Disturbance of acid sulphate soils
• Altered marine exchange
• Rural drainage and drain clearing
• Urban drainage and stormwater
• Litter
• Trampling and bank erosion associated with pedestrian access.