Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park, formerly the Piccaninnie Ponds National Park, is a protected area of 862 hectares (2,130 acres) located in southeastern South Australia near Mount Gambier.

Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park Wye, South Australia
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)[1]
Cave diving at Piccaninnie Ponds
Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park
Nearest town or city	Donovans
Coordinates	38°03′03″S 140°56′11″E
Established	16 October 1969[2]
Area	8.64 km2 (3.3 sq mi)[3]
Managing authorities	Department for Environment and Water
Website	Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park
Footnotes
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Piccaninnie Ponds Karst Wetlands
Designated	21 December 2012
Reference no.	2136[4]
See also	Protected areas of South Australia

Description

The Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park is located in the south-east of South Australia in the gazetted locality of Wye on the continental coastline overlooking Discovery Bay about 490 kilometres (300 mi) southeast of the state capital of Adelaide and 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east of the city of Mount Gambier.[5][6]

The conservation park conserves a wetland fed by freshwater springs in a karst landscape.[7]

It is close to the border with Victoria and is part of the Discovery Bay to Piccaninnie Ponds Important Bird Area, identified by BirdLife International as being of global significance for several bird species.[8] It is a listed Ramsar site.[9] The park contains a walking track through coastal woodland to a viewing platform overlooking the wetlands.[10]

Recreational diving

Piccaninnie Ponds is a popular site for both snorkelling and cave diving. In 1964–1965, prior to its proclamation as a national park in 1969, underwater explorer Valerie Taylor described the ponds as "one of the most beautiful sights in Australia"[11] and said that the crystal clear water gave her a feeling of unhindered flight.[12] It contains three main features of interest to cave divers. The ‘First Pond’ is an open depression about 10 metres (33 ft) deep with a silt floor and vegetated fringe supporting much aquatic life. The ‘Chasm’ is a sinkhole with a depth of over 100 metres (330 ft), and the ‘Cathedral’ is an enclosed area with limestone formations and a depth of about 35 metres (115 ft).[7] Underwater visibility is excellent and may exceed 40 metres (130 ft). Snorkelling and cave diving at Piccaninnie Ponds is by permit only.[13][14]

Accidents

Several divers have died while exploring the caves beneath Piccaninnie Ponds, in 1972,[15] 1974[16] and 1984.[17]

Flora and fauna

The pond contains various species of native plants, freshwater fish, eels and shrimp.[18][14]

See also

• Ewens Ponds – Flooded sinkholes in South Australia
• List of Ramsar sites in Australia
• List of sinkholes of Australia – Links to Wikipedia articles on sinkholes, blue holes, dolines, cenotes, and pit caves
• Protected areas of South Australia – Areas protected by legislation in South Australia
• Lower South East Marine Park

References

Further reading

• Horne, P.; (1985), CDAA Research Group Report No. 3: Piccaninnie Ponds Mapping Project, November 1984 – April 1985 (ISBN 0 7316 7208 9) OCLC: 27574762.
• Horne, P; and Harris, R.; (2009), Piccaninnie Ponds Collaborative Research Project: Exploration and General Research Activities, May/June 2008 and Oct/Nov 2009 (with South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation (DWLBC) and the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH)).

External links

• Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park official webpage
• Ponds Conservation Park Diving and Snorkelling Guidelines (PDF download)
• Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park webpage on protected planet