The Great Australian Bight is the southern most area of land in mainland Australia. It runs from west of the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia to Western Australia. The area is made up of limestone cliffs, 60-120 metres high just off the Nullarbor Plain. The cliffs are about 820 kilometres in length and are said to be the longest cliffs in the world.
The following photos of the Great Australian Bight were taken at Head of Bight. This is the most northerly point of the Great Australian Bight. There is an amazing whale watching centre there for both Southern Right Whales as well as Humpback Whales. The Southern Right Whales come into this bay to have their babies and then stay around to months as the babies grow and develop. Unfortunately for us, we missed the last mum and calf by a day. Whilst this was very disappointing I am sure you will agree that the views of the Great Australian Bight were definitely worth the trip.
When I mention this to my EAL students, it makes them crazy – another reason why English is so confusing. I explain to them that this geographical feature looks like a bite, like someone has taken a bite out of the island. They want to know why bight isn’t spelled bite. Poor things. ha ha I haven’t seen the Bight myself. The closest I got was a couple of years ago when we cut across SA on our way to Wollongong from Darwin.
Apparently although it does look like a giant bite , it is called bight because it is a bend in the coastline forming an open bay. Bight is an old English word. I only discovered this.