Insider guide: Coffin Bay

Sam Ever­ing­ham – Senior Ranger atCof­fin Bay Nation­al Park

How would you describe your job to some­one at a BBQ?

I look after Cof­fin Bay Nation­al Park on the Eyre Penin­su­la. What I do varies so much from day to day. Main­ly I look after con­ser­va­tion and recre­ation in the park, which includes things from pest plant and ani­mal con­trol, to vis­i­tor man­age­ment, infra­struc­ture main­te­nance and clean­ing – no two days are the same for me.

How did you get into this line of work?

I par­tic­i­pat­ed in the Green Corp pro­gram run through Forestry South Aus­tralia, and then joined the Forestry SA fire crew and stud­ied Con­ser­va­tion and Land Man­age­ment. I got a job as the Ranger in the Mid North region for Forestry SA based at Wirrabara For­est. I then start­ed a nat­ur­al resource man­age­ment role in Bur­ra work­ing in com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment. I’ve been a Ranger at Cof­fin Bay Nation­al Park for the past eight months.

What do you encounter in a ​‘nor­mal’ day on the job?

Any­thing from look­ing after injured wildlife, to engag­ing with park vis­i­tors, con­trol­ling pest plants on our islands or con­trol­ling pest ani­mals in our wilder­ness sanc­tu­ary area. The job has a great vari­ety of work to keep things interesting.

What’s the most amaz­ing thing you’ve seen at Cof­fin Bay?

When mon­i­tor­ing sea birds on a boat around Point Sir Isaac we came across a pod of around 30 dol­phins, two whales and mul­ti­ple birds hav­ing a feed­ing fren­zy. It was def­i­nite­ly some­thing I don’t think I will ever see again and cer­tain­ly won’t forget!

What are your insid­er tips about Cof­fin Bay?

Although it’s a dif­fi­cult trip to get out to, I would rec­om­mend a walk in the Whid­bey Wilder­ness Area. The sheer iso­la­tion of Point Whid­bey, the rugged lime­stone coast­line and the pris­tine veg­e­ta­tion makes it a very spe­cial place to vis­it in Cof­fin Bay Nation­al Park.

If you’re keen to explore Cof­fin Bay Nation­al Park, the mix ofpark and water activ­i­tieswill give you plen­ty to do.

*Pho­to cour­tesy of Jason Tyn­dall, Nature Play SA