in the 1920s, and by 1982 46% of the catchment was privately owned. In total 44% of the catchment has been cleared and 38% remains as forest and national parks. In 1911 a local farmer William Leonard Smeed and six members of his family (four adults and three children), were drowned when their small yacht Little Wonder was knocked down in a squall while sailing on the inlet near Pelican Island. The inlet is breached at Ocean Beach near Denmark at times to reduce the chances of flooding around the local river systems. The bar was breached in 2014, 2017, 2018 and again in 2020. Flora The mouth of the inlet is dominated by stands of rushes (Juncaceae) of a single species, the South African Juncus kraussi. Melaleuca cuticularis, a salt tolerant paperbark, also fringes the inlet and follows the channels, and is present in the tidal parts of the rivers. The salt marsh is predominantly made up of Juncus kraussi, Sarcocornia quinqueflora, and Samolus repens. Fauna Recreational fishing is popular within the inlet, which many species of fish inhabit, including cobbler, King George whiting, tailor, mullet, salmon trout and flathead. Other fish found in the estuary include sandy sprat, yellow eye mullet, sea mullet and blue mackerel. Wilson Inlet is a key nursery for many juvenile fish species especially pink snapper that migrate from the inlet to mature in the greater oceanic breeding stock. Because of this the size of pink snapper that could be removed from the inlet was raised from to in July 2007. Many waterbird species inhabit the inlet and its surrounds, including the silver gull, Australian pelican, black swan, little black cormorant, red-necked stint, little pied cormorant, grey teal, red-necked avocet, blue-billed duck and the Australasian shoveller. 22 species of migratory shorebird have been recorded. The inlet is home to a mussel and oyster farm that was established in 2002. The farm operates on a lease on the south side of the inlet and completed its first harvest in 2005–2006. Blue mussels are produced using a longline cultivation technique. Belon oysters are cultivated using a similar technique. An earlier operation had attempted to commercially produce blue mussels in the 1970s, but the small scale raft culture was destroyed by Cyclone Alby just prior to harvest. External links Wilson Inlet Tourism References Great Southern (Western Australia) Inlets of Western Australia South coast of Western Australia