Cape Town Lens: Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia (NASA, International Space Station, 08/03/13)

A Cape Town Sandy Bay tagged image from photographer – NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as published on Flickr.

Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia (NASA, International Space Station, 08/03/13)

Image by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 36 crew member on the International Space Station. The northern end of the Great Sandy Strait and Hervey Bay are highlighted in this photograph. The Strait is an estuary that separates the mainland coastline of the state of Queensland, Australia from neighboring Fraser Island. The mainland side of the Strait includes the city of Hervey Bay, visible at top center. Other communities that have become part of the larger metropolitan area include Scarness, Booral, and Urangan. A small vegetated island and shallow sand bars of the Great Sandy Strait are visible at center left, while submerged sands appear as bright blue flowing ribbons at center. A small, bright white exposure of sand is visible above the water level near the center point of the image. While once a major freighting center for the sugar cane industry, the local economy is now largely based on tourism, with whale watching tours a popular attraction. The Great Sandy Strait estuary provides habitat for breeding fish, crustaceans, turtles, and other sea life, as well as a wide variety of birds. Nearby Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island and a World Heritage site.

Image credit: NASA

Original image:
spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-36/html/…

More about space station research:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

View more photos like this in the "NASA Earth Images" Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/

_______________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin…