Research

These short articles highlight the findings from ongoing scientific research within selected Marine Parks, including exciting new discoveries and ideas for future projects. If you are a scientist, read about how you can see your work featured in the Atlas.

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Apollo Marine Park contains sediment ecosystems, deep (mesophotic) reefs and a 5m high raised ridge feature, suspected to be deeper (rariphotic) reef habitat extending from the western park boundary to the northern park boundary1. The park covers representative areas of five bioregions.

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Boags Marine Park contains extensive mobile dune fields, likely dominated by crustaceans, polychaete worms and molluscs that live in and on sediments1. It covers representative areas of three bioregions. The southern third of the park has been mapped using fine scale multibeam 2.

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    East Gippsland Marine Park contains deep water habitats featuring large box canyons, ridges, margin slumps, and plateaus bordered by steep escarpments. It covers representative areas of the south-east transition bioregion.

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    Flinders Marine Park contains soft sediment and hard substrate shelf areas, canyons, deep (mesophotic) reefs, and seamounts2. It covers representative areas of four bioregions.

    Targeted biological surveys have revealed diverse benthic communities of hydrozoans, bryozoans, ascidians and sponges. Monitoring of these communities has been undertaken using Automated Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)3.

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    Beagle Marine Park contains an extensive area of soft sediment with some areas of rocky reef, which are likely to be a relict sand dune field prior to sea level rise. The park covers representative areas of three bioregions.

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    ‘Blackwater’ diving uncovers a unique set of marine creatures in the Coral Sea Marine Park. As the moon dips below the horizon, a suite of dark-dwelling species is revealed via torchlight during their nightly migration towards the ocean surface.
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    Small and/or camouflaged fish species hidden on or near the reef surface are commonly referred to as ‘cryptic’ or ‘cryptobenthic’ fishes. These species are characteristically difficult to see but are diverse and abundant throughout Australian Marine Parks and may play an important role in supporting the larger predatory fish species protected within park boundaries.
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    Parks Australia manage 60 Australian Marine Parks, many of which include shallow reefs. These reef habitats are hugely diverse, and include tropical reefs dominated by hard corals; current-swept offshore bommies covered in sea whips, sea fans and soft corals; temperate rocky reefs with sea urchin barrens or low lying colourful seaweeds; and deeper rocky reefs with sessile invertebrates and large black coral trees.
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    In this project multibeam bathymetry and baited remote underwater videos (Stereo-BRUVs) were used to characterise where reefs occur in the Hunter Marine Park and what lives on them.
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    The 2016 and 2020 marine heatwaves each impacted shallow coral reef biodiversity in the Coral Sea Marine Park in very different ways, but the net impacts of both affected reefs in the entire region.

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