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Australia > South-east

South-east network

Marine parks

Number of marine parks: 14

There are 14 Australian Marine Parks off the coast of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, which together make up the South-east Marine Parks Network. These marine parks include striking features such as underwater canyons and mountains, as well as the diverse marine life associated with them, some of which is new to science and found nowhere else in the world.

Video

Recent mapping and biodiversity assessments within the Southeast Network has greatly increased out understanding of the unique habitats it supports, and the ecological interactions that underpin the important commercial fisheries based in this region. Watch the short video below to find out more.

Biodiversity

The Southeast Marine Parks Network is located in a region recognised as a major marine biogeographic region. It displays enourmous diversity of plant and animal species and is considered to have be one of the most biodiverse floral assemblages in temperate regions worldwide. Owing to the complex geomorphology, ocean current systems and evolutionary history of the area, there is also a large number of endemic species in the region. Of the 600 known species of fish in southern temperate Australia, 85 percent of these are though to be endemic. The marine parks in the Southeast Marine Parks Network include a vast range of different habitat types that contain representative expamples of this unique biodiversity, from ancient deep sea coral communities and dense sponge gardens to pelagic assemblages of southern bluefin tuna, white sharks and blue whales.

Research

These short articles highlight the findings from ongoing scientific research within the South-east Network, including exciting new discoveries and ideas for future projects.
Tasman Fracture Marine Park and Huon Marin Park seafloor map CSIRO

Deep-sea coral reefs on Tasmanian Seamounts are globally significant and protected in Australian Marine Parks

A collaborative research voyage on the state-of the-art research vessel RV Investigator in 2018 explored Tasmania’s hidden seamounts (under-sea mountains). Extensive areas of deep-sea coral reefs supporting diverse communities were surveyed, mostly between 700 and 1500 metres below the sea surface. These seamount reefs represent a globally significant reference site to monitor recovery of deep-sea coral communities following the impacts sustained from bottom trawling in the 1990’s. We now better understand the biodiversity and distribution of these vulnerable ecosystems and their ability to recover from impacts such as a bottom trawling.
AUV coral and sponges

Examining changes through time in the South-east Marine Parks Network using seafloor imagery collected by an autonomous underwater vehicle.

Over the last decade scientists at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) have been using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to conduct photographic surveys of seafloor (benthic) communities in Australian Marine Parks (AMPs) across the South-east Marine Parks Network (the SE Network). This project used this imagery to provide the first description of the biological communities across these marine parks and how they have changed over time.
The abyss

Exploration in the abyss

A discovery voyage into the deep, dark and crushing world 4000 metres below the sea surface
Apollo bathymetry Credit Deakin University

First glimpse of deep reefs beneath Bass Strait

Scientists have captured imagery of a newly discovered underwater landscape beneath the waves in Bass Strait, revealing a complex seabed of deep reefs that have been sustaining life for fish and other fauna for millennia. Using multibeam sonar, a team from Deakin University’s marine mapping group has scanned the seafloor in the Apollo Marine Park, south-west Victoria for the very first time.
SE-parks

Mapping in Freycinet, Huon and Tasman Fracture Marine Parks and outside-park reference areas to underpin biological surveys

In Autumn 2019, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science (IMAS) completed a two-week continuous multibeam mapping program in shelf waters of the Freycinet, Huon and Tasman Fracture Marine Parks to extend current knowledge of habitat distribution in these parks. In addition, several areas outside the park were mapped to provide external reference areas for the Tasman Fracture Marine Park. This mapping will underpin future biological inventory and monitoring programs.

Scientific papers

The following publications contain information relevant to marine parks in the South-east network and adjacent waters. Click on the links to access to the publications.
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