Australian Marine Parks Science Atlas

Aerial shot of Middleton Reef, Lord Howe Island

Black-tip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) swims above the coral at Blue Hole, Middleton Reef during a Reef Life Survey dive.

Galapagos Shark

Galapagos sharks are abundant in the Lord Howe Marine Park and play an important role as an apex predator

Galapagos Shark Tagging

Images of the tagging process for Galapagos sharks. (a) hooked shark about to be brought onto the vessel; (b) inserting an acoustic tag into the body cavity of a shark whilst it is restrained in the purpose-built cradle device for tagging; (c) removing the hook prior to releasing the shark; (d) shark swimming away after being tagged and released.

Galapagos Sharks Lord Howe Island MP

Fishers are coming into conflict with Galapagos sharks because the sharks often take hooked fish before they can be retrieved to the boat, a process called depredation.

Hot Spot Areas LH Shark Presence

Hotspot areas of overlap between shark presence and fishing activity, as identified by the combination of acoustic telemetry data from tagged Galapagos sharks and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data from charter fishing vessels. Ovals with light red dotted lines indicate hotspots areas which should be avoided by fishers, if possible, to reduce the likelihood of encountering sharks. Solid dark red lines show the boundaries of the NSW State Marine Park and blue lines indicate the Commonwealth Marine Park. No-take zones are marked with hashed green lines. Solid black lines with numbers show the 20m, 50m and 100m depth contours.

Istigobius decoratus

Istigobius decoratus, known as the Decorated Sandgoby is found on sand patches near reefs.

by Ian Shaw

LH MP Acoustic Receiver Mooring Setups

Images of the acoustic receiver mooring setups. (a) Newly installed shallow water acoustic receiver mooring; (b) recovered deep-water acoustic receiver mooring

Lord Howe Marine Park

Map of Lord Howe Marine Park (Commonwealth waters) and Lord Howe Island Marine Park (NSW waters).

by University of Western Australia

Map of Lord Howe MP

Detailed map showing acoustic receiver locations (black circles) and shark tagging locations (red crosses). Solid dark red lines show the boundaries of the Lord Howe MP (Commonwealth waters) and the Lord Howe Island Marine Park (NSW waters). No-take zones are marked with hashed green lines. Solid black lines indicate the 20, 50 and 100m depth contours. Key: LHI = Lord Howe Island, BP = Ball’s Pyramid

* denotes receivers which were only deployed between January 2018 and January 2019

♰ indicates receivers which were deployed from January 2019 to January 2021.

by University of Western Australia

Middleton Reef, Lord Howe Marine Park

Reef Life Survey diver at Middleton Reef, Lord Howe Marine Park.

by Reef Life Survey

Moorish idols in Lord Howe Marine Park

School of Moorish idols (Zanclus cornutus) as recorded on Reef Life Survey volunteer transect, Lord Howe Island Marine Park, New South Wales. The Reef Life Survey program is a volunteer network of highly trained divers, and is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the new Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and other Australian Marine Parks such as the Cod Grounds.

by Reef Life Survey

Pleurosicya mossambica

Pleurosicya mossambica also known as the toothy goby or the Mozambique ghost goby is found on many substrates, including corals, sponges, giant clams and seaweeds, and can vary colour according to the substrate.

by Ian Shaw

RLS diver at Elizabeth Reef

Reef Life Survey (RLS) diver conducts visual census of reef biodiversity at Elizabeth Reef using standardised RLS methods as part of a collaborative survey expedition with James Cook University (JCU) and Parks Australia

Shrimp hiding from the view of a Reef Life Survey diver

Reef Life Survey volunteer swimming along 50 metre transect recording fish diversity and abundance. The Reef Life Survey program is a volunteer network of highly trained divers, and is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and other Australian Marine Parks such as the Cod Grounds.

by Reef Life Survey

Visual underwater surveys at Lord Howe Island

Reef Life Survey volunteer diver conducting underwater visual census survey of marine life, Lord Howe Island Marine Park, New South Wales. The Reef Life Survey program is a volunteer network of highly trained divers, and is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the new Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and other Australian Marine Parks such as the Cod Grounds.

by Reef Life Survey