North > West Cape York
West Cape York Marine Park protects part of what is believed to be the largest single continuous seagrass meadows in Australia, providing year-round grazing for dugongs and turtles. Like much of the Gulf of Carpentaria, this marine park is relatively shallow, and it includes extensive tidal banks and offshore reefs. The waters of the park […]
North-west > Argo-Rowley Terrace
Argo-Rowley Terrace Marine Park is the largest park in the north-west. A key feature in the park is the Bowers and Oats Canyons which link the Scott Plateau to the Argo Abyssal Plain. These canyons transport sediments to the deep ocean floor, as well as altering water flows to generate periodic upwelling, enhancing biological productivity […]
North-west > Ashmore Reef
Ashmore Reef was first proclaimed a marine reserve in 1983 under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Atc 1975. The marine park surrounds the largest of three emergent oceanic reefs in the region, and is considered a biodiversity hotspot for benthic and pelagic organisms. Reef ecosystems within the marine park are covered with hard and […]
North-west > Carnarvon Canyon
Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park is located about 300 kilometres north-west of Canarvon. A significant feature within this marine park is the Carnarvon Canyon, a single-channel canyon spanning the entire depth range of the marine park. The soft sediment habitat at the base of this canyon is believed to support species typical of such deep water […]
North-west > Cartier Island
Cartier Island Marine Park is located about 45 kilometres south-east of Ashmore Reef, surrounding an unvegetated, uninhabited sandy cay and reef island. The park includes a small submerged pinnacle (Wave Governor Bank) and two shallow pools in the northeast. Much like Ashmore Reef Marine Park, this biodiversity hotspot attracts huge schools of pelagic fish, whales, […]
North-west > Dampier
Dampier Marine Park provides protection for offshore shelf habitats adjacent to the Dampier Archipelago, and includes several submerged coral reefs and shoals, including Delambre Reef and Tessa Shoals. It is also important habitat for flatback, hawksbill, loggerhead and green turtles. The park is 10 kilometres north-east of Cape Lambert, Western Australia. It covers 1,252 square […]
North-west > Eighty Mile Beach
Eighty Mile Beach Marine Park protects habitat for endangered sawfishes, and boosts food supplies for the hundreds of thousands of migratory shorebirds that use the adjacent Eighty Mile Beach, one of the most important shorebird sites in Australia. The terraces, banks and shoals in this region are inhabited by diverse pelagic and benthic fish communities, […]
North-west > Gascoyne
Gascoyne Marine Park is valued for its regionally important seafloor features. This includes the nationally unique Exmouth Plateau which is believed to modify deep-water flow and be associated with the generation of internal tides, bringing cooler and more nutrient-rich waters to the surface. Here, these nutrients help in supporting continental slope demersal fish communities that […]
North-west > Kimberley
Kimberley Marine Park includes continental shelf, slope and deep water habitats. The park includes a variety of different soft sediment and rocky reef habitats, which attract a diverse mix of marine life. It boasts some of the most diverse slope demersal fish assemblages in the country, and also protects important habitat for marine turtles and […]
North-west > Mermaid Reef
Mermaid Reef Marine Park is situated about 280 kilometres north-west of Broom. Originally proclaimed a marine park under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1975 in 1991, Mermaid Reef Marine Park is one of three coral atolls that form the Rowley Shoals, which have been described as the best geological examples of shelf atolls in […]
