Report

Eastern Recherche Marine Park protects waters around islands of the Recherche Archipelago, which were once joined to the mainland. Surrounding a representative sample of the Archipelago’s 150 islands, Eastern Recherche Marine Park protects a mosaic of macroalgae-dominated rocky reef, seagrass, sand and rhodolith habitats. The unusually clear water in the region, attributed to lower levels of primary production, results in deep light penetration and allows these spectacular habitats to thrive at depths of up to 50 metres.

The park is located 135 kilometres east of Esperance. It covers 20,575 square kilometres, and has National Park and Special Purpose zones. – Parks Australia

Eastern Recherche ranges from less than 5 to 5,756 metres depth, with an average depth of 3,406 metres. The majority of the park (60%) falls within the abyssal zone (4,000-6,000 metres) [view on map]. The mapped areas of the seafloor are dominated by Plane (56%) and Slope (17%) morphological features [view on map].

Seafloor imagery (Squidle+) exists for this Park but has not yet been annotated.

All data
Public/analysed data
Coverage and accessibility of bathymetry (AusSeabed) and habitat observations (SQUIDLE+; green, GlobalArchive; purple, and MARS database; orange) for selected region.

What's known about the Eastern Recherche marine park?

The current state of research knowledge (bathymetry, physical and biological observations, seafloor habitat maps) for this region.
Habitat and bathymetry summaries last refreshed August 2024. Habitat observations are refreshed weekly from data providers.

Habitat

Habitat Area (km²) Mapped (%)
% of coverage (relative to surveyed area)
Total (%)
% of coverage (relative to total region area)

Bathymetry

Resolution Area (km²) Mapped (%)
% of coverage (relative to surveyed area)
Total (%)
% of coverage (relative to total region area)

Habitat Observations

  • 0 imagery deployments (0 campaigns)
  • 0 video deployments (0 campaigns)
  • 0 sediment samples (0 analysed) from 0 surveys

Research Effort

Data Quality

What's in the Eastern Recherche marine park?

Underwater seafloor imagery and dominant seafloor annotations from this region.

Imagery

Representative
Highlights
Loading imagery deployment data...

Pressures acting on the Eastern Recherche marine park

The pressures and activities occurring in this region.

Pressures & Activities