Norfolk Marine Park surrounds Norfolk Island, an offshore land mass recognised for its commercial and conservation values. Running through the marine park is the Norfolk Ridge, a long, narrow, steep-sided undersea ridge with seamounts and pinnacles. It acts as a line of oceanic stepping stones for faunal dispersal of deep water species between New Zealand to New Caledonia. Norfolk Marine Park is also recognised for its cultural values, with several important archaeological sites within the Park boundaries revealing its Polynesian heritage.

The park begins 1,400 kilometres east of Evans Head in New South Wales, covering 188,444 square kilometres. It has National Park and Multiple Use zones, as well as a Special Purpose Zone immediately around the island itself. This Special Purpose Zone allows both conservation and sustainable use in an area highly valued by the Norfolk community. – Parks Australia

Norfolk ranges from the high tide mark to 4,552 metres depth, with an average depth of 2,354 metres. The majority of the Park (56%) falls within the lower-slope zone (2,000-4,000 metres) [view on map]. The mapped areas of the seafloor are dominated by Plane (57%) and Slope (19%) morphological features. Seamounts/Guyots and Pinnacles have been mapped in this Park [view on map].

Based on annotations from publicly available seafloor imagery (Squidle+), the five most dominant seafloor categories in this Park are:

• Shallow: macroalgae (56%), coral biota (37%), sponges (2%), non-coral cnidaria (2%), sand (1%)
• Mesophotic to Abyss: no public imagery available