Bremer Marine Park
The Bremer Marine Park (formerly Bremer Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is a 4472 km2 marine protected area, with a depth range of about 15–5000 m, lying in the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of Western Australia about 50 km south-east of the town of Bremer Bay. An area of 284 km2, comprising the northernmost section adjoining Western Australia's coastal waters, has been zoned as a marine national park (IUCN Category II), with the remainder as multiple use or special purpose zones (IUCN Category VI).[2]
Bremer Marine Park Australia | |
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![]() ![]() Bremer Marine Park | |
Nearest town or city | Bremer Bay |
Coordinates | 34°45′S 119°50′E |
Established | 14 December 2013[1] |
Area | 4,472 km2 (1,726.6 sq mi)[1] |
Managing authorities | Director of National Parks[1] |
Website | Bremer Marine Park |
It was gazetted on 14 December 2013 and was renamed on 11 October 2017.[3][1]
Fauna
The marine park provides important seasonal calving habitat for southern right whales as well as supporting migrating humpback whales. It is a foraging area for Australian sea lions, Indian yellow-nosed albatrosses, flesh-footed shearwaters, soft-plumaged petrels and great white sharks. It also encompasses Bremer Canyon, a submarine canyon known as a biodiversity hotspot supporting seasonal aggregations of sperm and killer whales.[2]
Exploration
Marine scientists have been conducting research on megafauna in this region for over a decade.[4][5][6]
In late January 2020, RV Falkor of the Schmidt Ocean Institute started an undersea exploration of the Bremer canyon, over a 32-day period.[7]
References
- Director of National Parks (2018). South-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018 (PDF). Canberra: Director of National Parks. pp. 112–114. ISBN 978-0-9876152-4-4. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- "Bremer Commonwealth Marine Reserve". South-west Commonwealth marine Reserves Network. Department of the Environment, Australia. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Commonwealth Marine Reserves Renaming) Proclamation 2017". Federal Register of Legislation. Australian Government. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- "Project ORCA – Orca Research and Conservation Australia". Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- Wellard, Rebecca; Erbe, Christine; Fouda, Leila; Blewitt, Michelle (9 September 2015). "Vocalisations of Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer Canyon, Western Australia". PLOS One. 10 (9): e0136535. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0136535. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4564243. PMID 26352429.
- Wellard, Rebecca; Lightbody, Keith; Fouda, Leila; Blewitt, Michelle; Riggs, David; Erbe, Christine (6 December 2016). "Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Predation on Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon spp.) in the Bremer Sub-Basin, Western Australia". PLOS One. 11 (12): e0166670. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0166670. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5140045. PMID 27923044.
- Google CEO Eric Schmidt's RV Falkor bound for deep-sea discoveries in WA's Bremer Bay canyon, Tyne Logan and Ellie Honeybone, ABC News Online, 2020-01-29