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
Bremer Marine Park
Nearest town or cityBremer Bay
Coordinates34°45′S 119°50′E
Established14 December 2013[1]
Area4,472 km2 (1,726.6 sq mi)[1]
Managing authoritiesDirector of National Parks[1]
WebsiteBremer 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]

See also

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Bremer Commonwealth Marine Reserve". South-west Commonwealth marine Reserves Network. Department of the Environment, Australia. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  3. "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.
  4. "Project ORCA – Orca Research and Conservation Australia". Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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


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