Scientific Data
& Marine Parks
RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY
The majority of our oceans remain a mystery. It’s through scientific research that we are able to fill important knowledge gaps that can help us understand and manage the marine environment.
Our work collected data on physical and biological features of the environment. In important areas like marine parks we like to use non-destructive techniques. We deployed remote cameras and sonar technology to collect observations of the structure and biology of the sea bed and fish communities. This allows us to understand marine ecosystems, their values and characteristics.
Insights
Deakin University have invested in the most advanced oceanographic mapping technologies to better understand our marine coastal biodiversity.
The latest generation seafloor mapping systems capable of the collection of thousands of soundings per minute will be used to develop detailed pictures of our ocean floor. This information will be combined with biological data from remotely video to decipher patterns and distribution over large geographic areas.We surveyed more than 1,745 km within the park and provide full coverage picture of the sea bed across 249 km2 in the northern section of the park using cameras places across 50 sites.
Camera’s survey species over a depth range between 53–80 m and the most common habitat types was sponge dominated reef and soft sediment. The number of sponges increased with depths up to 70m and then decreased in depths greater than 75 m.
Biological surveys identified 2,966 individuals across 68 species. Snapper and velvet leatherjacket were the most abundant species. Two large-bodied shark species, sevengill shark and gummy shark, had the highest biomass of any species. The depth and amount of sponge habitat impacted on fish species we observed.
Apollo Map Data
Click on each marker to see information about that site including latitude and longitude, number of recorded species, water depth and footage of the site itself showing marine species including sponges, Australian Fur Seals, multiple fish and shark species and even the Maori Octopus.
Apollo Seafloor
The physical structure of the seabed is important for understanding the distribution of habitats and species.
What do we know about our marine environment?
We know more about the surface of Mars than we do about our coastal waters of Australia. In some areas the best information we have was collected by Matthew Flinders in 1802 when he circumnavigated Australia. What we do know is that 85% of the plants and animals found in the cool temperate waters of Australia are found no where else on Earth.
We have maps of the land - of land use, soil type, vegetation cover etc. that are critical for managing catchments and water quality in our river systems. However this level of detail is simply lost once we move beyond the coast. Understanding the marine "real-estate" such as the distribution and connectivity of habitats will not only help us in maintaining our biodiversity but will also provide critical information to help us better manage our fisheries, information to update marine charts in poorly surveyed regions and provide insights into our geological past, revealing extensions of our river systems and headlands at lower sea levels throughout geological time.
Figure legend | This map provides a detailed understanding of the structures of the sea floor. The patterns highlight shallow reef ecosystems and water swept sandy ‘waves’.