SA's Unique Marine Environment

Background

With over 3,700km of coastline, South Australia’s marine and coastal environments are some of the most spectacular and diverse on earth, supporting an abundance of rare and endangered marine mammals, plants and fish species, within eight distinctive bioregions.

SA has over three times the number of seaweed species found in tropical waters in Australia (1200 spp) and has the greatest diversity of ascidians (or sea squirts) in the world with over 200 spp. SA records some of the highest levels of diversity of lace corals (bryzoans) in the world with over 500 recorded spp, and is also home to some of the highest numbers of seagrass species, with many of them only occurring here in SA.

Despite this incredibly unique marine world, less than 4% of South Australian waters have any form of protection. SA now lags behind other states in protecting its marine environment, despite government rhetoric that has been promising marine protection for years.

The Wilderness Society has long campaigned for protection of our marine environment. In South Australia, we championed the creation of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park, and 2004 saw the State Government remove mining rights from the state waters of the park. In 2007 we managed to secure the passage of the historic Marine Parks Act through the SA Parliament, the mechanism enabling the Government to deliver on its State Strategic Plan committment of 19 Marine Parks by 2010...time will tell!

The Wilderness Society’s Campaign

The Wilderness Society is campaigning for a system of Marine Parks and Wilderness Protection Areas throughout South Australian waters, to be set within a marine planning system based on Ecosystem Management Principles. This will provide for "seascape" wide conservation – a marine equivalent to The Wilderness Society’s WildCountry "whole of landscape" conservation approach.

Profile – The Australian Sea Lion

The Australian Sea Lion is an endangered marine mammal found only in Australian waters. Hunted almost to extinction in the 1800’s, it is estimated that only about 12,000 Sea Lions remain in the wild today. 75% of this population is found within South Australian waters.

Sea Lion Pups. Photo courtesy of Patricia Payne

This curious, playful and intelligent mammal is particularly at risk of injury from fishing equipment, ship collisions, trawl net entanglements, mining activity and human interference. Over-fishing of vital prey species such as squid, octopus and shellfish has also caused their population to decline.

The establishment of well managed Marine Parks is crucial to the survival of the Australian Sea Lion. A start has been made in the Great Australian Bight Marine Park, however more needs to be done to protect important Sea Lion populations in South Australia. By protecting key habitat areas and breeding colonies of the Australian Sea Lion from commercial fishing and mining activity within strictly protected Marine Park Sanctuary Zones, the long-term survival of this iconic marine mammal can be assured.