Coral bleaching on a tropical reef system. Photo: Bryan Skinner

Sadly, our oceans are being affected by overfishing, oil and gas drilling, mining, pollution and ocean acidification from climate change.

To ensure that our marine life is given proper protection for our kids to enjoy in the future - we need marine sanctuaries*

*Marine sanctuaries are safe havens for our marine life to feed and breed in – they are the only fully protected areas of marine parks, free from damaging mining, oil/gas exploration, fishing and other extraction activities.

Unique and diverse marine life

Australia boasts some of the most unique and diverse marine life in the world, according to a 10-year international global study of our oceans (Census of Marine Life Project). From our vast fringing coral reefs in the Kimberley and North Queensland, to our unique kelp forests of Southern Australian, there have been over 33,000 species found and documented.

Dugong Bay, Kimberley WA. Photo: Richard Costin

The study unlocked many secrets, not only documenting long-term and widespread declines in marine life but also the resilience of the ocean in recovering areas. Scientists predicted that there could be another 200,000 species living in our oceans still to be discovered…

This is exciting news but with overfishing, oil and gas drilling/exploration, mining, pollution and ocean acidification changing our marine ecosystems – our marine life needs our help.

“Marine species have suffered major declines over the last century - in some cases 90 per cent losses - due to human activities and may be heading for extinction, this is why marine sanctuaries are so urgently needed”, said Dr. Jill St.John of The Wilderness Society in Perth.

What areas need urgent protection?

The Wilderness Society has current marine campaigns in the following states:

• Western Australia (The Kimberley and the unique South-West)

• South Australia (The islands and coastal bays)

• Northern Australia (the coastal islands)

• Tasmania (kelp forests in state waters)

Take Action - 4 ways you can help during oceans '11.

Real Marine Parks, Surf Circle, WA 2008

1. Sign our online petition to Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke today - Support the protection of the Flatback Turtle, Dugong and the Australian Snubfin Dolphin.

2. Join our Blue Army on Facebook – friend Support Marine Sanctuaries and the Wilderness Society

3. Stay up to date. Subscribe to email updates.

4. Show your support by ordering your free 'Save Our Marine Life' sticker and display it with pride!

Pollution, primarily from burning fossil fuels and deforestation, is blanketing the Earth with ‘greenhouse gases’, which trap heat. This has increased the planet’s average temperature and already had an enormous impact on our weather, polar ice caps, and plants and animals around the world.

Global warming and marine life

Scuba action, Koh Tao, Thailand. Image courtesy of Koh Tao Dive Operators Club

A rise in average water temperatures by as little as one degree places huge pressure on delicate marine ecosystems such as coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef suffered two mass coral bleaching events in the summers of 1998 and 2002, while Dampier Archipelago in WA’s north-west had a major coral bleaching event in March of 2005.

Scientists say that coral communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria have already been decimated by climate change and cyclones while other coral reef provinces around the world have also been permanently damaged by warm sea temperatures, most severely in the Indian Ocean. Up to 90% of coral cover has already been lost in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, in the Seychelles and Congo. Bleaching stress, exacerbated by global warming, is also exhibited by soft corals, giant clams and some sponges.

Global warming is predicted to have an intensifying effect upon the world’s weather patterns, resulting in more severe storms, which ravage fragile coastal and intertidal ecosystems. Huge ice sheets are predicted to melt, which would have a significant impact upon the sea level, not only affecting life on land but also marine life in the oceans.

Fully protected Marine National Parks aid ecosystem resilience

Fully protected areas¹ are currently the best management tool for conserving many marine systems such as coral reefs because they exclude destructive extractive activities like fishing and mining. This ensures that the marine wildlife and ecosystems can exist as closely to their natural state as possible.

How does this help protect against climate change?

Bleached coral, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Copyright Greenpeace / Roger Grace

Direct impacts such as overfishing, disease and pollution weaken ecosystems making them more vulnerable to, or less likely to recover after, significant bleaching events. They also provide refuges which may aid in recolonisation of areas damaged through bleaching events.

Managing the resilience of fragile or threatened ecosystems through a system of fully protected areas integrated with sustainable management of surrounding areas, is essential to giving our marine wildlife a fighting chance.

The Wilderness Society WA calls upon our Government to put in place International scientific targets of 20-30% protection for each marine habitat type, to give our marine life the best chance of surviving in an uncertain future. Creating a system of science-based fully protected Marine National Parks will help strengthen all of WA’s unique marine ecosystems, which are facing 'death by a thousand cuts', and will also protect beautiful areas that our children will be able to enjoy into the future.

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¹ Fully protected areas are also known as marine sanctuaries, no-take zones or Marine National Parks. Non-extractive activities such as snorkelling, diving, swimming, and sailing are permitted but any activities that damage habitat or remove wildlife are prohibited.

With 40% of Australia’s coastline and less than 10% of the population, West Australians have their fair share of Australia’s marine waters. Not only does our coastline stretch more than 12,500 km, it spans over 20 degrees of latitude from 14°S in the north to 35°S in the south, including many different ecosystems. Despite its vast size, some of our marine wildlife traverses our coastline every year. Humpback Whales migrate northwards from the Antarctic Circle up along the WA coast to shelter in Camden Sound (Kimberley Coastline). Here, females give birth and suckle their young for their first few months until their calves are strong enough for the arduous swim back south for a summer of feeding in the antarctic. Camden Sound is crucial habitat for the Humpback Whale, a protected species in Australia.

A curious current

The marine environment of Western Australian is unusual because of the Leeuwin Current, the longest, continuous coastal current in the world. The Leeuwin Current flows down the west coast from the North West Shelf and turns east at Cape Leeuwin flowing past the Great Australian Bight, bringing warm, relatively low salinity and nutrient poor tropical waters along the edge of the continental shelf. This current allows WA’s marine life to be extraordinary because many tropical species occur much further south than usual.

The Leeuwin current from Ridgway and Condie, 2004

Extraordinary and diverse ecosystems

With tropical species dominating the northern waters and temperate species prevailing in the southern ocean, the transitional zone in-between has most unusual communities: at the Abrolhos Islands, temperate seagrasses live beside tropical corals. Incredibly, as much as 10% of the shallow water marine life is only found in WA and much of the rest are Australian locals too.

Marine management planning in WA

At present, there are no functioning regional marine plans in WA. Thus, WA’s marine environment is facing continual demise through small, but ad-hoc decisions by federal, state and local governments. Currently only 2.4% of our state’s marine waters are fully protected, despite multi-use marine parks implemented in nearly 12% of our coastal waters. The federal government has yet to implement National Marine Parks in its offshore waters (from 3 nautical miles out to the EEZ).

The role of fully protected Marine Parks

Fully protected areas (marine sanctuaries) are currently the best management tool for conserving many marine systems because they exclude destructive extractive activities like fishing and mining. To give our marine wildlife a fighting chance for survival, our ecosystems need to exist as close to their natural state as possible.

Locally, direct impacts such as overfishing, dredging, pollution, coastal development and industrialization weaken our coastal ecosystems. Globally, warming seas, acidification of the oceans, industrialised overfishing and loss of fragile marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, are affecting the health of our marine wildlife.

More WA campaign information