Large marine sanctuaries needed in WA to protect whales and other unique wildlife.

The Wilderness Society and other environment groups are urging the Federal Government to move quickly to protect our unique and endangered marine life in southern WA waters following release of plans to expand oil and gas in the region.

Last month, the Federal Government announced a number of new sites to be opened up for oil and gas exploration and carbon capture and storage. These sites fall over areas being assessed for inclusion in a network of large marine sanctuaries across Australia’s south-west marine waters.  If oil and gas development goes ahead, it could be very damaging.

A recent study on the impact of the oil and gas industry in Russia, found a large decrease in the number of critically endangered whales at their primary feeding grounds in times of loud industrial noise, including seismic activity.

The Wilderness Society and other groups are concerned that similar industrial activity offshore from Perth could affect the endangered Blue Whale.

The Perth Canyon west of Rottnest Island is one of only two known feeding grounds in Australia for the Blue Whale. Blue Whales are the largest animal on Earth, growing to 37 metres. Numbers of the Blue Whale are at just 2% of pre-1800 levels and, unlike other great whales, recovery has been very slow.

Almost half the world's species of whales and dolphins are found off the waters of Western Australia, including whales that come to WA with their calves for safe haven.  The Federal Government rightly wants to protect whales in Antarctica, but there are still no large sanctuaries to protect critical whale habitat and feeding grounds in the waters off Australia’s South West marine region.

For more information, or if you would like to get involved in the campaign to Save Our Marine Life, read on >>

Further Reading

New marine sanctuaries for Australia’s south west
23 June, 2009
Most of the marine life in Commonwealth waters off south west Australia is unique to the region. Extending from Kalbarri in WA to Kangaroo Island in SA, this huge area of 1.3 million km2 currently has negligible protection - less than 1% in marine sanctuaries (‘no take’). More >>

Major new parks for marine protection in south western Australia are one step closer
22 May, 2009
An important step towards securing the globally significant south west waters of Australia was taken in May when the Commonwealth Government revealed the potential boundaries for a network of new marine protected areas. More >>

• Visit the Wilderness Society 'Marine and Coastal' special site >>