Langlois T, Spencer C, Griffin K, Gibbons B, Navarro M, Giraldo A, Webb W, Webb Z, Carey G, Guilfoyle D, Monk J, Huang Z, Nichol S, Barrett N (2022) South-west Corner Marine Park Survey Report. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Western Australia.
Overview
The South-west Corner Marine Park survey used standardised methods to characterise seabed habitats and fish populations to support the ongoing monitoring of the marine park. Several small isolated high-profile reefs exist in depths of ~30-50 m in the south-east of the National Park Zone, with the majority of mid-shelf habitat consisting of flat pavement reefs interspersed with sand sediments. Both reef types supported diverse assemblages of macroalgae, seagrass, soft corals and sponges. Further offshore, ledge features at ~100 m depth support diverse filter feeders dominated by hard bryozoans, hydroids, black and octocorals and sponges. Dense filter feeding assemblages on the edge of the shelf break down to 250 m depth were populated by aggregations of hapuka (Polyprion oxygeneios). A potential aggregation site for grey nurse sharks (Carcharias taurus) within the National Park Zone was also found. Additional image annotation and analysis aims to provide further details on assemblages.
