Article
Watturu Kaartidjin Biddiwah – Pathways of ocean knowledge
Jun 4, 2026
For the past five years, the Marine and Coastal Hub has been walking alongside the Wadandi people of south-western Australia. The Wadandi are Traditional Owners of the Country stretching from Capel below Bunbury, inland to Nannup, and south to Taalinup (Augusta). As Saltwater People, they draw their name from Wadan, the ocean spirit. Our collaboration…
‘Western’ southern right whale recovery remains stalled, 2025 survey shows
Jun 3, 2026
The annual aerial survey coincides with the seasonal migration of right whales to these areas where females nurse their young. It began in 1976 and has been supported by the National Environmental Science Program since 2015. In 2025, the survey team counted 646 whales, including 304 female-calf pairs and 38 unaccompanied animals. The number of…
Comprehensive mapping shows exposure of pygmy blue whales to existing threats is low, but knowledge gaps remain
Jun 3, 2026
The new mapping allows for better planning, regulation and management of proposed activities that may affect the pygmy blue whale. It also highlights gaps in knowledge about this blue whale subspecies. More data collection is needed to understand the whales’ exposure to threats, and the potential impact, particularly in areas earmarked for the development of…
Ten years on: tracking mangrove recovery in the Gulf of Carpentaria
Jun 3, 2026
In September and November 2025, researchers returned to six long-term monitoring sites across the Gulf of Carpentaria. These sites were first measured in 2018, following the widespread mangrove loss in 2015. The team remeasured mangrove field transects to re-evaluate the condition of mangrove shoreline vegetation and to track recovery and changes in sediment levels. These on-ground…
Pooling opportunities for wetland restoration in Northern Australia
Jun 3, 2026
Adapt Land&Sea is an information and guidance platform to help biodiversity and conservation managers respond to climate change, offering science-based tools and strategies to support adaptation in land and sea management. Still under development, the platform also includes case studies from across Australia to show how managers are considering and undertaking adaptation in real-world settings….
Making marine environmental data more assessment-ready
Jun 3, 2026
A hub project is delivering new tools that make Australia’s marine data easier to use in environmental decision-making and reporting. The project has responded directly to the issue described above by developing data pipelines to transform complex research datasets into consistent, accessible and ‘assessment-ready’ products that can support reporting, planning and policy. This work draws…
Taking the loneliness out of coastal restoration
Jun 3, 2026
This month the ACRN published the first of three short videos capturing positive feedback from its third annual symposium held at Canberra last year (2025). Presentations at the event shared progress on government nature repair strategies and programs, restoration projects, and regulatory and technical challenges being tackled by researchers, industry, non-profit organisations and Traditional Custodians….
Getting in sync with grey nurse shark aggregations
Jun 3, 2026
The formal identification of aggregation sites underlies conservation actions for threatened species worldwide. The international Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) Framework and the national framework for determining Biologically Important Areas (BIA) for marine species have been developed to support this process. Australia’s existing definition of grey nurse shark aggregations was determined in the early…
Strong survival rates for tagged sawfish in the Gulf of Carpentaria
Mar 16, 2026
During a trip to the Cape York Peninsula in late 2025, scientists worked alongside commercial fishers to collect tissue samples and tag a 4.2-metre adult male largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis), which was caught by the fishers at the mouth of the Holroyd River. The animal was fitted with two satellite miniPAT tags to track its movements…
A century of shared seagrass data strengthens Sea Country management across northern Australia
Mar 16, 2026
Along northern Australia’s vast coastline, seagrass meadows support dugongs and turtles, shelter fish, store carbon and protect shorelines. They are also central to the culture and livelihoods of First Nations communities. Yet, despite decades of research, much of the historical information on seagrass has remained scattered. Data were often stored in separate reports, unpublished files…