Solitary Islands Marine Park Mapping and Seabed features report

The Solitary Islands Marine Park (Commonwealth waters) surrounds the Solitary Islands Marine Park (NSW state waters) and stretches from Sandon in the north to Coffs Harbour in the south.

Occupying the Sea Country of the Gumbaynggirr People and Yaegl People First Nations communities, both marine parks protect submerged landscapes and a range of inherent cultural values. Both parks are located where a unique confluence of warm tropical waters from the East Australian Current and the cooler temperate waters of the Tasman Sea result in a remarkable biodiversity of marine life, including the mixing of many tropical and temperate coral species, many close to the southern extent of their geographical range for Australia’s east coast.

The marine park supports a wide range of species of special conservation interest including an aggregation site for the critically endangered east coast population of grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) at Pimpernel Rock National Park Zone. It also provides habitat for white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), black cod (Epinephelus daemelii), a migratory pathway for the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), breeding habitat for Indo-Pacific/spotted bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) and various migratory seabirds. A key management focus for the marine park is the conservation of biological communities associated with the key ecological feature known as ‘continental shelf rocky reefs’ including such features as Pimpernel Rock.

This project delivered its aim of providing an understanding of previously unmapped deeper areas of the Solitary Islands Marine Park (Commonwealth waters) (SIMP) by high-resolution bathymetric, substrate and habitat mapping. It also provided an unexpected opportunity for First Nations Sea Country Rangers to participate in the research and build their knowledge of their Sea Country and capacity to manage it by enabling them to operate the research vessel and gain sea-time towards their coxswains qualifications.

Until now, more than 70% of SIMP’s seabed remained unmapped at high resolution and a baseline picture of the distribution of sediment types, landforms and key reef biota was largely unknown. The data and information from this survey provide, for the first time, a complete (100% mapped) picture of the seabed. Filling this knowledge gap is key to support the development of a long-term monitoring program and effective management of SIMP and its natural assets as part of the Temperate East Network (TE Network) into the future.