Valuing Australia’s Gascoyne Marine Park

Voyage summary

Research voyage out of Fremantle to survey seabed habitats and biodiversity in the Gascoyne Marine Park (Western Australia), which stretches from depths of less than 100 m to over 5000 m.

This voyage will provide vital data to assist marine park manager, Parks Australia, in maintaining the natural values of the Gascoyne Marine Park  and Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park , which will also be surveyed. The Gascoyne region was identified for protection as an area of national significance and a new marine park was proclaimed in 2013. The Gascoyne Marine Park lies in an area with great but poorly known biological diversity and potential for economic development. This is the first scientific baseline marine survey of the marine park. The research will involve an intensive program of surveys and sampling conducted at 52 stations across 5 transects in the marine park and surrounds.

The voyage will be led by Dr John Keesing from CSIRO and is being conducted in partnership with Parks Australia  and the Western Australian Museum , as well as leading Australian museums and research collections including the Australian National Fish Collection.

There will be 2 other projects included on this voyage:

• Triacanthodidae tissue samples (Dr Will White, CSIRO): Spikefish tissue sampling project
• BGC-Argo float deployments (Prof Tom Trull, CSIRO): Deployment of one biogeochemical Argo float.

The science team on this voyage includes 32 participants from 4 institutions, including 2 Australian museums and one New Zealand museum.

Voyage outcomes

A summary of voyage outcomes will be published approximately 3-6 months after the completion of the voyage.