« South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network
| Click on the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network map or select a reserve | |||
 | |||
East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Overview
| Name | East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve |
|---|---|
| Proclamation date | 28 June 2007 (effective 3 September 2007) |
| Area | 4,137 km2 |
| Types of zoning | VI – Multiple Use Zone |
| Management plan status | Interim management arrangements |
East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve covers 4,137 square kilometres of Commonwealth ocean territory and contains representative samples of an extensive network of canyons, continental slope and escarpment in depths from 600 metres to deeper than 4,000 metres.
Special features
The East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve has impressive geomorphic features such as rocky-substrate habitat, submarine canyons, escarpments and a knoll which juts out from the base of the continental slope. These amazing features are 600 to 4000 metres below sea level.
The East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve area includes both warm and temperate waters and free-floating aquatic plants or microscopic plants (i.e. phytoplankton) communities. Complex seasonality in oceanographic patterns influences biodiversity and local productivity. There are summertime incursions of the warm East Australian Current and a wintertime cascade of cold water from Bass Strait that sinks along the upper slope and forms a temperature front. This cold front helps nutrients come to the surface and in turn this supports a diverse phytoplankton community and other sea life. The area may also include foraging area for wandering albatross.
Southern Right Whale