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Fish & Marine Invertebrates

With a coastline that stretches over 37,000 kilometres (23,000 miles), Australia lines three of the world’s largest oceans. Consequently, the country’s waters are diverse, ranging from tropical seas, through to temperate and sub-Antarctic waters.

Perhaps, there is no greater association with Australia’s marine offering than its coral reefs. Venturing to Australia's west coast, the world's largest extensive fringing reef is found in the Ningaloo Marine Park, home to the graceful Whale Shark, the world's largest migration of Humpback Whales and 50 per cent of Indian Ocean's coral species.The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on earth and one of the most complex ecosystems. Stretching 2,300 kilometres off the continent's northeast, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is roughly the same area as Japan, Germany, Malaysia or Italy. 

But it is the richness of Australia’s temperate marine environments that is surprising. By far the greatest proportion of biodiversity is found along the southern Australian coastline where 85% of fish, 90% of echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers) and 95% of molluscs are considered endemic with new species being discovered everyday.

Australia’s oceans support over 5,000 species of fish, more than half of the shark and ray species in the world, six of the seven known species of marine turtles, tens of thousands of species of invertebrates, over half of the world’s 58 seagrass species, and countless micro-organisms. Life beneath the surface in Australia is simply extraordinary.