Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve

Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Australia
Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Nearest town or city Kingscote, South Australia
Coordinates 35°45′52.56″S 136°17′3.84″E / 35.7646000°S 136.2844000°E / -35.7646000; 136.2844000Coordinates: 35°45′52.56″S 136°17′3.84″E / 35.7646000°S 136.2844000°E / -35.7646000; 136.2844000
Established 8 December 2012 (2012-12-08)[1]
Area 2,335.31 km2 (901.7 sq mi)[2]
Managing authorities Department of the Environment and Energy
Website Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve

Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a marine protected area located south of South Australia in waters within the Australian Exclusive economic zone to the south-west of Kangaroo Island and ranging in depth from 15 metres (49 feet) to 165 metres (541 feet).[3][4]

It was gazetted in November 2012.[1]

It is part of a group of Commonwealth marine reserves managed by the Department of the Environment and Energy known as the South-west Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network. It is intimately associated with the Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park managed by the Government of South Australia which it both bounds on its north-west side and fully encloses the portion of the state marine park surrounding Lipson Reef near its eastern extent.[5][4]

The reserve includes ecosystems representative of the bioregion known as the "Spencer Gulf Shelf Province", two "key ecological features" consisting of firstly of a feature known as the "Kangaroo Island Pool" and the associated "Eyre Peninsula upwelling" both notable for their "high productivity, breeding and feeding aggregations" and secondly of a feature described as "Ancient coastline" within a depth range of 90–120 metres (300–390 ft) and as being of "high productivity", a calving area for southern right whale and feeding areas for the following species - Australian sea lion, blue whale, Caspian tern, great white shark, short-tailed shearwater and sperm whale.[3]

The reserve consists of two zones - a marine national park zone (IUCN Category II) with an area of 120 square kilometres (46 square miles) and a special purpose zone (IUCN Category VI) with an area of 2,215 square kilometres (855 square miles).[2][4]

Map of southern Western Australia and South Australia
The South-west Corner Marine Reserves Network, including the Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Commonwealth Marine Reserves) Proclamation 2012 - F2012L02188". Commonwealth of Australia, Comlaw. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Collaborative Australian Protected Area Database (CAPAD) - consolidated data set for all marine protected areas in Australian State and Commonwealth waters (refer "DETAIL’ tab)". Department of the Environment. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve". Department of the Environment (DoE). Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Western Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve - Maps". Department of the Environment (DoE). Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park Management Plan 2012" (PDF). Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources. 2012. p. 28. Retrieved 15 May 2014.


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