Bremer Marine Park

About

Bremer Marine Park is a marine park adjacent to Bremer Bay, on the south coast of Western Australia. It has an area of 4,472 km2 (1,727 sq mi) and reaches depths of 5,900 metres (19,400 ft). It was officially zoned as a national park under the Australian government's South-west Marine Parks Management Plan (2018), and thus protects numerous species of flora and fauna. This marine biodiversity (and the presence of orca) is the primary contributing factor to the area's popularity; ecotourism, whale watching, and other nature-related tourist activities bring various socioeconomic benefits to the local area and further solidify the importance of the marine park. However, Bremer Marine Park is no less threatened by the same issues that affect marine ecosystems anywhere else, such as illegal fishing and dumping, as well as human disturbance of sensitive species of cetaceans, among other animals, potentially disrupting their natural behaviours (including reproduction). For these reasons, systems and legislations have been put into place to further protect the marine park and its ecosystems and biodiversity, and to continue allowing for scientific research and public appreciation and education.

The environment, climate and location plays a key role in the activities, behaviours, survival and interactions of flora and fauna in Bremer Bay Marine Park, affecting whether the species in question is resident, migratory or otherwise. [ citation needed ]

The geomorphological construction of Bremer Canyon influences the currents and water movements, as well as upwelling of nutrients. Bremer Bay contains several different, interacting currents which are vital to the well-being of the species inhabiting the Marine Park. For example, the Leeuwin Current transports warmer, tropical waters across the southwestern coast of the continent, thus increasing the water temperature in Bremer. Currents also lead to the movement and transporting of tropical marine life from further afield; for example, the Leeuwin Current is significant to the movements of southern bluefin tuna, Western Australia salmon and migratory humpback whales, as well as many species of coral, which, in their early stages of life, float in the water column until finding an appropriate location to attach and live.

In conjunction with other water currents and the geomorphology of the marine park, ' eddies ' are formed. These are circular currents which contribute to upwelling, which involves water from the depths rising, carrying with it sediment and nutrients from the seafloor, mixing with surface waters. In the Bremer Bay region, this nutrient increase fuels algal growth, and, in turn, benefits plankton and krill populations (predominantly through chlorophyll ), which attract all the larger species to the area. These currents and upwellings are the cause of such high biological productivity in Bremer Bay's surface waters.

This biodiversity is evident in the variety of species found in the marine park. Numerous types of marine invertebrates and arthropods are present, including at least 20 species of cephalopods, 110 echinoderms, around 200 marine crustaceans (such as lobsters and crabs ), and over 100 species of cnidarians. At least 40 types of sponges have been documented. These invertebrates, inevitably, attract over 400 species of bony fishes, such as blue groper, herring and trevally, in addition to the aforementioned tuna and salmon. There have been at least 40 species of elasmobranchs documented in these waters, including bronze whaler, great white, sand tiger, scalloped hammerhead, dusky, pencil, tiger, common blacktip, lemon, spinner, megamouth, gummy and blue sharks, bowmouth and white-spotted guitarfish, numerous rays and stingarees, as well as carpet sharks like the cobbler, western, dwarf spotted, floral-banded, gulf and spotted wobbegongs.

Seabirds are plentiful, with at least 60 types of wading or shorebirds inhabiting the area, as well as various shearwater, petrel, cormorant and albatross species. Additionally, the little penguin may be seen in some areas, as well as fiordland and southern rockhopper penguins. Marine reptiles, such as sea turtles, may also be observed—notably the green, hawksbill, and loggerhead species—, as well as the occasionally-sighted elegant and yellow-bellied sea snakes.

Marine mammals are drawn by the abundant resources of these waters, including pinnipeds like the Australian sea lion, long-nosed and brown fur seals, and the southern elephant seal ; less commonly seen, though occasionally, are leopard seals, likely rogue individuals or Antarctic vagrants from further south. Cetaceans are a relatively common sight, with the largest including southern right, sperm, strap-toothed, blue and common minke whales, as well as pods of long-finned pilot whales, Indo-Pacific and common bottlenose dolphins, striped and common dolphins, in addition to the aforementioned humpback and killer whales. Other cetaceans include the pygmy sperm whale and Risso's dolphin.

The interrelationship between organisms was investigated by the University of Western Australia and the Australian government. The defining features of the ecosystems food web include the apex predator being the orca, the keystone species being the squid and krill and the main primary producer being phytoplankton.

The environment, climate and location plays a key role in the activities, behaviours, survival and interactions of flora and fauna in Bremer Bay Marine Park, affecting whether the species in question is resident, migratory or otherwise. [ citation needed ]

The geomorphological construction of Bremer Canyon influences the currents and water movements, as well as upwelling of nutrients. Bremer Bay contains several different, interacting currents which are vital to the well-being of the species inhabiting the Marine Park. For example, the Leeuwin Current transports warmer, tropical waters across the southwestern coast of the continent, thus increasing the water temperature in Bremer. Currents also lead to the movement and transporting of tropical marine life from further afield; for example, the Leeuwin Current is significant to the movements of southern bluefin tuna, Western Australia salmon and migratory humpback whales, as well as many species of coral, which, in their early stages of life, float in the water column until finding an appropriate location to attach and live.

In conjunction with other water currents and the geomorphology of the marine park, ' eddies ' are formed. These are circular currents which contribute to upwelling, which involves water from the depths rising, carrying with it sediment and nutrients from the seafloor, mixing with surface waters. In the Bremer Bay region, this nutrient increase fuels algal growth, and, in turn, benefits plankton and krill populations (predominantly through chlorophyll ), which attract all the larger species to the area. These currents and upwellings are the cause of such high biological productivity in Bremer Bay's surface waters.

This biodiversity is evident in the variety of species found in the marine park. Numerous types of marine invertebrates and arthropods are present, including at least 20 species of cephalopods, 110 echinoderms, around 200 marine crustaceans (such as lobsters and crabs ), and over 100 species of cnidarians. At least 40 types of sponges have been documented. These invertebrates, inevitably, attract over 400 species of bony fishes, such as blue groper, herring and trevally, in addition to the aforementioned tuna and salmon. There have been at least 40 species of elasmobranchs documented in these waters, including bronze whaler, great white, sand tiger, scalloped hammerhead, dusky, pencil, tiger, common blacktip, lemon, spinner, megamouth, gummy and blue sharks, bowmouth and white-spotted guitarfish, numerous rays and stingarees, as well as carpet sharks like the cobbler, western, dwarf spotted, floral-banded, gulf and spotted wobbegongs.

Seabirds are plentiful, with at least 60 types of wading or shorebirds inhabiting the area, as well as various shearwater, petrel, cormorant and albatross species. Additionally, the little penguin may be seen in some areas, as well as fiordland and southern rockhopper penguins. Marine reptiles, such as sea turtles, may also be observed—notably the green, hawksbill, and loggerhead species—, as well as the occasionally-sighted elegant and yellow-bellied sea snakes.

Marine mammals are drawn by the abundant resources of these waters, including pinnipeds like the Australian sea lion, long-nosed and brown fur seals, and the southern elephant seal ; less commonly seen, though occasionally, are leopard seals, likely rogue individuals or Antarctic vagrants from further south. Cetaceans are a relatively common sight, with the largest including southern right, sperm, strap-toothed, blue and common minke whales, as well as pods of long-finned pilot whales, Indo-Pacific and common bottlenose dolphins, striped and common dolphins, in addition to the aforementioned humpback and killer whales. Other cetaceans include the pygmy sperm whale and Risso's dolphin.

The interrelationship between organisms was investigated by the University of Western Australia and the Australian government. The defining features of the ecosystems food web include the apex predator being the orca, the keystone species being the squid and krill and the main primary producer being phytoplankton.

Climate change is defined as the long term change in weather patterns allowing for Earth's climate to change. Evidence for the Earth's cycle between hothouse and icehouse climates can be found using sedimentation and greenhouse gas data. Global Warming is the scientific theory that humans are raising the Earth's temperature primarily through increasingly burning fossil fuels causing the Earth to trap greenhouse gases which raises the Earth's temperature.

Both climate change and global warming would further cause ocean: temperature levels, acidity and greenhouse gas levels to rise. In turn, this would cause many of the existing flora and fauna to perish or migrate elsewhere. For example, scientists predict that global warming will decrease the abundance of phytoplankton (a keystone species in the Bremer Marine Park food web) in oceans.

However, some individuals dispute the existence of global warming. The main argument is due to the belief that humans are not impacting temperature, and the temperature increase is only resultant from the natural cycle of Earth's climate between hothouse and icehouse periods. This opinion is less popular among the scientific community due to the compelling evidence against it.

Climate change and global warming also have the ability to disrupt coral more commonly found at Bremer Bay, which will further disrupt food webs and chains. This is because increased temperatures lead to zooxanthellae algae leaving corals. This leads to corals having inadequate nutritional supply, further causing coral bleaching and coral death.

Fishing is a threat to biodiversity in marine areas, and is addressed as a threat to biodiversity in Bremer during a study by the National Environmental Science Programme. This is because fishing will disrupt both food webs and food chains. This is highly significant when keystone species (squid and krill) or apex predators (orca) are removed from the ecosystem. Overfishing is also a major threat to marine ecosystems, since it can both wipe out populations and significantly pollute oceans through oil and fuel leakage. [ citation needed ]