Nowhere Else on Earth: Tasmania’s Marine Natural Values Environment Tasmania is a not-for-profit conservation council dedicated to the protection, conservation and rehabilitation of Tasmania’s natural environment. Australia’s youngest conservation council, Environment Tasmania was established in 2006 and is a peak body representing over 20 Tasmanian environment groups. Prepared for Environment Tasmania by Dr Karen Parsons of Aquenal Pty Ltd. Report citation: Parsons, K. E. (2011) Nowhere Else on Earth: Tasmania’s Marine Natural Values. Report for Environment Tasmania. Aquenal, Tasmania. ISBN: 978-0-646-56647-4 Graphic Design: onetonnegraphic www.onetonnegraphic.com.au Online: Visit the Environment Tasmania website at: www.et.org.au or Ocean Planet online at www.oceanplanet.org.au Partners: With thanks to the The Wilderness Society Inc for their financial support through the WildCountry Small Grants Program, and to NRM North and NRM South. Front Cover: Gorgonian fan with diver (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins). 2 Waterfall Bay cave (Photograph: © Jon Bryan). Acknowledgements The following people are thanked for their assistance The majority of the photographs in the report were with the compilation of this report: Neville Barrett of the generously provided by Graham Edgar, while the following Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the additional contributors are also acknowledged: Neville University of Tasmania for providing information on key Barrett, Jane Elek, Sue Wragge, Chris Black, Jon Bryan, features of Tasmania’s marine environment and useful Jan Leiser, David Maynard of Australian Maritime College, literature; Fiona Scott of IMAS for summary information Geoff Rollins, Alan Fletcher, Vishnu Prahalad, Judy on Tasmania’s rare algae; Vanessa Lucieer of IMAS for Crees-Morris of Australian Maritime College, and Karen providing maps and habitat data; Gretta Pecl of IMAS Gowlett-Holmes (permission via Environment Tasmania); for literature and unpublished accounts of the Southern Gretta Pecl of IMAS; Gustaaf Hallegraeff of IMAS; Anita Calamary; Eric Woehler of Birds Tasmania for literature Slotwinski of IMAS (with permission of Kerrie Swadling); and generously reviewing bird lists; Kerry Swadling of Natalie Moltschaniwskyj of the University of Newcastle; IMAS for zooplankton literature; Rachael Alderman of Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE (with permission the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water of Kris Carlyon); Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler and Environment (DPIPWE) for information on seabirds of Birds Tasmania (with permission of Eric Woehler); and marine mammals; Gustaaf Hallegraeff of IMAS Caroline Fisher of Caroline Fisher Photography; various for summary text on key attributes of phytoplankton photographers from the Australian Antarctic Division (with communities; Peter Last of CSIRO for information on permission of Jessica Fitzpatrick); Thor Carter of CSIRO endemic fishes; Christian Bell for useful publications and Marine and Atmospheric Research (with permission of information on marine conservation hotspots; Graham Alastair Graham); and Ron Mawbey, Adam Davey, Karen Edgar of Aquenal for reviewing the paper; Sasha Migus Parsons and additional staff at Aquenal. of Aquenal for meticulous editing; and various additional Graphics were prepared specifically for this report by researchers who provided copies of their publications. Nathanael Jeanneret of onetonnegraphic, while maps were generated using Seamap data by Vanessa Lucieer of IMAS. Pre-existing illustrations were provided by: Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania (with permission of Fiona Rice); CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (with permission of Craig Macaulay); Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) of the Australian Government (with permission of Sandy Stefanac); Birds Australia (with the permission of Eric Woehler); Richard Mount; IMAS (with permission of Jeremy Lyle); and the Tasmanian Planning Commission. Nowhere Else on Earth: Tasmania’s Marine Natural Values 3 Southern Sea Anemone (Phlyctenanthus australis) (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins). Executive Summary Tasmania has a spectacular coastline and diverse • Extreme variation in wave exposure due to a highly marine environments which form an integral part of indented coast, being the only state in Australia the lifestyle of many Tasmanians. Our coastal waters to experience waves from every direction, and also have extraordinary natural values that are of global incorporating the only section of Australian coast lying conservation significance on the basis of high biodiversity, in the path of the Roaring 40s westerly winds; unusually large numbers of unique species found nowhere • A very wide diversity of coastal landforms and else, and rare ecosystems within pristine underwater submarine topography, and a complex geology that wilderness areas that rival World Heritage listed lands. is exceptionally well exposed on the coast, including From magnificent Giant Kelp forests to ancient relic the oldest rock types in eastern Australia and a greater species, Critically Endangered fish, pristine seabird islands, similarity to Antarctica than other parts of Australia; commercially important fish nurseries, unique tannin- stained estuaries, luxuriant seagrass meadows, and a • A high level of tidal variation due to the broad Bass myriad of other productive habitats and rare species, our Strait shelf and associated islands creating a larger small island state is a hotspot for diverse marine life forms tidal range in the north than experienced around the and important conservation values. shallower shelf in the south; Yet the hidden nature of marine environments means that • As a result of this complex coastline, rich geology their outstanding values may not be widely appreciated and variable wave exposure and tides, an or understood, as reflected by the current protection exceptionally wide variety of marine ecosystems of just 2.6% of waters around Tasmania as opposed to that are amongst the most diverse and productive on earth, including estuaries, wetlands and 40% of land environments. The purpose of this paper is sheltered lagoons, rocky headlands and reefs, sandy to summarise what we know about Tasmania’s natural beaches, mudflats, saltmarshes, seagrass beds and marine values, and to describe what makes our state, offshore islands; including the mainland coast, offshore islands and spectacular subantarctic Macquarie Island, totally unique. • A diverse range of oceanographic influences, The location and physical attributes of the sea and seabed with Tasmania located at the meeting point of around Tasmania make it unusual within national and three major oceanographic currents that result international contexts, with this physical rarity matched in a unique mix of warm temperate through to by a biological rarity within marine plant and animal subantarctic species that is reflected throughout the communities. In particular, Tasmania possesses: food chain (i.e. phytoplankton through to seals and whales); including the northern geographical limits • A disproportionately long and highly complex coast, for species of subantarctic origin and the southern with Tasmania accounting for only 0.9% of Australia’s limits for a range of warm temperate species; area and yet 8.2% of its coastline, and including numerous estuaries and embayments and more than 6,000 islands and smaller rocky islets; 4 Low Head Shallows (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins). • Upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich subantarctic • A higher diversity and number of wetlands and water in the vicinity of Tasmania, which result internationally important bird sites relative to its in higher nutrient levels than in more northern size than any other Australian state, as well as the parts of Australia, and are key to: our high marine highest densities in Australia of a number of resident productivity, the presence of a distinctive ‘cool and migratory species, and a unique location at temperate’ assemblage, and the presence of the most southerly extremity of the East Asian- subantarctic species that are absent or rare on Australasian Flyway for migratory shorebirds; mainland Australian shores and include some of the largest and fastest growing marine plants in • A remarkable hotspot for seabird activity that the world; includes the only nationally listed Critical Habitats for marine species (albatross species), and • A location within a temperate marine region that stronghold populations of Endangered seals; has been geographically and climatically isolated from other temperate systems for around 65 million • A very large number of Threatened species, including years, leading to levels of marine diversity and 55 species listed within Tasmania or Australia ‘endemism’ (i.e. species unique to the region) that (28 seabirds, six fish, five whales, four turtles, four are amongst the highest in the world; seals/sea lions, three seastars, two estuarine grasses, one shorebird, one mollusc and one alga), and • Unusual Gondwanan ‘relic’ species with ancient additional seabird, shorebird and fish species listed ancestries, and some of the most highly restricted as globally Threatened; also, many rare species that marine species in the world, including the first fish are likely to have highly restricted distributions or listed as Endangered in Australia, one of the world’s low population numbers but have received little rarest skates, the only Australian fish recorded from study and hence are not formally