scholarly journals Effect of the Queensland Shark Control Program on non-target species: whale, dugong, turtle and dolphin: a review

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 645 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Gribble ◽  
G. McPherson ◽  
B. Lane
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Loggerhead Turtle ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Leatherback Turtles ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Turtle Population

The Queensland Shark Control Program (QSCP) has recorded a long-term annual mortality of 0.1 humpback whale, 2 ‘small whales’ (species uncertain), 20 dugong, <78 turtles (species and number released uncertain), and <19 dolphin (species and number released uncertain). Available population estimates suggest that the historic impact of the QSCP would have been negligible on whales, 0.5% per year of the dugong population in the southern Great Barrier Reef, minor on green and loggerhead turtle populations, and unknown but probably minor on leatherback turtles and dolphin populations. In response to improved methods between 1992 and 1995 the average yearly mortality fell to 0 humpback whales, 4 dugong, 3 loggerhead turtles (11 turtles in total), and 10 dolphin (species uncertain); this suggests no impact on whales, 0.1% per year of the dugong population of the southern Great Barrier Reef, 1.6% of the yearly indigenous harvest of green turtles in eastern Australia, and 0.2% per year of the loggerhead turtle population in Queensland. Lack of population estimates and species identification precluded impact calculations for dolphin. The number of rare, vulnerable and endangered marine animals killed in the QSCP gear each year is in tens rather than thousands and the effect of this incidental mortality on their populations is probably minor.

scholarly journals Queensland Protects Sea Turtles

Oryx ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-24
Author(s):  
H. Robert Bustard
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Population Studies ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
History Of ◽  
Turtle Population ◽  
Protection Order ◽  
Full Protection

In 1968 the Queensland Government gave five species of turtle full protection along the State’s entire 3200-mile-long coast and the whole of the Great Barrier Reef. In this article Dr Bustard tells the history of turtle protection in Queensland and describes the two turtle population studies he has been running since 1964 which, with other studies, led to the protection order.

scholarly journals Grania (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, including four new species and a re-description of Grania trichaeta Jamieson, 1977

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2165 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
PIERRE DE WIT ◽  
EMILIA ROTA ◽  
CHRISTER ERSÉUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Interspecific Divergence ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
New Material ◽  
Voucher Specimens ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinities

This study describes the fauna of the marine enchytraeid genus Grania at two locations on the Australian Great Barrier Reef: Lizard and Heron Islands. Collections were made from 1979 to 2006, yielding four new species: Grania breviductus sp. n., Grania regina sp. n., Grania homochaeta sp. n. and Grania colorata sp. n.. A re-description of Grania trichaeta Jamieson, 1977 based on new material is also included, along with notes and amendments on G. hyperoadenia Coates, 1990 and G. integra Coates & Stacey, 1997, the two latter being recorded for the first time from eastern Australia. COI barcode sequences were obtained from G. trichaeta and G. colorata and deposited with information on voucher specimens in the Barcode of Life database and GenBank; the mean intraspecific variation is 1.66 % in both species, while the mean interspecific divergence is 25.54 %. There seem to be two phylogeographic elements represented in the Great Barrier Grania fauna; one tropical with phylogenetic affinities to species found in New Caledonia and Hong Kong, and one southern (manifested at the more southerly located Heron Island) with affinities to species found in Southern Australia, Tasmania and Antarctica.

The Flatback Turtle, Chelonia depressa, in Queensland: Post-Nesting Migration and Feeling Ground Distribution

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Limpus ◽  
CJ Parmenter ◽  
V Baker ◽  
A Fleay
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Inshore Water ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Nesting Beaches ◽  
Feeding Grounds

Between 1968 and 1981, a total of 813 adult female flatback turtles were tagged while nesting on Queensland beaches. Eight have been recovered at a distance, 216-1300 km north of their respective nesting beaches, in waters between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef. The species' principal feeding grounds seem to be in turbid, shallow inshore water off north-eastern Australia and in the Gulf of Carpentaria; there are no records beyond the continental shelf.

scholarly journals Analysis of the mixture toxicity burden in 17 rivers in north eastern Australia – implications for the Great Barrier Reef.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Spilsbury ◽  
Michael St.J Warne ◽  
Thomas Backhaus
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Mixture Toxicity ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Combined Toxicity ◽  
Guideline Values ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Individual

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a protected ecosystem, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1981. It runs for approximately 3000km along the coastline in north-eastern Australia. A total of thirty-five major river basins discharge to the GBR and many transport large loads of pesticides, suspended sediment, nutrients from agricultural land. Over the past 6 years an extensive program has been conducted by the Queensland Government to monitor concentrations of 51 pesticides and their breakdown products in 17 rivers that discharge to the GBR. To explore the potential impact that the pesticides pose to the riverine environments and to the GBR we analysed the risk posed by the individual pesticides and their mixtures. Australia currently does not have water quality guidelines for 17 of the 38 pesticides detected. For those, we calculated ecotoxicity thresholds using a simplified version of the Australian methodology for determining water quality guideline values, based on species-sensitivity distributions. In all rivers, multiple pesticides were routinely detected at concentrations greater than their level of reporting. All rivers had at least one sample where the combined toxicity was greater than 1 toxic unit (TU), i.e. exposure situations where the total pesticide concentration exceeded acceptable levels. In a number of rivers more than 50% of samples had a combined toxicity greater than 1 TU. Average TU’s per river ranged from 13.47 to 0.10, with substantial fluctuations over the seasons but without clear trends between years. The patterns indicate that specific events such as severity of wet/dry seasons and cyclone events impact the combined toxicity found. We also found land use patterns affected the combined toxicity in the river ecosystems. In each of the rivers, 90% of the expected mixture toxicity was caused by only between 2 and 6 pesticides, although the individual pesticides that dominated the combined toxicity differed between rivers.

scholarly journals A spatial analysis of seagrass habitat and community diversity in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex B. Carter ◽  
Catherine Collier ◽  
Emma Lawrence ◽  
Michael A. Rasheed ◽  
Barbara J. Robson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Seagrass Habitat ◽  
Water Type ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Seagrass Community ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
World Heritage Area ◽  
Heritage Area

AbstractThe Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) in north eastern Australia spans 2500 km of coastline and covers an area of ~ 350,000 km2. It includes one of the world’s largest seagrass resources. To provide a foundation to monitor, establish trends and manage the protection of seagrass meadows in the GBRWHA we quantified potential seagrass community extent using six random forest models that include environmental data and seagrass sampling history. We identified 88,331 km2 of potential seagrass habitat in intertidal and subtidal areas: 1111 km2 in estuaries, 16,276 km2 in coastal areas, and 70,934 km2 in reef areas. Thirty-six seagrass community types were defined by species assemblages within these habitat types using multivariate regression tree models. We show that the structure, location and distribution of the seagrass communities is the result of complex environmental interactions. These environmental conditions include depth, tidal exposure, latitude, current speed, benthic light, proportion of mud in the sediment, water type, water temperature, salinity, and wind speed. Our analysis will underpin spatial planning, can be used in the design of monitoring programs to represent the diversity of seagrass communities and will facilitate our understanding of environmental risk to these habitats.

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