CONSERVATION
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This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2024 project "Grey Nurse Shark aggregations". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- The grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) has been protected in Australian Commonwealth waters since 1996. Although historically distributed across southern Australia, in October 2001 the grey nurse shark was listed as two separate populations with different protection listings under the EPBC Act of 1999: Critically Endangered in eastern Australia, and Vulnerable in Western Australia. Grey nurse sharks (GNS) tend to aggregate at specific sites along migration routes. There are currently 19 identified key aggregation sites along the eastern seaboard. Recent observations indicate that this definition requires revision to account for factors such as seasonal movements and to be applicable to the Western Australian population. This project aims to collate existing information on key aggregation sites and ‘new’ sites where GNS have been found to gather (both in eastern and western Australia). This information will be used to refine the definition of key aggregation site and develop criteria to allow assessment of new sites. This project will also investigate potential sites in Victoria where the least amount of information is available. Outputs • Spatial information on key Grey Nurse Shark aggregation sites [dataset] • Final project report [written]
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Fixed position oxygen and water temperature logger data from the Macquarie Harbour World Heritage Area (WHA). Two Hobo oxygen data loggers are positioned at approximately 15 m depth at different sites within the WHA, with the intent of monitoring representative mid-bottom water oxygen values in the WHA as these were identified in previous studies to be naturally low due to limited seawater exchange at the harbour entrance, and thus likely to be most susceptible to anthropogenic factors that may increase oxygen demand and alter WHA conservation values. These values include core habitat of the Maugean Skate, a listed threatened species. This work is funded by WHA advisory board via the Nature Conservation Branch of DPIPWE and is part of a larger study being conducted by IMAS undertaking a biological baseline study of the biodiversity of the Macquarie Harbour WHA. This data spans 08/11/14 to present (most recent update 02/02/17).