This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Emerging Priorities project "A trophic-ecology based tool to assess and manage HAB impacts on marine ecosystems". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- South Australia’s 2025 harmful algal bloom (HAB) caused mortality across multiple trophic levels, from primary producers to top predators. This highlighted the need for tools that assess reef ecosystem condition and recovery using food-web structure, not only species counts or biomass estimates. This Emerging Priorities project will develop a trophic integrity framework for assessing subtidal reef condition across South Australia’s marine estate. The framework will support development of a Normalised Reef Status Index (NRSI) based on relative biomass across trophic levels, using biodiversity datasets from Reef Life Survey and the Australian Temperate Reef Collaboration, along with stereo-BRUV surveys and long-term habitat, plankton and water-quality monitoring. The project will model relationships between reef condition and environmental, disturbance and management drivers, enabling assessment of the 2025 HAB and marine heatwave impacts, recovery trajectories, and areas most vulnerable to future events. It will integrate existing and new biodiversity datasets with trophic and spatial analyses to provide a science-based assessment of subtidal reef condition. A web-based decision-support tool will be used to visualise reef condition, disturbance impacts and recovery, and to explore management options such as spatial protection, habitat restoration, fishing closures and rezoning. A technical report with management recommendations will support the SA HAB Science Program, state and Commonwealth agencies, marine park management, and public engagement. Outputs • Quantitative models linking trophic integrity indicators (including the NRSI) with environmental and management drivers [modelling framework] • Spatial prediction and vulnerability maps identifying reef areas most affected by the 2025 HAB and areas most susceptible to future disturbance events [dataset] • Interactive web-based decision-support dashboard for visualising reef condition, disturbance impacts and recovery trajectories, with scenario-testing functionality [tool] • Final technical report [written]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Research Plan 2023 project "Monitoring, aggregation areas and approaches to improve data effectiveness for southern right whale conservation". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Southern right whales are listed as Endangered under the EPBC Act and are recovering slowly from historical whaling. In Australia, recovery differs between the growing western population and the more poorly understood eastern population, where available data are largely opportunistic. Improved abundance estimates, photo-identification workflows, aggregation-area assessment, and understanding of connectivity are needed to support conservation management. This project delivered priority information for southern right whale conservation through four linked components: (1) long-term aerial surveys of the western population; (2) expansion and integration of photo-identification datasets within the Australian Right Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue (ARWPIC); (3) development of statistical approaches to combine opportunistic and systematic observations; and (4) collection of movement and genomic data to assess connectivity between eastern and western subpopulations. The project continued annual aerial surveys from Perth to Ceduna to update abundance trends and reproductive parameters for the western population. Photo-identification images and metadata were collated from archived, targeted, and opportunistic sources across eastern and western aggregation areas, supporting matching of individual whales, assessment of reproductive areas, and estimation of population parameters. The project also developed methods to expand the use of opportunistic sightings data alongside systematically collected observations, improving capacity to estimate population size, trends, recovery rates, residency, site fidelity, and connectivity. Movement, photo-identification, and genomic data collected near the boundary of the eastern and western subpopulations, particularly around Encounter Bay and adjacent waters, supported assessment of population structure, whale movements, habitat use, and potential exposure to human activities. The outputs of this project support updates to the national Southern Right Whale Conservation Management Plan, Biologically Important Area (BIA) mapping, marine park management, and risk assessments for marine industries and tourism. Consultation and engagement with Indigenous groups in South Australia and Western Australia enabled communication of research goals and findings, supported knowledge sharing, and identified opportunities for collaboration and capacity building linked to southern right whale conservation. Outputs • Individual whale photo-identifications in aggregation areas [ARWPIC image catalogue] • Aerial survey data for 2023, 2024, 2026 [dataset] • Exposure to single and cumulative threats [dataset] • Whale tracking tracking, behaviour, and dive data [dataset] • Final project report [written]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Emerging Priorities project "Assessing impacts of harmful algal bloom events on South Australian benthic habitats". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- In early 2025, South Australia experienced an unprecedented harmful algal bloom (HAB) dominated by Karenia species, with high concentrations in Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf. These gulfs support diverse benthic habitats, iconic biodiversity, and important commercial and recreational fisheries. The rapid development of the bloom and challenges associated with accessing affected areas limited timely assessment of impacts to benthic ecosystem. This Emerging Priorities project will assess HAB impacts by repeating recent benthic surveys at impacted sites across both gulfs. The project will take advantage of existing pre-bloom baseline data, allowing robust before-after comparisons with minimal confounding by seasonal or inter-annual trends. The assessment will integrate towed-camera habitat imagery, stereo-BRUV fish assemblage surveys, benthic trawl data and environmental measurements. Towed-camera resurveys will provide post-bloom imagery, and visual and quantitative assessments of habitat condition. Repeat stereo-BRUV surveys will assess changes in relative abundance, richness and composition of fish and larger invertebrate communities across seagrass and sand habitats. The findings will inform the South Australian HAB Science Program, support development of HAB-related coastal habitat monitoring, and provide evidence for state and Commonwealth agencies to prioritise future monitoring, research and management actions. Outputs • Post-HAB benthic imagery [imagery] • Quantitative assessment of impacts on benthic habitat and fish communities [dataset] • Final technical report [written]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Updating knowledge of Australian white sharks". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- The white shark is listed as Vulnerable and Migratory under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. Previous NESP-funded research provided updated estimates of breeding population size and trend, but uncertainty remained around juvenile nursery and pupping areas, movement patterns, and connectivity between eastern and south-western Australian populations. More recent evidence has also raised the possibility of a single Australian population. This project aimed to reduce uncertainty in the status, trends and population structure of white sharks in Australian waters, with a focus on identifying biologically important habitats and improving population assessment through expanded close-kin mark-recapture (CKMR) analyses. The project combined three major components: (1) pilot tagging studies of large adult females and juvenile sharks to improve understanding of movements, pupping areas and habitat use; (2) genetic analyses to assess stock structure and connectivity using samples collected across Australia, and where possible from South Africa and New Zealand; and (3) updated population assessment using expanded tissue sample collections and close-kin mark-recapture methods. Population estimates incorporated approximately 1,000 tissue samples from New South Wales together with additional samples from South Australia and Western Australia. Juvenile abundance information from the New South Wales shark management program was also integrated into the assessment framework. CKMR approaches used genetic identification of parent-offspring and half-sibling relationships to estimate adult abundance, survival and population trends. Project outputs included updated estimates of population size and trend, improved understanding of population connectivity and movement patterns, and refined information on potential nursery and critical habitat areas. These findings support white shark recovery planning, future monitoring design, and conservation assessment in Commonwealth and state waters. Outputs • New genetic samples and sequencing data for white sharks [dataset] • Tracking data from PAT tags [dataset] • Final technical report (including recommendations for systematic future research to assist in identifying additional critical habitat for the south-western white shark population) [written]