We implemented a monitoring program developed by Crawford and White (2006), which was designed to assess the current condition of six key estuaries in NW Tasmania: Port Sorell, the Leven, Inglis, Black, Montagu and Arthur River estuaries. This study considered a range of water quality and ecological indictors commonly used to monitor estuaries. These included: salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, nutrients (nitrate + nitrite, dissolved reactive phosphorus and ammonia), silica molybdate reactive and chlorophyll a for the water column; chlorophyll a and macroinvertebrate community structure amongst the sediments. The data represented by this record was collected in Port Sorell.

The results of this survey are based primarily on the first hand experience of Craig Sanderson who was doing his masters thesis at the time on aspects of the biology of Macrocystis pyrifera (Linnaeus) C. Agardh 1820. In need of significant beds of M. pyrifera for research much of the east coast was searched by boat. Significant stands (>1/2 acre) were found at Darlington, Southerly Bottom (East North Bay), Fortesque Bay and George III Rock, (near Actaeon Island). The status of the few areas not visited was determined from anecdotal reports.

The Aqua and Orbview satellites carry a MODIS and SeaWIFS sensors (respectively) that observes sunlight reflected from within the ocean surface layer at multiple wavelengths. These multi-spectral measurements are used to infer the concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), most typically due to phytoplankton, present in the water. There are multiple retrieval algorithms for estimating Chl-a and aggregating the data over time. This data set is a reprocessed copy of 9km monthly and 8-day versions produced globally by NASA, adjusted for the Southern Ocean south of latitude 30S. The full methodology is described in Johnson, R., Strutton, P.G., Wright, S.W., McMinn, A., Meiners, K.M., 2013. Three improved satellite chlorophyll algorithms for the Southern Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. doi: 10.1002/jgrc.20270. It is expected that the data set will be periodically updated with contemporary data as it becomes available. There are four sub-streams within this data set. A monthly and an 8-day series for MODIS/Aqua and similarly for SeaWIFS. Note that SeaWIFS ceased operation in late 2010 so there will be no further SeaWIFS data. The data represented by this record is monthly data for SeaWIFS.

The Aqua and Orbview satellites carry a MODIS and SeaWIFS sensors (respectively) that observes sunlight reflected from within the ocean surface layer at multiple wavelengths. These multi-spectral measurements are used to infer the concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), most typically due to phytoplankton, present in the water. There are multiple retrieval algorithms for estimating Chl-a and aggregating the data over time. This data set is a reprocessed copy of 9km monthly and 8-day versions produced globally by NASA, adjusted for the Southern Ocean south of latitude 30S. The full methodology is described in Johnson, R., Strutton, P.G., Wright, S.W., McMinn, A., Meiners, K.M., 2013. Three improved satellite chlorophyll algorithms for the Southern Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. doi: 10.1002/jgrc.20270. It is expected that the data set will be periodically updated with contemporary data as it becomes available. There are four sub-streams within this data set. A monthly and an 8-day series for MODIS/Aqua and similarly for SeaWIFS. Note that SeaWIFS ceased operation in late 2010 so there will be no further SeaWIFS data. The data represented by this record is weekly data for MODIS/Aqua.

The Aqua and Orbview satellites carry a MODIS and SeaWIFS sensors (respectively) that observes sunlight reflected from within the ocean surface layer at multiple wavelengths. These multi-spectral measurements are used to infer the concentration of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), most typically due to phytoplankton, present in the water. There are multiple retrieval algorithms for estimating Chl-a and aggregating the data over time. This data set is a reprocessed copy of 9km monthly and 8-day versions produced globally by NASA, adjusted for the Southern Ocean south of latitude 30S. The full methodology is described in Johnson, R., Strutton, P.G., Wright, S.W., McMinn, A., Meiners, K.M., 2013. Three improved satellite chlorophyll algorithms for the Southern Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. doi: 10.1002/jgrc.20270. It is expected that the data set will be periodically updated with contemporary data as it becomes available. There are four sub-streams within this data set. A monthly and an 8-day series for MODIS/Aqua and similarly for SeaWIFS. Note that SeaWIFS ceased operation in late 2010 so there will be no further SeaWIFS data. The data represented by this record is monthly data for MODIS/Aqua.

Characterisation of lobster (Jasus edwardsii) abundance and change in abundance at three different sampling sites (Cape Paul Lemanon, North Bay and Fortescue Bay) on the south-east coast of Tasmania, was assessed by GPS tracked SCUBA diver swims of 60 minutes in length whereby GPS was logged approximately every 5 seconds. Large tagged Rock Lobsters were introduced into one of the sampling sites, North Bay (which was closed to fishing). The swims are also being used to assess the impact of reef closure on the local lobster population.

The data is a collection of reef habitat structure measurements from sites around Tasmania with regional snapshots from Jurien Bay (WA) and Jervis Bay (NSW). Explanatory variables investigated were depth, duration of protection from fishing within marine protected area, rugosity, boulder substratum at a site, the average number of refuge size categories, and a fractal refuge index that reflected the frequency distribution of different sized physical refuges. Also considered were biogenic habitat structure in the form of the percent cover of canopy algae and the biomass of predatory fish.

Mesozooplankton community composition and structure were examined throughout the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Huon Estuary and North West Bay, Tasmania, from November 2004 to October 2005, the data represented by this record was collected on the 06/09/2005. The composition of the mesozooplankton community was typical of inshore, temperate marine habitats, with seasonally higher abundance in summer and autumn and lower numbers in winter and spring. Copepods were the largest contributors to total abundance across all seasons and stations, while cladocerans and appendicularians were proportionally abundant in spring and summer. The faecal pellets of these three main groups, along with those of krill and amphipods, also contributed significantly to material recovered from sediment traps. Meroplanktonic larvae of benthic animals showed short-term peaks in abundance and were often absent from the water column for long periods. Spatially, North West Bay and the Channel had a higher representation of typically marine species, including Calanus australis and Labidocera cervi, while truly estuarine species, such as the copepod Gladioferens pectinatus, were more important in the Huon Estuary.

The dataset measures the long-term seasonal means of the chlorophyll a concentrations of ocean surface waters. They are derived from MODIS (aqua) images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software. The monthly chlorophyll a images between July 2002 and December 2017 are used to calculate the means of the four austral seasons: winter (June, July, and August), spring (September, October and November), summer (December, January and February) and autumn (March, April and May). The extent of the dataset covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean). The unit of the dataset is mg/m3. This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub through Project D1.