Stand Up for Our Coral Sea Whales and Sharks

Photo: Lucy TrippettThe Coral Sea is a place where whales swim freely in warm tropical waters and coral reefs pulse with amazing colourful life. Now is our chance to protect this rare and unique place forever, but we need your help to get it over the line.

It will only take a minute of your time that will set aside a future for our precious marine life, for the benefit of future generations.

This ocean wilderness is a hotspot for whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and powerful fish like tuna and marlin. Located next to Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, the Coral Sea is home to 28 species of whales and dolphins and pods of up to 400 melon-headed and false killer whales have been sighted. 26 of these magnificent species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red list of threatened species, including the endangered Blue, Sei and Fin whales as well as bottlenose, spinner and striped dolphins.

Sharks are in deep trouble globally. Fortunately in the Coral Sea great numbers still swim in its clear waters, just as they have for millions of years.  46 internationally threatened species of sharks and rays live around the Coral Sea’s reefs, seamounts and vast open ocean. The endangered squat and scalloped headed hammerhead shark, Great Whites and Makos, Manta Rays and spotted eagle rays also call it home.

Surely a place where 341 Red Listed threatened species are found deserves our greatest protection!

With much of our global waters fished to the brink, polluted with toxic water, or littered with oil and gas developments, the Coral Sea is truly a special place. But it needs your help to stay this way.

Our Federal Environment Minister is now considering protecting the Coral Sea in a marine park and whilst his vision for the Coral Sea is encouraging - his plan would leave over 90% of the reefs unprotected. How can we protect the Coral Sea without protecting its coral reefs?

It’s not just the reefs that are missing out. The underwater volcanoes of the Coral Sea act like an oasis in the desert. Nutrients swell around these ancient landmarks drawing sharks and other predators from the miles around. Incredibly many of these amazing features and the animals they sustain will still fall victim to industrial scale longlining under the Minister’s Coral Sea plan.

Coral reefs occupy less than 1% of the worlds ocean surface, yet they provide a home for 25% of all marine species, with over one million species believed to be dependant on coral reefs for their survival.

One fifth of the worlds coral reefs have already perished and half the remaining reefs may disappear in only 20 years. The Coral Sea is one of the last great relatively unspoilt marine ecosystems left on earth.

We’ve only got until the 24^th of February to make our voices heard. Please stand up and be the voice of the whales, sharks, dolphins and other marine life in the Coral Sea today.

Please make a quick submission today

For further information http://www.protectourcoralsea.org.au/

Photo: Lucy Trippett

Maori humphead wrasse. Photo: Tyrone Canning