Why Protecting the Bight Matters

The Bight is home to the iconic Bunda Cliffs that soar 80 to 100 metres vertically and stretch 100km along Australia's southern coastlines.  Below in the turquoise ocean is one of the world's most significant Southern right whale nurseries. Further, out to sea are deep-sea canyons.  The upswelling of nutrients from the colder waters feeds an abundance of marine life including giant squid, orcas, sperm, blue, fin and humpback whales. The offshore islands in the Bight are on par with the Galapagos. On and around the islands, black-footed rock wallabies, long-nosed fur seals, endangered Australian sea lions and sharks such as great whites reside. 

The Long-term Picture...

Expanding the fossil fuel industry by drilling for oil in the Great Australian Bight will contribute to the climate crisis. 

One of the key threats to our oceans is climate change. Direct ocean impacts are already being experienced, including the death of half of our Great Barrier Reef. Our oceans are becoming so acidic that in some places, life is no longer able to form. Warming oceans change ocean circulation patterns, which in turn means less food for phytoplankton growth. Phytoplankton are tiny ocean plants that contribute around 70% of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere that we need to breathe. 

Many people are unaware of the huge impact burning fossil fuels is having on our oceans: our primary life support. Our children and future generations will simply not have a liveable climate if we allow the expansion of the fossil fuel industry. 
 

Too Precious to Lose - The Risks of Drilling in the Bight 

The Bight is not industrialised. If a blowout occurred during exploratory drilling (where most blowouts occur), stopping the spill could take at least one month. The Bight is known for having some of the roughest seas in the world. This, coupled with the remoteness of the Bight means that there is no infrastructure to handle an oil spill and highly toxic dispersants would have to be used.

Spill modelling shows that an oil spill in the Bight would devastate much of southern Australia, from Western Australia right around to New South Wales. This would have a catastrophic impact on the 10,000+ Australian jobs in the tourism and fisheries sectors that the Bight supports.

A message to Equinor

The reality is there is no social license to drill for oil in the Bight. We call on Equinor to do the right thing by the thousands of Australian jobs being put at risk by Equinor's plans, to do the right thing by one of the Earth’s last big intact marine ecosystems and do the right thing by our children, who are marching the streets striking for action on climate and who don’t see the point in an education without a liveable climate.