Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve

Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Nearest town or city	Ceduna
Coordinates
Established	8 December 2012 (2012-12-08)
Area	45,926 km2 (17,732.1 sq mi)
Managing authorities	Department of the Environment
Website	Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve

Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a marine protected area located in the Great Australian Bight south of South Australia in waters within the Australian Exclusive economic zone. It was gazetted in November 2012 to replace the Great Australian Bight Marine Park (Commonwealth waters). The reserve consists of three zones - a marine national park zone (IUCN Category II) with an area of , a multiple use zone (IUCN Category VI) with an area of and a special purpose zone (IUCN Category VI) which occupies three separate areas of ocean with a total area of . The purpose of the reserve is to protect habitat used for calving by the Southern right whale and as a feeding area for the following species - Australian sea lion, sperm whale, short-tailed shearwater and great white shark. It is part of a group of Commonwealth marine reserves known as the South-west Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network. It is also part of the group of marine protected areas which are located together in waters within Australian and South Australian jurisdictions within the Great Australian Bight and which are collectively known as the Great Australian Bight Marine Park.

File:South-west Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network map.jpg

The South-west Corner Marine Reserves Network, including the Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve

See also

• Protected areas of Australia
• List of largest protected areas in the world