About the Coral Sea

Australia's Coral Sea is one of the world's last remaining pristine tropical marine environments.

Covering approximately 1 million square kilometres - three times the size of the neighbouring Great Barrier Reef (and four times the size of Great Britain!) - the Coral Sea comprises a series of spectacular coral reefs, formed by underwater mountains, rising thousands of metres from the sea floor.

The Coral Sea is a rare example of a marine environment that is thriving. Bountiful fish populations including grey and white tip reef sharks, hammerheads, manta rays, tuna, barracuda, turtles, whales and rare sea creatures such as the nautilus inhabit the waters, alongside an incredibly diverse range of corals.

Globally it is a different story. Coral reefs are vanishing at a rate five times faster than the world's rainforests, and the populations of large marine species - such as sharks and tuna - are estimated to have declined by up to 90 percent in many areas.

Due to its remoteness, the Coral Sea has largely managed to avoid this fate. The area is largely unprotected, leaving it vulnerable to the same impacts that have devastated other marine regions, including sea level rises caused by global warming, illegal fishing and the potential for large-scale oil and gas exploration in the region.

WWF-Australia believes the time has come to protect this tropical marine wilderness.

We are calling on all Australians to ask the Australian Government to declare the entire Coral Sea region a Marine Protected Area. This would create the world's largest Marine Park and protect the Coral Sea for future generations, before irreversible damage is done.

Publications

10 Criteria for the World's Best Oceanic Marine Park

Australia’s Coral Sea is a large marine region that is extraordinarily biologically rich and deserves the best possible management and protection Australia can provide. This document identifies 10 criteria to create a Marine Park that will help to maintain the exceptional tourism, scientific and economic values of the area and again see Australia proudly setting the pace internationally for marine protection.

Coral Sea Biodiversity Review: Sharks and Fish

A new report commissioned by WWF-Australia has found that shark and other marine species populations in Australia's Coral Sea are particularly vulnerable to fishing and other threats. The research finds that sharks that live around reefs in the Coral Sea do not travel far, preferring to "stay at home" on their reefs. This makes these populations especially vulnerable to threats and adds more weight to WWF's calls for protection of the Coral Sea.
Coral Sea Biodiversity Review: Sharks and Fish, PDF (500kb)