Oil Spills in the Great Barrier Reef Region

1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Craik
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
National Plan ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sparse Population ◽  
Reasonable Use

ABSTRACT The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is charged with conservation of the Great Barrier Reef while allowing reasonable use to continue. One of the major challenges facing the authority is the risk of a major oil spill in the Great Barrier Reef region. An oil spill contingency plan, Reefplan, developed for the Great Barrier Reef region and part of Torres Strait, is a component of the Australian National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil. The authority provides scientific advice to the on-scene coordinator, who is in charge of responding to any spill. This paper reviews the history of oil spills in the Great Barrier Reef and discusses the authority's role in prevention and preparation for oil spills. The difficulty of coping with a large spill and the issue of environmental damage are highlighted, given the relatively remote nature of the region, the sparse population, and the logistic difficulties of working in such an area.

PROTECTING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF FROM AN OIL SPILL

1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-324
Author(s):  
Wendy Craik
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Sensitive Area ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Contingency Plan ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
Australian Economy ◽  
Education And Awareness

ABSTRACT If a large oil spill occurred in the Great Barrier Reef there would be significant environmental damage to an asset worth over $1 billion each year to the Australian economy. Preventing an oil spill from occurring is the best protection for the Great Barrier Reef To this end the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has been working closely with other agencies to reduce the risk of a spill. Measures taken to date include development of an oil spill contingency plan for the Great Barrier Reef, having the Reef declared the world's first Particularly Sensitive Area, introducing compulsory pilotage in parts of the reef, undertaking education and awareness campaigns and widely promoting the view that an emphasis on prevention is preferable to cleanup.

Water Quality and Management in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Water Quality Management ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
Reasonable Use

Use of the Great Barrier Reef Region for tourism, the economic value of Reef tourism to Queensland, and the value placed by society on natural settings has been increasing rapidly during the 1980's. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has the role of providing for reasonable use of this valuable resource. The concern for reefal water quality is discussed in terms of enhanced nutrient levels in the inshore GBR and the low tolerance of corals to nutrients. Findings of a recent Workshop on Nutrients in the Great Barrier Reef Region are described. This paper summarises the Authority's role in ensuring information exchange, appropriate research, and management in the area of water quality management and tourism.

Management of Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Woodley
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Management Issue ◽  
Reef System ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
World Heritage List ◽  
The World ◽  
Coral Reef System

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is recognised and appreciated worldwide as a unique environment and for this reason has been inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Reef is economically-important to Queensland and Australia, supporting substantial tourism and fishing industries. Management of the Great Barrier Reef to ensure conservation of its natural qualities in perpetuity is achieved through the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The maintenance of water quality to protect the reef and the industries which depend on it is becoming an increasingly important management issue requiring better knowledge and possibly new standards of treatment and discharge.

An assessment of toxic metals content in the marine sediments of the Shuaiba Industrial Area, Kuwait, after the oil spill during the Gulf War

1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Al-Muzaini ◽  
P. G. Jacob
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Marine Sediment ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Gulf War ◽  
Oil Wells ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Sampling Locations ◽  
Very High

A field study was carried out involving seven fixed sampling stations. The sampling locations were selected to cover the distribution of pollutants in the Shuaiba Industrial Area (SIA), which was contaminated with oil released from oil wells and broken pipelines and with a vast amount of burnt and unburnt crude oil from the burning and gushing oil wells. The samples were collected biweekly between July 1993 and July 1994. The concentrations of V, Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb were determined and compared with the previously collected baseline data to assess the degree of environmental damage caused due to the oil spills during the Gulf war. The average concentrations (mg/kg) of various elements in the marine sediment were 17.3 for V, 30.8 for Ni, 55.5 for Cr, 0.02 for Cd and 1.95 for Pb. Our results show that even after the heavy spillage of oil, associated metal concentrations were not very high compared with previously reported base line values.

Aerial Surveys of Sea Turtles in the Northern Great Barrier-Reef Marine Park

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Marsh ◽  
WK Saalfeld
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Seagrass Beds ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Water Turbidity ◽  
Density Estimates ◽  
Marine Park ◽  
Specific Correction

In 1984 and 1985, during surveys designed primarily to census dugongs, six species of sea turtles were counted from the air at an overall sampling intensity of 9% over a total area of 31 288 km2 within the northern sections of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The sea turtles were not identified to species. We attempted to correct sightings for perception bias (the proportion of animals visible in the transect which are missed by observers), and to standardise for availability bias (the.proportion of animals that are invisible due to water turbidity) with survey-specific correction factors. The resultant minimum population estimate in November 1985 was (mean � s.e.) 32 187 � 2532 sea turtles at an overall density of 1.03 � 0.08 km-2, a precision of 8%. We consider this to be a gross underestimate of numbers present. Significant differences between population and density estimates obtained from repeat surveys of the same areas were accounted for by differences in Beaufort sea state and cloud cover. The analysis of covariance data suggested that we had not been successful in standardising all biases. Turtles were widely distributed throughout the Great Barrier Reef lagoon from inshore seagrass beds to mid- and outer-shelf reefs. Highest densities were observed on inshore seagrass beds and on mid-shelf reefs, particularly between Murdoch Island and Cape Melville, and in Princess Charlotte Bay. Maps of density and distribution are given. We discuss the value and limitations of this survey regime for censusing sea turtles.

scholarly journals Lessons Learned from Australia’s Stakeholder Engagement Efforts for MPA Planning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
OCTO
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Marine Park

Jon Day shares key lessons learned from stakeholder engagement efforts during the Representative Areas Program in the Great Barrier Reef, which was a key part of the comprehensive rezoning of the entire Marine Park between 1999 and 2003. As a result of this planning process, the total area of no-take zones increased from less than 5% to over one-third of the Marine Park, highlighting in large part the importance of effectively engaging stakeholders.

scholarly journals Queensland Protects Sea Turtles

Oryx ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-24
Author(s):  
H. Robert Bustard
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Population Studies ◽  
Sea Turtles ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
History Of ◽  
Turtle Population ◽  
Protection Order ◽  
Full Protection

In 1968 the Queensland Government gave five species of turtle full protection along the State’s entire 3200-mile-long coast and the whole of the Great Barrier Reef. In this article Dr Bustard tells the history of turtle protection in Queensland and describes the two turtle population studies he has been running since 1964 which, with other studies, led to the protection order.

Forty-five years of change on low wooded islands, Great Barrier Reef

1978 ◽  
Vol 284 (999) ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Coral Growth ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Evolutionary Sequence ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Aerial Reconnaissance ◽  
History Of ◽  
Barrier Reefs

During the 1928-29 Expedition, centred at Low Isles, Spender mapped the ‘low wooded islands’ or ‘island-reefs’ of Low Isles and Three Isles in detail, and additional information was published by Steers, T. A. Stephenson and others. From this work, two different models of the evolution of low wooded islands were proposed, Spender holding that the islands were in a state of equilibrium resulting from their location on the reef, Steers that they could be placed in an evolutionary sequence. Moorhouse described the results of cyclones at Low Isles in 1931 and 1934, and Fairbridge & Teichert reconsidered the general issues following aerial reconnaissance and a brief visit to Low Isles in 1945. Subsequently, aspects of change since 1928-29 have been studied at Low Isles by W. Stephenson, Endean & Bennett in 1954 and by W. Macnae in 1965. Maps produced since 1929, however, have all been based on Spender’s surveys. In 1973, Low Isles and Three Isles were remapped in detail, and a direct comparison can now be made over an interval of 45 years. This shows changes in island topography, and substantial alteration in the size and location of shingle ramparts which has affected conditions for coral growth on reef flats. Mangroves have extended greatly at Low Isles, but not at all at Three Isles. The implications of these findings for the general models of Steers and Spender will be discussed and related to the Holocene history of the Great Barrier Reefs.

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