Coral Sea Marine Park facts for kids

The Coral Sea Marine Park is a huge underwater park in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It used to be called the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve. This amazing park covers about 989,836 km² (382,178 sq mi). That's almost 1 million square kilometers! It's Australia's biggest marine park and one of the largest protected areas in the whole world.

This marine park is right next to the famous Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It helps protect the ocean and all the creatures living there.

What makes the Coral Sea Marine Park special?

This park is super important for many reasons. It protects a wide variety of ocean life and special underwater places.

Amazing animals and their homes

The Coral Sea Marine Park is home to many incredible animals. It's a safe place for them to live and grow.

• Humpback whales travel through here every year. They are on their long journey along Australia's east coast.
• Green turtles use the park for nesting. This means they lay their eggs on the beaches here.
• Many types of seabirds live and raise their young here. These include noddies, terns, boobies, frigatebirds, and tropic birds.
• You might find white sharks and whale sharks here. Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean!
• Fast-swimming ocean fish also live here. These include small fish schools, billfish, tuna, and other sharks.
• The East Australian Current starts in this area. This ocean current is like a highway for big predators. It helps fish like black marlin move around.

Cool underwater places

The park also protects unique parts of the ocean floor.

• It includes three important areas called Key Ecological Features. These are the reefs and islands of the Queensland Plateau and Marion Plateau. It also has the northern part of the Tasmantid Seamount Chain.
• The park holds important heritage values. This includes several old shipwrecks. Three of these ships sank during World War II in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
• You can find many different seafloor features here. There are reefs like Ashmore and Boot Reefs. There are also deep canyons and flat plateaus.
• The park protects parts of the deep Coral Sea Basin. It also includes tall underwater mountains called pinnacles.

How the park was created

The Coral Sea Marine Park was first set up in December 2013. Back then, it was called the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve. It got its new name, 'Marine Park', in October 2017.

The first plan for managing the park was put on hold. It finally started on 1 July 2018. Under this new plan, the areas where fishing is not allowed were made smaller.

Older protected areas

The Coral Sea Marine Park now includes some older protected areas. These were the Coral Sea Conservation Zone, the Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, and the Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve.

Rules for protecting the park

The Coral Sea Marine Park is given an IUCN category IV. This means it's a protected area where people can use resources carefully. But inside the park, there are different zones. Each zone has its own rules to protect the ocean.

Here's a simple look at the rules for different zones in the park: