Atlas9 min read
The Abrolhos: Where Kelp and Coral Share the Same Reef
The Houtman Abrolhos hosts the Indian Ocean's southernmost coral reefs beside golden kelp beds — the live boundary where warm current meets temperate sea.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
#australia
25 articles
Encyclopedia7 min read
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator): Dive-Bomber of the Kelp Coast
Plunging from thirty metres at highway speed, the Australasian gannet runs the baitfish economies of southern kelp coasts. Meet Morus serrator, the takapu.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Blacklip Abalone (Haliotis rubra): Australia's Reef-Grazing Giant
The blacklip abalone is southern Australia's largest abalone — a kelp-fed reef grazer that supports one of the world's most valuable wild shellfish fisheries.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Atlas6 min read
Bruny Island: Tasmania's Kelp Garden at the Bottom of the Map
Ferry to Bruny Island for d'Entrecasteaux Channel kelp forests, sea-cliff wildlife cruises, white wallabies and Tasmania's foodiest postcode.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas9 min read
Eden & Twofold Bay: Whaling History, New Kelp Forests
Eden's Twofold Bay holds one of Australia's deepest natural harbours, kelp beds full of weedy seadragons — and the strangest whaling story ever written.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Head of Bight: Whales, Cliffs and the Great Australian Kelp Edge
At Head of Bight, the Nullarbor falls into the Southern Ocean and southern right whales nursery beneath the cliffs. A guide to this wild kelp coast.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor): The Smallest Penguin of the Kelp Coasts
About a kilogram of slate-blue determination, the little penguin fishes southern Australia's kelp coasts by day and comes ashore by dark. Meet Eudyptula minor.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
Montague Island (Barunguba): Seals, Seabirds and Kelp off the NSW South Coast
A region guide to Montague Island — Australia's fur seal snorkel capital, little penguin colonies, kelp-fringed granite and how to visit Barunguba from Narooma.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Pot-Bellied Seahorse: The Big-Bellied Drifter of the Great Southern Reef
Hippocampus abdominalis, the pot-bellied seahorse, is one of the world's largest seahorses — a slow, golden giant of Australian and New Zealand kelp gardens.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Atlas9 min read
Sydney's Coast: The Crayweed Comeback Story
Sydney lost its crayweed forests to sewage in the 1980s — then brought them back. A guide to the city's kelp, golden kelp meadows and dive reefs.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
Sydney's Kelp Coast: A Walker's Guide to the City's Intertidal Rock Platforms
Between Sydney's beaches lie sandstone rock platforms striped with ankle-deep seaweed. A walker's guide to the city's intertidal kelp coast, south to north.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Wilsons Promontory: Kelp Forests at Mainland Australia's Southern Tip
A region guide to Wilsons Promontory — granite reefs, cold Bass Strait water, crayweed and common kelp forests, fur seals and how to visit the Prom's marine parks.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas6 min read
Jervis Bay: Kelp, Seagrass and the Whitest Sand in Australia
Jervis Bay mixes kelp reefs, seagrass meadows and powder-white beaches inside a long-protected marine park. Your guide to diving, snorkelling and its wild edges.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas6 min read
Maria Island: Tasmania's Island Kelp Sanctuary
Maria Island pairs a World Heritage convict site with one of Tasmania's pioneering marine reserves. A diver and walker's guide to its reefs, wildlife and kelp.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Port Phillip Heads and the Mornington Peninsula: Melbourne's Kelp
Weedy seadragons under the piers, drift dives through The Rip and kelp on the back beaches — a field guide to Port Phillip Heads and the Mornington Peninsula.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii): Species Profile
Southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) is the reef's top urchin predator. Its biology, fishery and role in stopping barrens — a species profile.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas9 min read
Sydney's Crayweed Coast: The City That Planted a Forest Back
From Palm Beach to Kurnell, a snorkel-and-dive trail along Sydney's replanted crayweed reefs: what to see, when to go, and how a city regrew a forest.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas7 min read
Tasmania's East Coast: The Front Line of Kelp Loss — and Recovery
Tasmania's east coast has lost the vast majority of its giant kelp forests to warming seas and urchins. Explore what happened here, and what's coming back.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Eastern Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis): Species Profile
Meet the eastern blue groper, the friendly, urchin-crunching giant wrasse of New South Wales reefs — every adult blue male began life as a female.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus): Species Profile
Australia's weedy seadragon drifts through kelp like fallen seaweed come alive. Discover its camouflage, male egg-brooding, range and conservation.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Port Jackson Shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni): Species Profile
Portrait of the Port Jackson shark: Australia's gentle, crested egg-layer that crunches sea urchins and returns to the same reef year after year.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Atlas11 min read
Kelp Forests of Bass Strait: The Rough Water Between Two Seas
Between Tasmania and mainland Australia, Bass Strait mixes two seas into some of the roughest, richest kelp country on Earth. An island-by-island guide.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas9 min read
The Great Southern Reef: Australia's Forgotten Kelp Continent
Australia has a second great reef — 8,000 km of temperate kelp forest across five states, more endemic than the Great Barrier Reef, and in serious trouble.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas9 min read
Diving Fortescue Bay: Tasmania's Deep Kelp Gardens
A field guide to diving Fortescue Bay on Tasmania's Tasman Peninsula — kelp gardens, weedy seadragons, sea caves, conditions and what the site says about kelp loss.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas9 min read
Gulf St Vincent: Adelaide's Shallow Kelp Sea
A coastal atlas guide to Gulf St Vincent: Adelaide's shallow warm gulf of kelp reefs, giant seagrass meadows, seadragons and a hard-won clean-up.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·