Great Australian Bight survey discovers 400 new marine species, catalogues biodiversity before oil drilling

Date: November 25, 2018

Source: ABC News
Author: Samantha Jonscher

With oil exploration looming on the horizon for the Great Australian Bight, stakeholders felt it was an important time to learn more about the species that call the rough waters off Australia’s southern coastline home.

In a joint effort between BP, The South Australian Research and Development Institute [SARDI], the CSIRO, the University of Adelaide and Flinders University, the Great Australian Bight’s deep sea waters have been surveyed for the first time and results have revealed 400 new species of invertebrates.

The paper’s lead author, Dr Hugh Macintosh, said this kind of survey was important because it established baseline knowledge about the environment.

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