Marmion Marine Park management Plan - Department of ...

To date, 136 species of fish from 70 families have been identified in the Park. The common fishspecies caught in the Park area, and their habitats, are shown in Table 2. Information on habitatpreferences of common fish species was supplied as part of the submission by the FisheriesDepartment. New species may be found in the Marine Park. Many species are restricted in numberand/or geographical distribution and their presence can go undetected.Marine mammals are conspicuous members of the marine biota associated with Marmion MarinePark. Small numbers of the Australian Sea-lion (declared 'in need of special protection') can befound on Little Island and Bums Rock. The majority of these are males which grow up to 4m longand weigh about 300 kg. The remnants of a heavily exploited humpback whale population migratethrough Park waters, mostly between August and October each year. These huge mammals spend thewinter months in tropical latitudes where they calve and breed. They move through the Park as theyfollow the continental shelf south to feeding grounds in Antarctica.Bottlenose dolphins are the most prominent dolphin species to occur in the Marine Park. One majorpod of these animals appears to have its home range or territory in the area and can be seenregularly. Striped dolphins may visit the area once or twice a year.31