Waverley's marine diversity

Waverley’s waters provide habitat to abundant marine life, from microscopic organisms to giant humpback whales. But human activities can impact water quality and threaten the marine environment, through urban development, litter and pollution. Major storm events and sea levels are projected to increase, with climate change also threatening the fragile ecosystems under the waves. Get involved in marine protection activities and educational events - visit Second Nature.

Beaches

Occupying 1.4km of coastline, Waverley's beaches have undergone enormous transformation over decades of urban development and population growth. Millions of local and international visitors visit our beaches each year which also puts pressure on the local environment.

Our beaches are now without any sand dunes and the biodiversity that would have once been present. Despite this, Waverley’s beaches are still teeming with life under the sand.

Rockpools and intertidal rocky shores

These include rockpools, crevices, platforms, boulders and cobbles (i.e. “smaller boulders”), which are home to a diverse range of creatures.

These include:

herbivorous snails e.g. turban snails, limpets, periwinkles
predatory whelks e.g. mulberry whelk, triton snail and cone shells; chitons, nudibranchs and sea slugs
cephalopods e.g. gloomy octopus
crabs and barnacles
sea stars and urchins
marine worms and centipedes
vertebrate species such as toadfish
green, red and brown algae

Rocky shores also provide a vital environment for many marine birds for feeding, nesting and as nursery grounds. Increasing urban development and human population growth on the coastal fringes of the Eastern Suburbs has impacted on these local environments through:

increased nutrient loading from stormwater
contaminated run-off
pollution
trampling (especially due to the high volume of visitors to Waverley’s coastal environments)
vandalism
exploitation or harvesting of intertidal species from the rock platform (e.g. use of cunjevoi as bait)
climate change and sea level rise

Protection and conservation of intertidal areas

Intertidal Protected Areas (IPAs) are used as a conservation tool to provide protection to selected rocky shore habitats and their species.

Removing animals and invertebrates from these areas is totally prohibited. This includes the removal of crabs, snails, worms, cunjevoi, octopus, sea urchins, anemones, pipis, cockles, mussels, oysters and saltwater pink nippers (yabbies). Intertidal protected areas extend from the mean high-water mark to 10 metres below mean low water.

^{Bondi Intertidal Protected Area, image credit: DPI Fisheries}

Rocky reefs

These are sub-tidal regions that lie below the low water mark. Because they are underwater, these marine environments are not as heavily impacted by extreme environmental fluctuations as intertidal rocky shores are.

As a result, they provide a stable environment that can support more complex and diverse marine life.

This includes:

Larger brown algae such as kelp – Ecklonia radiata and Strap weed – Phyllospora comosa
A range of red, green and brown algae
Waverley’s majestic Weedy Seadragon – Phyllopteryx taeniolatus
Ornate Wobbegong – Orectobulus ornatus
Seagrass such as of Paddleweed – Halophila sp. and eel grass or seawrack (Zostera sp.)
Smaller species such as pipefish, seahorses, wandering anemones and tube worms
Gastropod snails such as the Tent Shell – Australium tentoriiforme and Variegated Limpet – Cellana tramoserica
Crustacean species of barnacles such as the Giant rock barnacle – Balanus nigrescens, subtidal ascidian species such as Sea Tulips – Pyura gibbosa or Pyura spinifera and a mix of different sponges
Common sea urchin – Centrostephanus rodgersii
The local and iconic Blue groper – Achoerodus viridus

Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve

The Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve (BCAR) stretches from the southern end of Bronte Beach to the northern end of Coogee Beach. Since March 2002, it has protected a diversity of rocky shore habitats and extends out 100 metres from the shoreline to further provide protection offshore.

Managed by National Parks NSW, the reserve covers a total area of 42 hectares and restricts what activities can be carried out within its boundaries. In addition, the Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve has been the focus of scientific research involving a suite of research institutions and support from Waverley Council and Randwick City Council, such as the blue groper tagging study.