Ecological Assessment of the Flora and Fauna of Flinders ReefUniDive FREA Final Report 12 December...

Ecological Assessment of the Flora and Fauna

of Flinders ReefMoreton Bay Marine Park, QLD Australia

Authors Roelfsema Chris, Elisa Bayraktarov, Cedric van den Berg,

Sarah Breeze, Monique Grol, Tanya Kenyon, Simone de Kleermaeker, Jennifer Loder, Morana Mihaljević, Josh

Passenger, Phoebe Rowland, Julie Vercelloni and Josh Wingerd

UniDiveFREAFinalReport 12December2017 1|Page

Flinders Reef Ecological Assessment, Moreton Bay Marine Park, Queensland

Final Report 12 December 2017

Thisreportshouldbecitedas:Roelfsema C.M., E. Bayraktarov, C. van den Berg, S. Breeze, M.G.G. Grol, T. Kenyon, S. deKleermaeker, J. Loder,M.Mihaljević, J. Passenger,P.Rowland, J.Vercelloni and J.Wingerd(2017).EcologicalAssessmentof theFloraandFaunaofFlindersReef,MoretonBayMarinePark, Queensland. UniDive, The University of Queensland Underwater Club, Brisbane,Australia.

Theviewsandinterpretationexpressedinthisreportarethoseoftheauthorsandnot

necessarilythoseofcontributingagenciesandorganisations.


Far and away, the greatest threat to the ocean, and thus to ourselves, is ignorance. But we can do something about that (Sylvia Earle).

Humans are the only creatures with the ability to dive deep in the sea, fly high in the sky, send instant messages around the globe, reflect on the past, assess the present and imagine the future

(Sylvia Earle).


TableofContentsTableofContents.........................................................................................................................................................4

ListofFigures................................................................................................................................................................5

ListofTables..................................................................................................................................................................7

ListofAppendices.......................................................................................................................................................7

Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................................................8

ExecutiveSummary.................................................................................................................................................11

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................11

KeyOutcomes........................................................................................................................................................13

RecommendationsforManagementandCommunity.........................................................................14

1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................................15

1.1. MoretonBayandFlindersReef........................................................................................................15

1.2. HistoryofIndigenousPeople’sUseofReefResourcesinQuandamooka......................16

1.3. PastandOngoingMonitoringofFlindersReef..........................................................................16

1.4. FlindersReefEcologicalAssessment(FREA)Project.............................................................17

2. GeneralMethods.............................................................................................................................................18

2.1. Overview.....................................................................................................................................................18

2.2. HabitatMapping......................................................................................................................................20

2.3. EcologicalData.........................................................................................................................................21

2.4. EnvironmentalData...............................................................................................................................26

3. Results..................................................................................................................................................................27

3.1. SurveyConsiderations..........................................................................................................................27

3.2. Mapping......................................................................................................................................................28

3.3. EcologicalData.........................................................................................................................................30

3.4. Environment.............................................................................................................................................45

4. Discussion..........................................................................................................................................................50

4.1. InterpretationofFindings...................................................................................................................50

4.2. ProjectandDataLimitations.............................................................................................................53

5. RecommendationsforManagementandtheCommunity.............................................................54

ContinuedandImprovedMonitoringofFlindersReef...........................................................................54

ReducingPhysicalDamagetoCoralsbySnorkelersandDivers.........................................................55

CommunityEngagementtoCreateAwarenessoftheImportanceoftheReefs............................55

SupportConservationoftheReefsbyProvidingPeer‐ReviewedInformation..............................56

References....................................................................................................................................................................57

Appendices..................................................................................................................................................................63


ListofFiguresFigure 1: Satellite image of Flinders Reef, approximate transect locations are indicated in yellow.Sourceimage:WorldVIew2imageDigitalGlobe(2017),2mx2mpixels.Waterdepthisestimatedbasedonimageinterpretationandwaterdepthrecordingsduringsurveyvisits........................................18Figure2:Conceptualdiagramofthegeoreferencedphotostakenat1‐2mintervalsalongtheseafloorabovethesubstrateprovidinga1m2footprint,whiletowingaGPSthatwasloggingthetrack..........20Figure3:Placementofthesurveytransectlines...........................................................................................................21Figure4:Timingofecologicalsurveydives,withasmallbreakbetweenbuddypair1and5sothereisalwaysaboathandlerandassistantontheboat...........................................................................................................22Figure5:Detail of substrate survey transect. At every0.5m,using aplumb line to avoidbias, thebenthiccategorylocateddirectlybeneaththetransecttapewasrecorded.....................................................22Figure6:Diagrammaticrepresentationofthefishsurveytransectsshowingtheimaginaryframeofthediver'sviewwithinthe2.5mx5mtunnel.Fishoutsidethetunnelwerenotcounted,e.g.themantarayinthepicture..........................................................................................................................................................................23Figure7:Diagrammaticrepresentationoftheinvertebrateandreefimpactsurveytransects.Diversswima5mwidetransectinaU‐shapedpatternalongthetransecttape.........................................................24Figure8:Thecoralhealthchartisusedtoassignacodetocoralcoloursthatsuggestdifferentlevelsofcoralbleaching(left).Instructionsareprovidedonthebackofthechart(right).........................................25Figure9:Prominentsubstrateandbenthicfeatures,andlocationsofsurveytransectsatFlindersReef,northofMoretonIsland,Australia.......................................................................................................................................28Figure10:ProminentpointandlinefeaturesatFlindersReef,northofMoretonIsland,Australia.....29Figure11:SeasonalpatternsofsubstratecategoriesatFlindersReef(A)andhardcoralgrowthforms(B).Resultsarebasedontheaggregationofn=4x20msegments(exceptforthesiteSylviaEarlewheren=3inautumn)from10sitesinautumnand11sites(includingthesiteArusBale)inspring.............30Figure12:SeasonalcoverpercentageofsubstratecategoriesatFlindersReefforautumnandspring.Thepurpledotrepresentsaveragecoralbleachinglevelsofthecoralpopulation......................................31Figure13:SeasonalpercentagecoverofcoralgrowthtypesatFlindersReefforautumnandspring.Resultsarebasedontheaggregationofn=4x20msegments(n=4)(exceptforthesiteSylviaEarlewheren=3inautumn)from10sitesinautumnand11sites(includingthesiteArusBale)inspring................................................................................................................................................................................................................32Figure14:Seasonalabundanceper100m2ofkeyfishgroupsatFlindersReeffor(A)alleightkeyfishgroupsand(B)zoomedinonthesevenlessrepresentedkeyfishgroups,i.e.minusthebutterflyfish................................................................................................................................................................................................................33Figure15:Seasonalabundanceofkeyfishgroupsper100m2persurveysiteatFlindersReef...........34Figure16:Proportionofthekeyfishgroupsencounteredateachsurveysiteperseason......................35Figure17:Seasonalabundanceper100m2ofkeyinvertebrategroupsatFlindersReefforautumnandspringsurveys.Crown‐of‐thornstarfish,triton,trochus,pricklygreenfishandredfishseacucumbers,andpencilseaurchinswerenotseenduringsurveys................................................................................................36Figure18:Seasonalabundanceofindicatorinvertebratetaxaper100m2recordedatFlindersReefonall sites during autumn and spring. Crown‐of‐thorn starfish, triton, trochus, prickly greenfish andredfishseacucumbersandpencilseaurchinswerenotseenduringoursurveys.......................................37Figure19: Seasonal abundanceper100m2of giant clamsize categories for autumnand spring atFlindersReef.Giantclamswithsizessuperiororequalto40cmwerenotseenduringoursurveys.37Figure20:Seasonalabundanceofreefhealth impactsper100m²normalisedbythepercentageofcoralcoverperseasonacrossallFlindersReefsurveysitescombined.Anchordamagewasnotseenduringsurveys...............................................................................................................................................................................38Figure21:Seasonalabundanceofreefhealthimpactsper100m²atFlindersReefnormalisedforcoralcoverforeachsurveysiteperseason.................................................................................................................................39Figure 22:Average colour score for randomly surveyed corals per site separately for autumn andspring.................................................................................................................................................................................................40Figure23:SeasonalaveragecolourscoreofrandomlysurveyedcoralsatFlindersReefpersite(2ndy‐axis)andthesoftandpercentagehardcoralcoverpersiteperseason(1sty‐axis).....................................41


Figure24:Seasonalaveragecolourscoreofrandomlysurveyedcoralspersiteperseasonpergrowthtype(bars)andaveragepersiteperseason(bluedot)atFlindersReef...........................................................42Figure25:Comparisonof2009to2017substratedataforfoursitespreviouslysurveyedatFlindersReefbyReefCheckAustralia,theseincludeCoralGarden,AldenCave,PlateandTurtleCleaning(herenamedasTurtleCleaningStation).HC=HardCoral,SC=SoftCoral,BC=BleachedCoral,RKC=RecentlyKilledCoral,RC=Rock,NIA=NutrientIndicatorAlgae,SP=Sponge,OT=Other,SI=Silt,RB=Rubble,andSD=Sand............................................................................................................................................................................................43Figure26:PercentagecoverofcoralgrowthformsatFlindersReefcomparedwithotherSouthEastQueenslandsitesandHeronReefatthesouthernextentoftheGreatBarrierReef.....................................44Figure 27: Daily observed minimum and maximum air temperature at Cape Moreton Lighthouse(source: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/) combined with the observed Sea SurfaceTemperatureat3locationsbasedonNOAAprocessedsatellitedata(source:Liuetal.2014).............45Figure 28: Observed Sea Surface Temperature at off Cape Moreton Lighthouse based on NOAAprocessedsatellitedata(source:Liuetal.2014)overaperiodof4years,togetherwiththemovingaveragetakenover4weeks(inred)...................................................................................................................................46Figure29:9AMand3PMwindrosesatCapeMoretonLighthouseaveragedovertheperiod01‐01‐1957 to 10‐08‐2017 (source http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/).........................................................................................................................47Figure30:9AMand3PMwindrosesatPointLookoutaveragedovertheperiod06‐02‐1997to11‐08‐2017(source:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/)...........................................................................................47Figure31:Dailymaximumwindgust(velocityanddirection)atCapeMoretonLighthousefordayswhen maximum recorded wind gust was 80 km/h or more (source:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/).........................................................................................................................48Figure32:Maximumwaveheight (Hmax)anddirectionatNorthMoretonBaywavebuoyfordayswhenmaximumwaveheightwas4mormore(source:https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/).................48Figure33:DailyaveragedobservedchlorophyllconcentrationatCapeMoretonLighthousebasedonNASAgatheredsatellitedata(source:NASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenteretal.2017)overaperiodofmorethanfouryears.Thehighconcentrationobservedon26‐09‐2013of10µg/lisoffthescale.....49


ListofTablesTable1:Environmentalconditionsduringeachofthesurveydays,wherewedifferentiatebetweendays where training was conducted, ecological surveys, mapping or photos (Source: Bureau ofMeteorology,WaveRiderBuoys,diversparticipatingintheFREAproject).Ingreyhighlightedarethetwoecologicalsurveyseasonrepresentingautumnandspring.TemperatureisinCelsiusfortheair................................................................................................................................................................................................................27Table2:SeasonalaverageSeaSurfaceTemperatureintheperiod03/03/2013until12/10/2017atCapeMoretonLighthouse.Note:springaveragefor2017isbasedonpartialdatasetfromBOM.......45Table3:Peakeventsinobserveddailyaveragechlorophyllconcentrationsintheperiod01‐01‐2013until05‐10‐2017atCapeMoretonLighthouse..............................................................................................................49

ListofAppendicesAppendixA:ParticipatingDivers..........................................................................................................................................63AppendixB:DataSheets...........................................................................................................................................................64AppendixC:DivingStatistics..................................................................................................................................................68AppendixD:TransectLocations............................................................................................................................................69AppendixE:TransectCoordinates.......................................................................................................................................75AppendixF:RareanimalsatFlindersReef......................................................................................................................76AppendixG:Collecteddailyweatherobservations......................................................................................................77AppendixH:ObservedSeaSurfaceTemperatureandSeaSurfaceChlorophyll.............................................78AppendixI:MonthlyWindRoses..........................................................................................................................................81


AcknowledgementsAgoodnewsstory,theFlindersReefEcologicalAssessment(FREA)projectshowedagainthattheUniDivemembers,supporters,friendsandfamilytake“CaringforLocalReefs”seriously.Ourteamworkingtopiecethepuzzletogether,resultingin:greatadventure,learningcurve,detailed ecological description,map, book, video and this report, all presenting a positivestoryaboutFlindersReef.Ahealthyreef,buzzingwithlifeclosetothebigsmokeofBrisbane.SurveyingFlinderswas,asexpected,logisticallychallengingduetoitsremoteandexposedlocationatthetipofMoretonIsland.GivingusanewandchallengingexperiencecomparedtopastUniDivevolunteerprojects.Eachtripwasaround12hours,withtheteamtaking“DownUnder”,ourboat,loadedwithdivers,divegear,andsurveyequipment,1‐2hoursoffshore,toFlinders.AftertwoinitialtrainingweekendsatPointLookout,wedid15individualdaytrips,andtwoweekendcampingtripscampingtoMoretonIsland—atotalof561divesandover10,000hours of volunteer time.The camping trips required additional logistical expertise(thanksAndrewandTrevor),creativity,andacceptanceof:longdays,sandinyoursleepingbag,carrying tanks throughtheheatof thebeach,havingasaltyshower intheocean,andsleepingunderthestarsoftheendlesssky.OurtripsfinishedbywashingtheboatonaSundaynightat7pmafterbeingawakesince5am.This reportwould not be possiblewithout the data collected by the core divers: AndrewO'Hagan,AndyHolland,BreanneVincent,BruceMcLean,CatherineKim,CedricvandenBerg,ClemensMüller,DaKing,DeePassenger,DianaKleine,DonnaEaston,DouglasStetner,ElisaBayraktarov,ElisaGirola,EvaKovacs,JaapvanderVelde,JamesMcphearson,JenCalcraft,JensKunze, Josh Passenger, Josh Wingerd, Julie VanDore, Julie Vercelloni, Karen Johnson,KatherineTrim,LietteBoisvert,LockPollard,MarkStenhouse,Mikepheasant,MoniqueGrol,MoranaMihaljevic,Olivier,PeranBray,PeterArlow,RikkiAndersen,SantiagoMejia,SimoneDe Kleermaeker, Sonja Meier, Stefano Freguia, Tania Kenyon, Tanya Dodgen, and TrevorBarrenger.Theboathandlertookontheresponsibilityofbringingthecorediverstothereefandbacksafely‐theytrulydidafantasticjob:DouglasSter,JensKunze,JoshPassenger,LockPollard,MarkStenhouse,MoniqueGrol,PeranBray,andTrevorBarrenger.NexttothatI’dliketo thank theUniDiveManagementCommittee for theirongoingsupport, and the familyoffriends of volunteers, who helpedwith various jobs such as cooking, setting up camp, orloadingcars,makinglifeeasierforallinvolved.FortheparticipantsoftheFREAproject,thescientificprojectsupportandtrainingteamwerecrucial for providing the academic basis, practical training, quality control and analysisnecessaryforsuchanendeavour.Thesupportteamusedtheirowntime,experience,andskillstoteachothersaswellastohelpanalysetheresultsandwriteeverythingup.Thanksto:ElisaBayraktarov(Substrate,presentations,organizer),MoranaMihaljevic (Inverts,species list,presenter, organiser), Monique Grol (Fish, Substrate, CoralWatch, species lists, reviewer),JulieVercelloni, (Fish and Statistics), JuanOrtiz (CoralReefs), Jennifer Loder (Reef Check,Methods,Impacts,Substrate),ChristineDudgeon(Fish),PhebeRowland(CoralWatch),TaniaKenyon(Impacts,geology),JoshWingerd(Impacts),JaapvanderVelde(onlineexam),MeganSaunders (Inverts), Josh Passenger (data base), Simone De Kleermaeker (environmentaldata),RyanBooker(pooltraining,reviewer),DouglasStetner(reviewer),MelanieOey(PoolTraining)andSarahBreeze(Methods).KarenJohnson,PhebeRowland,SarahBreezeandEvaKenyonwereinchargeoftheanalysisofphotostaken.


TheFREAprojectcouldnothavesucceededwithoutthefinancialsupportoftheQueenslandParksandWildlifeServices,HonourableMinisterDrStevenMiles‐MinisterofEnvironmentandtheGreatBarrierReef,SolarSchool,HealthyLandandWater,andthosewhosupportedtheINGDreamstartercrowdsourcing.In‐kindsupportcamefrom:PointLookoutSCUBACharter(Ken)withdiscounteddivesandaccommodation for the two training weekends; UQ boating and diving support by MikePhillips providing access to facilities and tanks;Moreton Adventure for discounted bargeprices; Tangatours for free tanks fills; Queensland Parks andWildlife for in‐kind supportcampingand4xWDpermits;andGeoimage fordiscountedsatellite imageofFlindersReef.Lecture rooms, survey equipment, and hardware & software was provided through theRemoteSensingResearchCentreandtheSchoolofEarthandEnvironmentalSciencesattheUniversity of Queensland. General support at the University of Queensland was furtherprovidedthrough:DrIanTibbetsfromtheCentreforMarineScienceandUQSport fortheaccesstotheOlympicpooloncampus.ReefCheckAustraliaandCoralWatchprovidedsupportwithmethodsdevelopment,training,dataanalysisandsurveygear.Thethoroughexternalreviewsbytwolocalprofessionals,NicolaUdyandPaulMaxwellwithyearsofexperienceinmanagementofMoretonBayanditswaterways,helpedustofinalisethistrulyvaluablereport.UniDiveFREAwouldliketoshowtheirrespectandthankthetraditionalownersforprovidingusaccesstothemind‐blowingwondersofFlindersReef.Itfeelsabitstrangebutaftermanylongnights,theFREAprojectnowhascometoanend.Mymainconcernhasalwaysbeenthewellbeingandsafetyofalldiversinvolved,andwiththeirresponsiblethinkingandsafedivingtechniques,wecantrulysaywediditagain!Forthosewhoareaskingwhat’snext,yes,,Iamalreadythinkingaboutfollowups,butthatwillneedsometimebeforestartingournextcitizenscienceproject.Itwasanhonourtoleadyoutothissuccess,forwhichyoucantrulybeproud.Thankyou!Lastly,ahugethankstoallthefriendsandfamilywhoalsotookcareofthereef,bylettingtheirlovedonesspendhourson theFREAproject. I’despecially like to thank;Anouk,DjoyandDiana. The reef is alsoour family, andweneed to take careof it the samewedo forourfamilies.ChrisRoelfsemaUniDiveFREAProjectOrganiser“CaringofLocalReefs”“ThecitizenscientistsintheMoretonBayHopeSpotarelivingproofthattheoceanisabigbluemagnetthatunitespeoplewhocare.TheirimportantworkisbenefittingthehumanandaquaticinhabitantsofgreaterBrisbanebymakingastrongcaseforcontinuedprotectionofthisHopeSpot.ThankyoutothecitizensofMoretonBayforcollaboratingandcontributingdataintheefforttoprotectandrestoretheblueheartoftheplanet.Youareagreatcauseforhope!”

(Sylvia Earle, December 21, 2016, Ocean researcher, founder Mission Blue).


CoreFREADiversduringTrainingWeekendinNovemberandFebruary

FREATrainingWeekendParticipantsNovember2016

FREATrainingWeekendParticipantsFebruary2017

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ExecutiveSummary

IntroductionThe Flinders Reef Ecological Assessment (FREA) study was conducted by volunteers ofUniDive(TheUniversityofQueenslandUnderwaterClub)in2017,withtrainingstartingin2016.ThefirstdetailedhabitatmapofFlindersReefwascreatedand11sitesweresurveyedforecologicaldataover twoseasons: autumn (March)andspring (September),usingReefCheck,CoralWatchandReefHealthandImpactSurvey(RHIS)approaches.AllaspectsoftheFREAprojectwereconductedonavolunteerbasiswhichincludedtrainingprovidedbyReefCheckAustraliainstructorsandmarineexperts,tootherUniDivememberswhohadno,orlimited,experienceinsurveying,identifyingmarineorganismsandmappinghabitats. Training, subsidised surveys and resulting publications were funded through:QueenslandParksandWildlifeServices;theHonourableMinisterDrStevenMiles‐MinisteroftheEnvironmentforNationalParksandtheGreatBarrierReef;INGDreamstartercrowdsourcing;SolarSchoolsandHealthyLandandWater.FlindersReefislocatedinthenorthernpartofMoretonBayMarinePark,whichisprotectedasaMarineNationalPark(green)Zoneunderano‐take,nofishing,collectingoranchoringpolicy.Anoanchoringareaoverlapswiththegreenzonewhichwasre‐zonedin2009.Re‐zoningresultedinanimprovedprotectionofthebiodiversity,uniquehabitatsandwildlifeofMoreton Bay Marine Park. It is surrounded by a Conservation Park (yellow) zone(ConservationStatus)allowingalimitedamountoffishing.Mooringswith2‐hourtimelimitsarelocatedaroundFlindersReefmakingitaccessibletodivingandboating.ReefCheckAustraliahasbeencarryingoutannualecologicalassessmentsurveysatfoursitesatFlindersReefsince2009.CoralWatchandQueenslandParksandWildlifeServiceshavealsoconducted opportunistic reef health surveys over time. Additional research projects havebeen conductedwithdifferent focussesbyvarious researchgroups (e.g.TheUniversityofQueenslandandQueenslandMuseum).UnliketheFREAproject,mostotherresearchstudieswerefocusedonafewsites,aspecifictaxonomicgroup,anddidnotprovideacomprehensiveecological assessment of fish and invertebrates combined with detailed information onsubstrateandimpacts.TheFREAprojectcollectedthiscomprehensivebaselineinformationfor11sitesandthroughoutdifferentseasons.Inaddition,thisinformationisaccompaniedbythefirstdetailedhabitatmapofFlindersReef.TheFREAprojectwasinitiatedbyUniDivetoestablishadetailedcharacterisationofFlindersReefinordertohighlightitsimportancewithinMoretonBayMarineParkanditssimilaritywithsouthernreefsoftheGreatBarrierReef.TheprojectfurtheracknowledgesthevalueofFlindersReefasacomponentofMoretonBayMarineParkwhichhasrecentlybeenidentifiedas a Mission Blue Hope Spot. FREA provides a detailed baseline to help assess potentialchanges due to local or global environmental impacts. Additionally, the project increasedknowledge and skills of UniDive volunteers, and has created and continues to generatecommunityawarenessaboutthebiologicalandculturalvalueofFlindersReef.


The ecological assessment surveyswere conducted over oneweekend during two surveyseasons as well as five additional single‐day trips. In addition, ten single‐day trips wereconducted formapping,photo/videoand surveypractice.A total of100+volunteershavebeeninvolved,ofwhich44werecertifiedReefCheckdivers.Theprojectresultedin561dives(421 hours underwater) which included 176 training dives, 239 survey dives, and 146mapping/photodives.FourdivingdayswereconductedatPointLookout,NorthStradbrokeIsland,usingacommercialboatfortrainingpurposes,and19daysusing“DownUnder”,theUniDiveboat,tooperateatFlindersReef.TheFREAprojectresultedinahabitatmapandadetaileddatasetfor11sitesatFlindersReefdescribingreefcomposition,inhabitants,impacts,andseasonalvariations.

AmazingcoralcoveraroundFlindersReef.Roelfsema©2017


KeyOutcomesFlindersReefisatrueHopeSpotcharacterizedbyahighcoverofhardcoral,highdiversityand relatively low levels of reef health impacts. The findings confirmed an outstandingecologicalhealthstate,likelypreservedthroughafullprotectionstatusasagreenzoneandaremotelocation.OurassessmentsupportsthatthecoralcoverofFlindersReefishigherthanotherreefsinSouthEastQueenslandandcomparabletositesontheGreatBarrierReef.Rockandhardcoralcoverwerethemostabundantsubstrateandbenthicgroupssurveyed.Averagecoralcoverin2017acrossallsiteswas31%,withhardcoralcoverofupto79%atthe site Coral Garden. The most commonly observed macro algae was the red algaeAsparagopsissp,withastrongseasonalityasitwasmorethanthreetimesabundantduringspringthanduringautumn.MacroalgalLaurenciasp.dominatedthedeeperwaters(>15m)ontheeastsideofthereef.Exposuretowind,wavesandcurrentsissuggestedasthemaindriving factor forspeciesdistributionbetween thewesternshelteredandeasternexposedsidesofthereef.Eight out of the 11 key fish groups were observed at Flinders Reef across seasons, withbutterflyfishbeingthemostabundantfishgroup.Sincethisfishgroupfeedsuponlivecorals,itshighabundancecorrelateswithour findingsofoutstandingcoral coverageandhealthycoralpopulations.Thesurveysindicatedlessfishabundanceinspringcomparedtoautumnwhichmaybeexplainedbythedifferenceinwatertemperaturebetweenthetwoseasons.TherecordedimpactsatFlindersReefwerethreetimeslowerthanthoseobservedforthemoreaccessiblereeflocationssuchasPointLookout.ThemostcommonimpactsobservedatFlinders Reef were coral physical damage, unknown scars and coral disease, whichwereobservedatallsitesandduringatleastoneseason.Drupellascars,fishinggearandgeneralmarinedebriswerefoundincomparativelylowerabundanceandatfewersitesthanatPointLookout.Noboatanchordamagewasrecordedatanyofthesitesineitherseason.Aneast‐west gradient of total impacts was recorded with higher total impacts on the shelteredwesternsites.Environmental data for Flinders Reef supports the data collected during the ecologicalsurveys.Thedominantwindandwavedirectioncorrelateswiththelocationofdifferentcoraltypes found around the reef. Over the last five years, more than 10 events of increasedobservedchlorophyllconcentrationmayindicatereducedwaterqualityevents,mostlikelybecauseofeutrophication.Theobserveddailymaximumwindgustsandwavescorrelatewithstormsthatcanexplainsomeobservationsofdamagedcoral.The FREA ecological assessment provided for the first time a comprehensive gain ofknowledgeaboutthereefpopulationsfor11sitesovertwoseasons,incombinationwiththefirsthabitatmap.ThehighcoralcoverpresentatFlindersReefsitesiscomparabletootherSouthEastQueensland regions surveyedbyReefCheckAustralia. TheFlindersReefCoralGardensitestandsoutbyitshighbranchingcoralcoveragewithcomparablelevelsobservedforsimilarsitesatHeronReef,SouthernGreatBarrierReef.ThesefindingsandthepreviouslymentionedoutcomeshighlightthatFlindersReefstandsoutasaspecialplaceinSouthEastQueenslandandre‐iteratestheimportanceofongoingconservationandprotectionbylocalmanagementauthoritiesandthecommunity.


RecommendationsforManagementandCommunityTheresultsoftheFREAprojectandthelessonslearnedimplementingthissurveyledtothefollowing recommendations aimed at conserving the current status and understanding ofFlindersReef:ContinuedandImprovedMonitoringofFlindersReef● Repeatingtheecologicalassessmentonanannualbasis(e.g.ReefCheck,RHIS,CoralWatch

surveys)foraselectednumberofsitesandpotentiallyeveryfiveyearsforallsites(e.g.byan ongoing FREA project) will continue to provide a better understanding of the reefcommunities’changes,thuswillhelptoidentifythemanagementinterventionsrequiredforaneffectiveconservationofFlindersReef.

● Monitoringshouldincludeadditionalindicatorspeciescategoriesnotrecordedpreviouslybutobserved tobepresent andwhichare characteristic for sub‐tropical and temporalregions.

● Placing cameras at this remote location could provide real‐time observations helpingauthorities to spot illegal activities; cameras could also provide information on theenvironmental conditions to public recreational users and increase the communityawarenessaboutFlindersReef.

ReductionofPhysicalDamagetoCorals● Educatingdivers,snorkelers,fishersandskippersonhowtoreducephysicaldamagemay

helpreduceincidentaldamagetothereefhabitat.● Installing additional moorings on northern and southern sides of Flinders Reef could

reduceanchordamageforpotentialnewdiveareaswithinterestingfeatures.

CommunityEngagementtoCreateAwarenessoftheBeautyoftheReefs● EducatingthecommunityaboutthebeautyandimportanceofMoretonBayreefswillhelp

preservetheseresourcesforfuturegenerations.● Engagingthecommunityincitizensciencecanhelpbuildfurtherunderstandingoflocal

reefs.SupportConservationoftheReefsbyProvidingPeer‐ReviewedInformationScientificpublications,reportsanddatasets(suchasthosefromtheFREAproject)shouldbeavailabletolocalauthoritiestohelpsupportmanagementdecisionsandtheymayinclude:● Projectdocumentssuchasthisreport,videoandthephotobook.● Peer‐reviewedscientificpapersdescribingkeyfindingsoftheresearch,withonepaper

basedonFREAprojectresults.● Openaccessdatasets thatmaybeused foradditional scientific researchand to inform

managementapplications.Surveydatacollectedaspartofthisprojectwillbeuploadedtoanopenaccessdatarepository.

A more complete description of these recommendations is available at the end of thediscussionsection.


1. Introduction

1.1. MoretonBayandFlindersReefFlindersReefisasmallisolatedsandstoneplatformreefsituatedthreenauticalmilesnorthfromMoretonIslandatthenorthernbordersoftheMoretonBayMarinePark.Itisonlya1‐2hourboatrideacrossfromGreaterBrisbane(excludingtheGoldCoastandSunshineCoast)withapopulationof2.31millionpeopleascountedinJune2015,accountingfornearlyhalf(48%)of theQueenslandpopulationand19%of thenationalpopulation(Roelfsemaetal.2014). Flinders Reef was first described as an exposed rock by the famous cartographerMatthewFlinders(1774‐1814)inhisjournalontheHMSloopInvestigatoron26July1802andwasnamedafterhimatalaterunknowndate.MoretonBaywasformedwhensealevelsbegantorisefollowingtheLastGlacialMaximum(McPhee 2017). Over the past 7,000 years, Moreton Bay has experienced several shiftsbetweencoral‐dominatedandnon‐coral‐dominatedstates(Lyboltetal.2011).Today,muchof thesubstrate inMoretonBay iscomposedofsand,siltandmud(JonesM.R.etal.1978,Lockington et al. 2017) and is unsuitable for the settlement of corals, which are largelyrestrictedtosmallfringingislands.MoretonBayisuniqueforitslargebiodiversityonlandandintheocean.Marinelifepresentisextraordinaryandcomposedofover1,600invertebrates(Bruce2008,Fautinetal.2008,Hooperetal.2008,Li2008,LörzandBruce2008,Anne‐NinaandBamber2010,GershwinL.A.etal.2010,HealyandPotter2010,Healyetal.2010,Johnson2010,Kott2010,PrekerandLawn2010,MortonandLutzen2008),125speciesofcoral(Harrisonetal.1998,HarriottandBanks2002,Wallaceetal.2008,Sommeretal.2014),8dolphinspeciesincludingthelargestresident population in the world, the largest known aggregation of Leopard sharks(Stegostoma fasciatum) in the world (Dudgeon et al. 2013), migrating humpback whale(Megapteranovaenglia),largenumbersofvisitingmantarays(Mantaalfredi),andgreynursesharks(CarchariasTaurus),anduniquelylargeherdsofdugongs(Dugongdugon)consideringtheirproximitytoamajorcity.MoretonBaycoralsexperiencehighturbiditylevels,freshwaterinfluxfromfloodingandlargewatertemperaturevariations(Lyboltetal.2011).FlindersReefislocatedontheoceanicsideofMoretonBayandislargelyprotectedfromtheseenvironmentalinfluences(McPhee2017)thereby supporting a rich coral community. Due to its vicinity to the rapidly expandingpopulation of South East Queensland Greater Brisbane, Flinders Reef is experiencing anincreaseinbothfrequencyandintensityofcommercialandrecreationalactivities(EPA2008).In addition to anthropogenic effects, Moreton Bay and Flinders Reef have recently beenexposedtolarge‐scalenaturaldisasterssuchasthe2011Queenslandflood(Oldsetal.2014).PartofMoretonBayislistedasaRamsarsite,awetlandofinternationalimportanceundertheRamsarConvention(QueenslandWetlandsProgram).In2016,MoretonBaywasidentifiedasaHopeSpot–aspecialplacethatiscriticaltothehealthoftheoceanrecognisedbySylviaEarle’sMissionBlueAlliance(Chhotray2016,Blue2017).In2009,MoretonBayMarineParkwasre‐zoned tobetterprotect thearea’sbiodiversity,uniquehabitats,andwildlife. In theprocessofre‐zoningthegreenzonesregulatedbyano‐take,nofishing,collectingoranchoring


policywereexpandedto16%ofthemarinepark.FlindersReefasacentrepointwitharadiusof500misnowaMarineNationalPark(green)zone.ThisisoverlainwithanoanchoringareaandsurroundedbyaConservativePark(yellow)zonewitharadiusof2km(DepartmentofStateDevelopment2010).Mooringsareavailablewitha2‐hour limit inbothzones forthepublictoenjoythisjewel,withoutanchoring.

1.2. HistoryofIndigenousPeople’sUseofReefResourcesinQuandamookaQuandamookaiscommonlydefinedastheregionandindigenouspeopleofMoretonBayanditsislands.QuandamookaindigenouspeopleencompasstheNgugi(MoretonIsland)andtheGorenpulandNunukalclans(NorthStradbrokeIsland)(RossandCoghill2000).CollectivelytheyrefertothemselvesasthepeopleofQuandamooka.ThemajorityoftheQuandamookagroup are now confined to North Stradbroke Island or the mainland, with a remotecommunityonPeelIsland.Thisgroupcouldoncebetracedbackto600‐800individualtribesonMoretonIslandandat least800onStradbroke(Meston2017).Thus, it isexpectedthatFlindersReefwasfirstsightedbytheNgugiclanpotentiallyfromthehighpointnowknownas CapeMoreton at an unknown date. However, no referencewas found stating that theQuandamookapeopleusedFlindersReeforthattheyvisitedittofindfoodresources.MarineresourcesformedahighpercentageofthedietoflocalislandtribessuchasthoseonMoreton Island (the closest point to Flinders Reef). This allowed them to remain moresedentary and support higher population densities than inland groups (Draper 1978).RemainingsedentaryallowedislandtribestoretainautonomylongerinthefaceofEuropeaninvasion(Whalley1987).Theindigenouspeople(bothislanderandcoastal)ofMoretonBayalsohunteddugongs.Theywould capturedugongswithanet, restraining themuntil theydrownedorclubbingthemtodeath.Alloftheanimalwouldbeused:itsskinwouldbedried,itsmeatwouldbecooked,itsboneswouldbeutilisedasutensilsanditslardwouldbeburneddowntooil(Draper1978,Folkmanova2015).AccordingtoDraper(1978),turtleswerekilledinasimilarway.Shortspearswereusedtokillshellfishandcrustaceansinthelittoralzone(Draper 1978). Claims by Draper and the accompanying archaeological evidence areconsistentwiththeoralhistoryoftheQuandamookapeople,whichindicatesalonghistoryoffishing and coastal resource exploitation (Ross 2001). The historical coastal practicesdiscussedhere, probablyhadminimal impact on thepopulations of FlindersReef species.(Whalley1987)suggeststhattheintroductionofEuropeangoods,especiallyintheformofboatingtechnologies,mayhavechangedtheeconomicbehavioursoftheislanderindigenouspeopleandhavetakentheirhuntingpracticesoffshore.

1.3. PastandOngoingMonitoringofFlindersReefFlindersReefisaparticularlyimportantreefintheregionduetoitsuniquehabitatandspeciesassemblage,yetitsisolatedlocationmakesitchallengingtomonitorandmap.Beginningin2009,ReefCheckAustraliahasconductedannualsubstrate,invertebrateandimpactsurveysat foursites,namelyAldenCave,CoralGarden,TurtleCleaningStationandPlateland.ReefCheckAustraliasurveyshavereportedcoralcoverashighas71%atCoralGarden(Penttietal.2016).ReefHealthImpactSurveys(RHIS)havebeenconductedbyQueenslandParksandWildlife Services, whereas coral health surveys have been haphazardly undertaken byCoralWatch.


Moreover,theQueenslandMuseumandTheUniversityofQueenslandhaveconductedseveralresearchstudiesatFlindersReef.Theseprovideadditional informationonthebiodiversitybasedon collected and lodged specimens,underwaterphotographs andvisual surveys.AtleastoneseaanemoneStichodactylahaddoni(largestspeciesknownforMoretonBay),threeascidian species (Harriott and Banks 2002, Kott 2010) and 125 species of hard corals(Harrisonetal.1998,Fautinetal.2008,Wallaceetal.2008,Sommeretal.2014)havebeenreported specifically from Flinders Reef. Over 1,600 invertebrates including molluscs,cnidarians,crustaceansandascidianshavebeenreportedfromtheMoretonBaysurveysthatincludedFlindersReef(Bruce2008,Fautinetal.2008,Hooperetal.2008,Li2008,LörzandBruce2008,Morton2008,Anne‐NinaandBamber2010,GershwinL.A.etal.2010,GershwinL.A.etal.2010,HealyandPotter2010,Healyetal.2010,Johnson2010,Kott2010,PrekerandLawn2010,MortonandLutzen2008).Thisgreatvarietyofinvertebratessupportsadiversefishfauna(477species)ofwhichmanyarerarelyfoundinareasoftheMoretonBayMarineParkotherthanFlindersReef(Johnson2010).Wemayseesubtropicalendemicsdeclining(e.g.themorwongs),moretropicalspeciesestablishing(RieglandPiller2003,GreensteinandPandolfi2008,Funketal.2012),andtemperatespeciesdisappearing(Wernbergetal.2011,SmaleandWernberg2013).

1.4. FlindersReefEcologicalAssessment(FREA)ProjectFlindersReefplaysanimportantculturalandecologicalrolefortheMoretonBayMarineParkanddetailedecologicalassessmenthasnottakenplacesincemid‐1990(Harrisonetal.1998)nordoesadetailedhabitatmapexist.Hence,athoroughecologicalassessmentandmappingis warranted to establish baselines from where changes will be deduced. However, localmarineauthoritieslackfundingforsuchprojects.TheUniversityofQueenslandUnderwaterClub (UniDive) challenged theirmembers in 2016 to take up a new citizen science‐basedproject.Theaimofthe2017FlindersReefEcologicalAssessment(FREA)projectwasto:ConductadetailedecologicalassessmentofthefloraandfaunaatFlindersReef,mapitshabitatandcomparefindingsintimeandwithotherlocalsitesThis aim can be further divided into four main objectives in regard to the ecologicalassessment:1. Presenceofseasonaldifferencesinecologicalparametersbetweenautumnandspring2. Variabilityinecologicalparametersbetweendifferentareasaroundthereef3. Potentialchangesinecologicalparametersonanannualbasissince20094. HowFlindersReefcomparestootherSouthEastQueenslandandsouthernGreatBarrier

ReefsitesEcological data was contrasted with data on environmental conditions and habitatcharacterisationthroughthehabitatmap.ThisreportpresentsdatacollectedbyvolunteersaspartoftheFREAproject,andwherepossibledrawscomparisonswithpreviousReefCheckAustraliaandCoralWatchsurveys


2. GeneralMethods

2.1. Overview

2.1.1. GeneralUniDivesurveyed11sitesevenlydistributedaroundFlindersReef(Figure1)between5‐10mdepth.At each site, surveyswere conducted twice in2017, spring (March)andautumn(September),toensurethatseasonalchangesinthemarinefloraandfaunawerecapturedbythecollecteddata.ThesiteArusBalewassurveyedonlyinautumntohelpcharacterisethegapbetweenStevoandTrevo.Fourof the11 siteswere re‐surveyed for comparisonwithannualsurveysconductedsince2009byReefCheckAustralia.Theseincluded:AldenCave,CoralGarden,TurtleCleaningandPlate(akaTurtleCleaningStationandPlatelandasreferredtobyReefCheckAustralia).Theremainingsevensiteswerenewlyestablishedlocations.

Figure1:SatelliteimageofFlindersReef,approximatetransectlocationsareindicatedinyellow.Sourceimage:WorldVIew2imageDigitalGlobe(2017),2mx2mpixels.Waterdepthisestimatedbasedonimageinterpretationandwaterdepthrecordingsduringsurveyvisits.


During each survey, a team of 10 divers assessed a site by a broad scale mapping andecologicalassessment.Mappingincludedbathymetricsurveys,georeferencedphototransectsand roving surveys. Ecological assessment included CoralWatch, RHIS and Reef CheckAustraliasurveys.Ecological survey methods used were based on Reef Check Australia, Great Barrier ReefMarineParkAuthorityandCoralWatchmethodologiesandmappingwasconsistentwiththemethodologyusedinthe2001,2003,2014UniDive(Fordetal.2003,McMahonetal.2003,Roelfsema et al. 2016) community projects to ensure comparison of data. Surveys wereconductedunderamarineparkspermit(QS2017/MAN417).

2.1.2. SurveyParticipants,TrainingandQualityControlParticipationwasvoluntaryandallparticipantsweremembersofUniDive.Participantsintheprogram were certified divers and encompassed marine and mapping experts, SCUBAinstructorsandotherenthusiastsinterestedinlearningaboutthemarineenvironment.SeeAppendixAforadetailedlistofthevolunteersandtheirmaintasksduringtheproject.Overthecourseof25educationallectures,morethan100UniDivememberslearnedaboutlocalreefecologyandReefCheck,CoralWatchandmappingsurveyprotocols.Lecturetopicsincluded:coralreefecology;surveymethods;identificationofcoral,algae,substrate,fish,andinvertebrates;causesandassessmentofimpacts;underwaterphotographyandvideography;mapping and buoyancy control. Out of 55 participating experienced divers (50+ dives ormore),24werepreviouslyReefCheckAustraliacertifiedand20diversbecamenewlycertifiedinReefCheckAustraliasurveymethods.Practicaltrainingwasassessedinthepoolandduringtwotrainingweekendswhichhelpedtheparticipantstoputknowledgeintopractice.All44ReefCheckdiverstakingpartinsurveysattendedtheacademicsessions,andhadtocompleteanonlineexam(200+questions)andall55divershad tositanadditionalshortpaperexamwith75questions(passmark75%orhigher).In‐watersurveytrainingconsistedof two pool training sessions focussed on buoyancy and survey techniques. Open‐watertrainingduringtwosurveyweekendswasconductedtoensurediverswereabletocorrectlyidentify themarine life and substrate to be surveyed, and were assessed on competencyduring a practical exam. The 24 previously certified Reef Checkers were required toparticipateinatrainingweekendinwhichtheyrefreshedtheirskillsthroughpracticesurveys.Additionally, 12 of the latterwere trained inReef CheckFish ID.Reef Check trainingwassupervisedbyoneoutofthreequalifiedReefCheckinstructorsandteamleaders.Areviewlecturewasorganisedbeforeeachsurveyweekendandreviewstookplaceintheeveningpriortoeachsurveyday.Printeddatasheetswereusedforsurveys(AppendixB),whichaidedinqualitycontrol.Thedatasheetswerecheckedforerrorsorinconsistencies,bothdirectlyafterthedivesandduringthedataprocessingstage.Resultsderivedfromthequality controlled data were presented after each survey by UniDive members withexperience in Reef Check and CoralWatch surveymethods and/or with a marine sciencebackground,thusprovidingadditionalqualitycontrolandexpertise.


2.2. HabitatMappingMappingof FlindersReefwas conducted to generatemapsof the line features (e.g.majorgullies,wallsandridges),pointfeatures(e.g.caves,cleaningstations,overhangs)andpolygonfeatures(e.g.substratetypes)providingareferenceforfutureecologicalsurveysandplanningandzoningofthesites(e.g.installationofmooringbuoys).Featuremappingwasundertakenbytwodivers,conductingrovingsurveysaroundthetransectsites,toamaximumdepthof20m, and recording characteristic features byproducingdrawings and taking georeferencedunderwaterphotos.Photosof theseafloorwere takenat1‐2m intervalsprovidinga1m2footprint, while swimming and drawing the features of the underwater surroundings toproducedetailedunderwatermaps.Feature locationwasmappedbycross‐referencingthetimeeachfeaturewasrecordedorphotographed,withGPSdatarecordedbyafloatingGPStowedbythedivertakinggeoreferencedunderwaterphotos(Figure2).ThelagbetweendiverandGPSfloatwasreducedasmuchaspossiblebytightenthelinebetweenthem.PhotoswerelinkedtoGPScoordinatesusingtimesynchronisationofGPSandcamera.Whengeo referenced photos were overlaid on the satellite image miss registration was notedthroughsignificantfeaturesphotographed(e.g.edgesofsandrock,pinnacles,sandypatches)andmanuallycorrected.CollectedimageswereanalysedforbenthiccompositionusingthehabitatimageanalysissoftwareCoralPointCountExcel(KohlerandGill2006).Twenty‐fourrandompointswereplottedoneachphototakenandmanuallyassignedoneoftheReefChecksubstrate classes (RoelfsemaandPhinn2010).Analysis is still inprogressandwillnotbereportedinthisreport.

Figure2:Conceptualdiagramofthegeoreferencedphotostakenat1‐2mintervalsalongtheseafloorabovethesubstrateprovidinga1m2footprint,whiletowingaGPSthatwasloggingthetrack.

Highspatialresolutionsatelliteimagerywasusedasabackdroptoidentifyareasofinterestfor surveying. Bottom typewas determined based on delineating variation in colour andtextureofthesatelliteimageryandlabelledwithabottomtypebasedonassessmentofthegeoreferencedhabitatandfeaturephotos.Allgeoreferencedphotosthatdocumentedeachofthe reefswereplottedon topof thebasic sitemap foreach location toprovideadditionalinformationforthemapping.DuringeveryvisittoFlindersReef,anechosounderloggedwaterdepthandpositionwhiledrivingaroundthereef.Thesewereplottedonthesatelliteimageryandusedtofindgapsin


coverage, which were filled on future surveys. All un‐corrected depth readings collectedduringthedivetripswereoverlaidonamapandmanuallydepthcontoursweredelineated,representingaroughestimateofathreedimensionalshapeofthereef.

2.3. EcologicalData

2.3.1. EcologicalSurveyMethodsOverviewSurvey design was based on Reef Checkmethods where a 100m long transect line wasdeployedatadepthof5‐10mateachsurveysite.Withinthe100mlongsurveyarea,four20m segments were deployed and surveyed (Figure 3). Each 20 m segment followed thedesignateddepthcontourandwasseparatedfromthenexttransectbya5mgap.

Figure3:Placementofthesurveytransectlines.

Fish, invertebrate, impact and substrate categories were surveyed following Reef CheckAustraliaprotocols(HillandLoder2013)andCoralWatchdatawascollectedusingthecoralhealthchart(Siebecketal.2006,Marshalletal.2012).Photosandvideooffaunaalongthesegments were taken to support identification of categories. Additional Reef Health andImpact Surveyswere conducted at each site and uploaded on the Eye on the Reef, GreatBarrierReefMarineParkAuthoritywebsite(Beedenetal.2014).Surveyswereconductedfollowing the timing of buddy teams for each survey component as outlined in Figure 4.For each survey, five diver pairs undertookmapping and/or transect surveys to identifyindicatorspeciespresentandmajormappingfeaturesateachsite.Onarrivalateachsurveysite,amarkerbuoywasdeployedusingaGPStomarkthestartofthetransect(Figure4).Atransectlinewasdeployedbyonediver,whiletheseconddiverconductedaphototransectsurveyandotherteamsfollowedat5‐10minintervals.Aspositioningofthetransectlineforcomparisonwithrepeatingsurveysiscrucial,thesamethreediverswereinchargeoflocatingthestartofatransectanddeployingthelineastheyweremostfamiliarwiththesites.Mappingofthewholereefand/orallsiteswasundertakenduringallsurveytrips,withnewsitemapsproducedforeachofthe11sitessurveyed.


Figure4:Timingofecologicalsurveydives,withasmallbreakbetweenbuddypair1and5sothereisalwaysaboathandlerandassistantontheboat.

2.3.2. SubstrateSubstrate surveys were conducted using the point intercept sampling method, enablingpercentagecoverofsubstratetypesandbenthicorganismstobecalculated.Thesubstrateunderthetransectlinewasidentifiedat0.5mintervals,witha5mgapbetweeneachofthefour20msegments(Figure5).Categoriesrecordedincludedvariousgrowthformsofhardand soft coral, key species/growth forms of algae, other living organisms (i.e. sponges),recentlykilledcoral,andnon‐livingsubstratetypes(i.e.barerock,sand,rubble,silt/clay).Tothe list of23 substrate categories recordedby theReefCheckAustralia, a category ‘OtherCorallimorphs’ was added to FREA substrate surveys to capture previously recordedabundanceofcorallimorphsatFlindersReef(seeAppendixBfordatasheetandthecategoriessurveyed). Percentage cover of each substrate category was calculated by counting theoccurrenceofacategoryalongasegmentdividedbythetotalcounts.

Figure5:Detailofsubstratesurveytransect.Atevery0.5m,usingaplumblinetoavoidbias,thebenthiccategorylocateddirectlybeneaththetransecttapewasrecorded.


2.3.3. FishFishpopulationswereassessedusingavisualcensusalong4x20msegmentsfollowingReefCheckAustraliaprotocols(HillandLoder2013).Eachsegmentwas5mwide(2.5meithersideofthetransecttape),5mhigh,20minlengthandsegmentswereseparatedbya5mgap(Figure6).Afishsurveydiverrecordedfishsightingsonthedatasheet(seeAppendixBfordatasheetandthefishgroupssurveyed).Each20msegmentwascompletedin7‐10minutestoensureastandardisationofthemonitoringmethodandaconstantdetectionprobabilityoffishspecies.Fishrecordswereestablishedusingthelistof23fishgroupsfromReefCheckAustraliaand4additional fish groups characteristic for Flinders Reef namely: Blue grouper (Achoerodusviridis), Spangled emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus), other emperors and Morwongs(CheilodactylusfuscusandC.vestitus).Afishgroupwascomposedbydifferentfishfamiliesand/or fish species and all fishwithin the 27 groupswere recorded. These groupswerechosen for their importance and value to recreational or commercial fishing, targeted byaquariumcollectors,andeasilyidentifiedbytheirbodyshapeorothercharacteristicsbythefish survey diver. Rare or otherwise unusual species such as carpet sharks (familyOrectolobidae)werealsorecorded.Inthisreport,thefishgroupswerepooledinto11keyfishgroupsforvisualisationpurposes.Resultsarepresentedintermsofabundancewithinkeyfishgroupsandareexpressedas fishabundanceper100m2, i.e. average fishnumberpersegment,persite,andperseason.

Figure6:Diagrammaticrepresentationofthefishsurveytransectsshowingtheimaginaryframeofthediver'sviewwithinthe2.5mx5mtunnel.Fishoutsidethetunnelwerenotcounted,e.g.themantarayinthepicture.


2.3.4. InvertebratesTargetinvertebratepopulationswereassessedusingvisualcensusalong4x20msegmentsfollowingReefCheckAustraliaprotocols(HillandLoder2013).Eachsegmentwas5mwide(2.5meithersideofthetransecttape),20minlengthandsegmentswereseparatedby5m.Thediversurveyinginvertebratesconducteda‘U‐shaped’searchpattern,covering2.5moneithersideofthetransecttape(Figure7).Each20msegmentwascompletedin7‐10minutes.The invertebrate survey diver recorded invertebrate sightings on the data sheet (seeAppendixBfordatasheetandtheinvertebratecategoriessurveyed).

Figure7:Diagrammaticrepresentationoftheinvertebrateandreefimpactsurveytransects.Diversswima5mwidetransectinaU‐shapedpatternalongthetransecttape.

Invertebratespecieswereselectedbasedupontheiressentialroleinecosystemhealthandfunctioningand/ortheireconomicvaluetobothcommercialandrecreationalfishingandtheaquariumtrade.ThesearealignedwiththespeciesselectedbyReefCheckAustralia(HillandLoder2013).Abundanceofkeyinvertebrategroupsispresentedper100m2fortheautumnandspringsurveys.

2.3.5. ImpactsTarget impacts were assessed by a visual census using the same approach as for theinvertebratesurvey(Figure7)andincludednaturalandanthropogenicimpactstothereef.Theimpactsincludedpresenceof:physicaldamage,scars,trashorrubbish,coraldiseaseandbleaching.DamagewasassessedforscarringbythegastropodDrupellaonlyiftheorganismswerepresent.Boatanchordamagetoberecordedalsorequiredthepresenceofananchororchain.Unknownscarsconsistedofscrapingoftissuearoundthecoraliteswithoutdamagingtheoverallstructure,whilestructuralbreakageofthecoralwithoutanobvioussourcewasrankedasunknowndamage.Fishinggearconsistedof line,hooks,weightsorotherfishingdevices.Anyotheranthropogenicrubbishfoundonthereefwasclassedasgeneraltrashorrubbish.CoraldiseasewasidentifiedaccordingtoReefCheckprotocol.Fortheanalysisoftheimpactsnormalisingofabundancewasconductedwithcoralcovertoacknowledgethatthemajorityofsurveyedreefimpactsspecificallyaffectcorals,andassuch,theratioofcoralcovertoimpactabundanceshouldbeconsideredwheninterpretingreefimpactdata.Photographsoftheimpactsweretakenforarchivingpurposes.Coral health was monitored using the coral health chart which is a non‐destructive, in‐expensive,easy‐to‐usetool tomonitorcoralhealthdevelopedbyCoralWatchbasedatTheUniversityofQueensland(Figure8).Foreachsurvey,coralhealthof20coralscolonieswasassessed along the4 x 20m segmentsusing the chart. All observationswithin2.5mof asegmentoneithersidewereconsideredpartofthetransect.Thesurveyorswamalongthesegmentsaccountingforitswidthandselecting5coralcoloniespersegmentatrandom,i.e.20coralsintotalpertransect.Thechartwasplacednexttoeachchosencoralcolonyandthe


coloursonthechartwerecomparedwiththecoloursofthecoral.Thematchingcodeswereidentified for the lightest and darkest area of each coral colony and recorded on anunderwaterdataslate.Wherenecessary,atorchwasusedtoseetruecolours.Additionally,growthtypewasidentifiedandrecorded,i.e.branching,boulder,plateorsoftcoral.Theaveragecolourscorewascalculatedforeachsiteandcomparedbetweenseasons.Persite,the frequencydistributionofgrowth typesalongeach transectwas calculatedandplottedagainsttheaveragecolourscorepersiteandforeachseasonseparately.Atlast,averagecolourscorevalueswereplottedagainstthetotalcoralcover(hardandsoftcoral)extractedfromthesubstratedata,persiteandperseason.

Figure8:Thecoralhealthchartisusedtoassignacodetocoralcoloursthatsuggestdifferentlevelsofcoralbleaching(left).Instructionsareprovidedonthebackofthechart(right).

2.3.6. EcologicalDataAnalysisAnalysesoftheecologicaldatafocusedonfourlevelstoassess:1. Seasonalvariation.Acomparativestudywasconductedinautumnandspringbasedon

usingtheaverageofecologicalmeasurementsforallsites2. Spatialvariationsaroundthe11sitesdistributedaroundFlindersReefforthetwoseasons

separately3. TemporalvariationsoffoursitessurveyedaspartoftheFREAprojectaswellasannually

(since2009)byReefCheckAustralia4. DifferencesincoralcompositionbetweenFlindersReefsitesandotherregionssurveyed

byReefCheckAustraliainSouthEastQueensland,e.g.PointLookout,CentralMoretonBay,Mooloolaba,HerveyBay,andHeronReef,situatedinthesouthernGreatBarrierReef.

Ecological data was contrasted with data on environmental conditions and habitatcharacterisationthroughthehabitatmap.Tocharacteriseeachsite,theaverageoverthefoursegmentswasusedfordataanalyses.


2.4. EnvironmentalData

2.4.1. DailyWeatherObservations–TemperatureandWindHistorical environmental data was collected to understand ambient factors potentiallyinfluencingFlindersReef.TheBureauofMeteorology(BoM)providesdailyobservationsforCapeMoretonLighthousethatisrelativelyclosetoFlindersReef.Thisdataisfreelyaccessiblethrough http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/. The BoM also provides statisticalinformationaboutobservedwindspeedanddirection inthe formofwindroses,basedonapproximately10yearsofdailyobservations.Dailyweatherobservationswerecollectedforthe period of 01/12/2015 until 15/10/2017. The parameters that were included in thetemporalanalysisareminimumandmaximumairtemperature,andspeedanddirectionofmaximumwindgust.SeeAppendixGformoredetailonalldailyweatherobservationsandadditionalparameterscollected.NationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(NOAA)provides Sea Surface Temperature (SST) information for their product Coral ReefWatch(CRW),whichisbasedonsatellitedataandisfreelyavailableonlinefromcurrentdatauptoMarch 2013 (Liu et al. 2014). Observed SST data has been collected for the period of12/03/2013until12/10/2017.Thisdatahasbeenprocessed tocreate timeseries for thelocationofCapeMoretonLighthouse,aswellaslocationsonFlindersReef(CoralGardenandAldenCave).SeeAppendixHformoredetailontheSSTdata.

2.4.2. Wavemonitoringdata–WaveheightanddirectionQueenslandgovernmentmaintainsanetworkofwavemonitoringsitestomeasuretheheightanddirectionofwavesalongtheQueenslandcoast.Thesebuoyscontinuouslymeasurewaveheight,wavedirectionandwaveperiod.Asawavemonitoringbuoyfloatsupanddowneachpassingwave,itsmotion(orheave)ismeasuredandelectronicallyprocessed.Datafromthewavemonitoringbuoysaretransmittedtoanearbyreceiverstationasaradiosignal.WavebuoymonitoringdatawerecollectedfortheNorthMoretonBaywavebuoy,fortheperiodof01/01/2010until31/10/2017.TheparametersthatwereincludedinthetemporalanalysisareHmax(theheight(inmetres)ofthehighestsinglewaveinawaverecord)anddirection.

2.4.3. SeaSurfaceChlorophylldataSeaSurfaceChlorophylldatawasderivedfromsatellitebasedsensors,throughtheNationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration(NASA)OceanBiologyProcessingGroup(OBPG).ThesensorsviewtheentireEarth'ssurfaceeverytwodays.Thisdataimprovesourunderstandingof global dynamics and processes occurring on the land, in the oceans and in the loweratmosphere. The data is freely available online, the set of data covers the entire routineoperationsperiodfrom04/07/2002totwoweeksbeforepresentday(NASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenteretal.2017).Thedailyaveragedobservedchlorophyllconcentrationhasbeencollectedfortheperiodof01/03/2013until07/10/2017andhasbeenprocessedtocreateatimeseriesforthelocationofCapeMoretonLighthouse,aswellaslocationsonFlindersReef(CoralGardenandAldenCave).Thechlorophylldatahasgapsatthetimeswherethesatellitewasnotpresent tomakeobservations.SeeAppendixH formoredetailon theSeaSurfaceChlorophylldata.AppendixH


3. Results

3.1. SurveyConsiderationsDiveswereconductedoveratotalof23daysbetweenMarchandOctober2017eachundervaryingconditions(Table1).NotethattheecologicalsurveyswereonlyconductedinMarchandSeptember,however,themappingsurveyswereconductedfromMarchtoOctober.Forthedurationofthestudy,thewatertemperatureatdivingdepthrangedfrom18°CinJulyto26°CinFebruary.Ofnoteisthattheaveragevisibilitywas~14mandthehighestwaves(3.1m)wererecordedinJuly2017.During23days,atotalof561dives(421hoursunderwater)were made, of which 176 were training dives and 239 survey dives, and 146 were formapping/photo.FourdayswereatPointLookoutwithacommercialboatand19dayswereorganisedwiththeUniDiveboat(AppendixC).Table1:Environmentalconditionsduringeachofthesurveydays,wherewedifferentiatebetweendayswheretrainingwasconducted,ecologicalsurveys,mappingorphotos(Source:BureauofMeteorology,WaveRiderBuoys,diversparticipatingintheFREAproject).Ingreyhighlightedarethetwoecologicalsurveyseasonrepresentingautumnandspring.TemperatureisinCelsiusfortheair.

# Dive Date Dive TypeNumber of dives SST

Temp min

Temp max

Wave height

Cloud cover Rain

Wind direction

Wind Speed

Wind direction

Wind Speed

1 Saturday, 12 November 2016 Training 4 24 23.1 28.2 <1m 8 0 NNW 26 999 999

2 Sunday, 13 November 2016 Training 4 24 22.7 999 <1m 7 5.4 NNW 22 999 999

3 Saturday, 4 February 2017 Training 4 25.5 999 5 0 NNE 9 999 999

4 Sunday, 5 February 2017 Training 4 999 999 0 0 0 0 999 999

5 Sunday, 12 March 2017 Ecology 2 28 22.1 28.9 <1m 0 1.4 N 13 NE 246 Saturday, 25 March 2017 Ecology 3 27 22.2 27.3 <1m 0 6.8 SE 43 ESE 317 Sunday, 26 March 2017 Ecology 2 27 22.9 28.4 <1m 0 0.2 SE 15 E 178 Sunday, 16 April 2017 Ecology 2 25 20.6 25.4 1-2m 0 0 SE 24 ESE 199 Monday, 1 May 2017 Ecology 2 24 18 22.9 1-2m 0 6 S 28 SE 24

10 Saturday, 27 May 2017 Mapping 2 17.5 23.7 0 0 S 11 ESE 911 Saturday, 10 June 2017 Mapping 2 21 15.5 22.1 1m 0 0.4 S 33 SSE 3912 Saturday, 24 June 2017 Mapping 2 24 16.2 22.8 <1m 0 0 W 19 SW 1313 Monday, 26 June 2017 Mapping 2 16.6 22.4 0 0 W 11 SSE 1514 Tuesday, 27 June 2017 Mapping 2 18.4 22.9 0 0 NNW 11 NNE 2015 Saturday, 8 July 2017 Mapping 2 15 20.6 0 2.2 WSW 13 SW 1516 Saturday, 15 July 2017 Mapping 2 22 17.8 22.1 ? 0 0 WNW 15 N 2217 Saturday, 5 August 2017 Mapping 2 13.2 22 0 0 WSW 20 E 1318 Sunday, 13 August 2017 Mapping 2 17.5 23.2 0 0 S 20 ESE 2419 Sunday, 27 August 2017 Ecology 2 23 14.5 22 <1m 0 0 WSW 9 NNE 2220 Friday, 1 September 2017 Ecology 2 22 14.8 20.6 1m 0 0 SSE 26 ESE 28

21 Saturday, 2 September 2017 Ecology 4 22 15.4 22.9 1m 0 0 SSE 13 ENE 19

22 Sunday, 3 September 2017 Ecology 4 22 16.9 23.3 1m 0 0 WNW 17 NNE 30

23 Saturday, 7 October 2017 Photos 2 22 19.8 24.9 <1m 0 0 SE 50 SE 37

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3.2. MappingGeoreferencedhabitatmaps(UTM‐WGS84)werecreatedforFlindersReefanddescribethesubstratetype,waterdepthandsignificantfeatures(Figure9andFigure10). Anoticeablefeaturemappedwere thebranchingcoralbedsatCoralGardenwhicharesimilar to thosepresent on the southern Great Barrier Reef such as Heron Reef. Additionally, at severallocations,platecoralswereobservedwithup toa2metrediameter.Encrustingandplatecoralswereobservedmostlyonthesoutheasternside,withbranchingandsoftcoralsonthewesternside.Asparagopsissp.wasthedominantmacroalgaeobservedandhardierspeciessuchasSargassumsp.orTurbanariasp.werenotobservednoranysignificantamountofkelplikespeciessuchasEckloniasp..Laurenciasp.dominatedthedeeperwaters(>15m)ontheeastsiteofthereef.Mostrockandrubblesurfacesweremainlycoveredbymacroalgaebutalsobysponges,coralsorafinelayerofturfalgae.

Figure9:Prominentsubstrateandbenthicfeatures,andlocationsofsurveytransectsatFlindersReef,northofMoretonIsland,Australia.

Threedimensionalstructureswerefoundmostlyontheeasternsideofthereefswithvariousoverhangsandswimthrough,andonecollapsedcaveknownasAldenCave(Figure10).Ridgesand gullies characterise the eastern areas and they are more common in a north‐southdirection.Sandyareasarepresentinthedeeperwaterintheeastandshallowerwaterinthemoreshelteredwest.Largeareasofsandandbouldersovergrownwithalgaeandcoralare


presentinthenorthwest.NewlynamedUniDiveshoal,furthertothewest,turnstoarockybottomcoveredbycoralandalgae.

Figure10:ProminentpointandlinefeaturesatFlindersReef,northofMoretonIsland,Australia.

RefertoAppendixDforadetailedlocationofsurveytransectsandtoAppendixEforcoordinatesofthestartandendpointsofeachtransect.


3.3. EcologicalData

3.3.1. SubstrateSubstratedatacollectedshowedthathardcoralcover(e.g.massive,branching,plate,folioseandencrustinggrowthforms)androck(e.g.barerock,rockwithcrustosecorallinealgaeandrockwithturfalgae)arethemostdominantcovertypes(between11%and79%forhardcoralcoverandbetween16%and62%forrock,respectively)atallsitesthroughouttheyear.

Seasonal Patterns of Substrate Key Groups at Flinders Reef Rockwas the categorywith thehighest percentage cover for both seasonswith41.0% inautumnand36.5%inspring2017(Figure11)basedonall10sitessurveyedinautumnand11 sites surveyed in springhard coralwas thenextmost abundantbenthic categorywith29.9%coverinautumnand32.4%inspring.Differencesinhardcoralcoverlessthan10%areduetosurveymethodsanddeemedacceptable(Doneetal.2017).Thesecondmostabundantbenthiccategorywassoftcoralwith11.3%coverinautumnand8.6%inspring.TheoverallaveragenumberofthemacroalgaeAsparagopsissp.tallywasmorethantwotimeshigherinspringthaninautumn,withanaveragedtallynumberof2.3and7.3per transect, respectively. The dominant hard coral growth form at Flinders Reef wasencrustingcoralwith15.8%inautumnand13.6%inspring.Thiswasfollowedbybranchingcoralswith9.4%inautumnand13.7%inspring(Figure11).

Figure11:SeasonalpatternsofsubstratecategoriesatFlindersReef(A)andhardcoralgrowthforms(B).Resultsarebasedontheaggregationofn=4x20msegments(exceptforthesiteSylviaEarlewheren=3inautumn)from10sitesinautumnand11sites(includingthesiteArusBale)inspring.

Seasonal and Spatial Patterns of Substrate Key Groups at Survey Sites


Hardcoralcoverhadadifferenceof<10%betweenautumnandspringsurveysforthesitesNorth,AldenCave,Stevo,South,SylviaEarle,TurtleCleaningandPlate.Thelargestdifferenceof23.8%waspresentforCoralGardenwith55.0%hardcoralcovermeasuredinautumnascomparedto78.8%inspring(Figure12).Thisdeviationinaveragecoralcoverindicatesthatthe repeated survey in spring was carried out at a slightly different location to the sitepreviouslysurveyedashardcoralcoverwouldnotincreasesignificantlyinasixmonthperiod.Averagedhardcoralcoverbetweenseasonsvariedbyaround10%whichiscommonduetosurveymethods(Doneetal.2017).

Figure12:SeasonalcoverpercentageofsubstratecategoriesatFlindersReefforautumnandspring.Thepurpledotrepresentsaveragecoralbleachinglevelsofthecoralpopulation.

HardcoralcovervariedbetweenthesitesandwashighestforthesiteCoralGarden.Inspring,hardcoralcoveratCoralGardenaveraged78.8%(n=4)acrossalln=4segments,andmainlyconsistingofbranchingcorals(77.5%)(Figure12andFigure13).Softcoralcoveratthissiteandseasonwasnegligiblewith0.6%leatherysoftcoralcover.SylviaEarlehadthesecondhighesthardcoralcoverwhichwascomparablebetweenthetwoseasonsautumn(51.7%)andspring(47.5%)andthedominantcoral typewasencrusting (25.0%forbothseasons)followedbybranching(11.7%and13.8%forrespectivelyautumnandspring)andsoftcoral(15.8%and10.0%).Thelowestcontentofhardcoralcover(≤25%)wasobservedforNorth(25.0and15.6%forrespectivelyautumnandspring),TurtleCleaning(20.6and16.3%),Plate(10.6and17.5%)andSouth(16.3and15.6%).


Figure13:SeasonalpercentagecoverofcoralgrowthtypesatFlindersReefforautumnandspring.Resultsarebasedontheaggregationofn=4x20msegments(n=4)(exceptforthesiteSylviaEarlewheren=3inautumn)from10sitesinautumnand11sites(includingthesiteArusBale)inspring.

3.3.2. Fish

Fish Key Groups at Flinders Reef Atotalof8keyfishgroupswereencounteredatFlindersReefamongthe11keyfishgroupsmonitored,i.e.wobbegong,sweetlip,morwong,emperor,snapper,parrotfish>20cm,morayeelandbutterflyfish.The3keyfishgroupsthatwereincludedinthesurveysbuthavenotbeenobservedonthetransectsduringautumnandspringweregrouper>30cm,wrasse:bluegrouperandhumpheadwrasse.

Seasonal Patterns of Fish Key Groups at Flinders Reef Surveyswere conducted at twodifferent timesof theyear revealing temporal patterns intermsofkey fish groupabundance.Overall, less fishwasobserved in spring compared toautumn(Figure14A).Averagefishabundanceper100m2inautumnwas9.45(n=378fish)and6.00(n=264fish)inspring.Thispatternismainlyduetoadecreaseinthebutterflyfishand snapper key groups between the two seasons, average fish abundance per 100 m2decreasedfrom7.80inautumnto4.82inspringforbutterflyfishandfrom0.83inautumnto0.16inspringforsnapper(Figure14).Resultsshowthatabundanceoftheotherfishgroupsremainedrelativelyconstantwiththeexceptionofthewobbegonggroupwhichincreasedinabundancefrom0.03per100m2inautumnto0.14per100m2inspring(Figure14b).Notethatthetwowrasseandgroupergroupswereomittedintheresultsastheywerenotseenduringthesurveys.

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ButterflyfishwerethemostcommonkeyfishgroupobservedatFlindersReefwithanaverageabundanceof7.80and4.82fishper100m2inautumnandspringrespectively(Figure14A).Inautumn,thesnappergroupwasthesecondmostabundantkeyfishgroupwith0.83fishper100m2andinspringthemorwongwasthesecondmostabundantgroupwithanaveragefishabundanceof0.41per100m2(Figure14B).

Figure14:Seasonalabundanceper100m2ofkeyfishgroupsatFlindersReeffor(A)alleightkeyfishgroupsand(B)zoomedinonthesevenlessrepresentedkeyfishgroups,i.e.minusthebutterflyfish.

Seasonal Patterns of Fish Key Groups at Survey Sites Surveyspersiteshowthatateachsitebutterflyfishwerethemostabundantkeyfishgroupinautumnand in spring (Figure15).Additionally, less fishper sitewereobserved in springcompared to autumn (Figure 15). Turtle Cleaning showed the highest on average fishabundanceper100m2inautumnandDonnathelowestinspring,19.75and3.00respectively.TurtleCleaningalsoshowedthehighestoverallabundanceofbutterflyfish,18.00per100m2inautumnandDonnathelowest,1.75per100m2inspring(Figure15).Thedecreaseinfishabundancebetweenautumnandspringsurveyswasparticularlypronounced for the sitesStevoandTurtleCleaningwherethetotalfishabundancedroppedbymorethan50%,from13.25to4.75per100m2atStevoandfrom19.75to7.50per100m2atTurtleCleaning(Figure15).Thebutterflyfishabundanceatthosesitesdroppedby77%atStevoand65%atTurtleCleaningbetweenautumnandspring(Figure15).ThefishabundanceforthesitesofSylviaEarle,DonnaandNorthremainedconstantbetweenthetwoseasons(Figure15).NotethatforthesiteArusBalenodatawascollectedduringtheautumnsurveys.


Figure15:Seasonalabundanceofkeyfishgroupsper100m2persurveysiteatFlindersReef.

Spatial Patterns of Fish Key Groups at Survey Sites Results show different spatial patterns as a function of the fish key group per season.Butterflyfishandmorwonggroupswerepresentateachsurveysiteinautumnandspringandthesweetlipandparrotfish>20cmkeygroupswerefoundatmostsites(Figure16).However,the sites and proportion of fish encountered within sites varied through the seasons. Incontrast,morayeelandemperoronlyrepresentedoneortwositesinautumnandspringwiththemorayeelkeygroupfoundontwodifferentsurveysitesinautumncomparedtospring;Coral Garden and Turtle Cleaning in autumn (Figure 16), sites close to each other on thewesternsideofFlindersReef,andPlateandDonnainspring(Figure16).ThispatternwasalsoobservedforthesnappergroupwhichwaspresentinautumninNorth,AldenCave,Trevo,CoralGarden,TurtleCleaningandPlate,whileinspringitwasonlyfoundinNorth,StevoandPlate(Figure16).Wobbegongandemperorwereonlyspottedatonesiteinautumn(Figure16),whileinspringtheyrepresentedtwoandfoursitesrespectively(Figure16).ButterflyfishwerepresentateachsiteandthemostabundantfishkeygroupatFlindersReef.


Figure16:Proportionofthekeyfishgroupsencounteredateachsurveysiteperseason.

Rare Animals at Survey Sites NotmanyrareanimalswereobservedatFlindersReefandmoreoftenencounteredduringspringthaninautumn(AppendixF).Whenencounteredinbothseasons,thenumberofrareanimalsper100m2washighestinautumn(CoralGarden,TurtleCleaningandPlate).NorareanimalswereobservedatStevo,TrevoandSouth;ArusBalewasnotsurveyedinautumnandtherefore not included in the latter. Turtle Cleaning showed the highest number of rareanimalsinautumn,mainlyconsistingoftrevally.Turtleswerefoundatsixofthe11surveysitesinbothautumnandspring.

3.3.3. Invertebrates

Seasonal Patterns of Invertebrate Key Groups at Flinders Reef FlindersReef’sinvertebratediversityandabundanceseemstoberelativelyconstantoverthetwoseasons(Figure17).Inbothseasons,eighttaxahavebeenrecorded.Theonlydifferencelies in the abundanceof collector sea urchins (Tripneustes sp.),whichwere found only inautumn.


Figure17:Seasonalabundanceper100m2ofkeyinvertebrategroupsatFlindersReefforautumnand spring surveys.Crown‐of‐thorn starfish, triton, trochus,pricklygreenfishand redfish seacucumbers,andpencilseaurchinswerenotseenduringsurveys.

Seasonal Patterns of Invertebrate Key Groups at Survey Sites DiversityandabundanceofrecordedindicatorinvertebratetaxavariedstronglybetweentheFlindersReefsurveysites(Figure18).Mostdiversesiteswithfiveoutof14taxarecorded(twoanemonecategoriescountedasone)wereNorth,SouthandPlate.Mostcommontaxonrecorded is the sea urchin Diadema sp. which is observed in nine out of 11 sites. Mostabundant taxa were corallivorous gastropod Drupella sp. and anemones. Crown‐of‐thornstarfish (Acanthaster planci), gastropods triton (Charonia tritonis) and trochus (Tectusniloticus), sea cucumbers prickly greenfish (Stichopus chloronotus) and prickly redfish(Thelenota ananas) as well as pencil sea urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus orPhyllacanthusparvispinus)werenotobservedatanyofthesites.

Spatial Patterns of Invertebrate Key Groups at Survey Sites Strongvariationbothininvertebratediversityandabundancehavebeenobservedbetweenthetwosurveyedseasons(Figure18).Allsitesshowadifferenceintaxarecordedinthetwoseasons.ThemoststrikingdifferencesarefoundinNorth,StevoandSylviaEarlewherethesetoftaxarecordedinautumniscompletelydifferentfromthesetoftaxaobservedinspring,i.e.noneoftherecordedtaxaarefoundinbothseasons.Additionally,inautumnsurveysnoneof the indicator invertebrates were recorded in at Trevo, whereas in spring three taxa(anemone,Drupella sp.andDiadema sp.)wereobserved.Mostdiversesites inautumnareCoralGardenandTurtleCleaningwithfourtaxarecorded.Inspring,thesesiteshadtwoandasingletaxonrecordedrespectively.Southwasthemostdiversesiteinspringsurveyswithfivetaxarecorded,whileinautumnonlythreetaxawererecorded.


Figure18:Seasonalabundanceof indicator invertebratetaxaper100m2recordedatFlindersReef on all sites during autumn and spring. Crown‐of‐thorn starfish, triton, trochus, pricklygreenfishandredfishseacucumbersandpencilseaurchinswerenotseenduringoursurveys.

Figure19:Seasonalabundanceper100m2ofgiantclamsizecategoriesforautumnandspringatFlindersReef.Giantclamswithsizessuperiororequalto40cmwerenotseenduringoursurveys.

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Therecordedabundanceoftaxainthesamesiteintwodifferentseasonsalsovaries.However,theabundanceofsometaxaseemstoberelativelyconstantinparticularsites:(a)anemoneinCoralGarden,(b)Drupellasp.inDonnaandTurtleCleaning,(c)giantclamsinSouth,and(d)Diadema sp. inPlate.Most observed invertebrates aremobile,with the exceptionof giantclams.Therefore,thedifferenceinabundanceofgiantclamsizecategories ismostnotable(Figure19).Giantclamswithsizes≥40cmwerenotseenduringoursurveys.

3.3.4. Impacts

Seasonal Patterns of Reef Health Impacts for all Survey Sites combined Reefhealthimpactsobservedinautumnandspringweregenerallyhigherinspringcomparedto autumn (Figure 20). Overall, this was especially true for coral disease, with incidencealmostfivetimeshigherinspring(1.31/100m2)comparedtoautumn(0.27/100m2)acrossallsitescombined.Thepresenceofunknownscarswereovertwotimesmoreabundantinspring(1.42/100m2)comparedtoautumn(0.58/100m2).Conversely,Drupellascarswereover two times more abundant in autumn (0.19/100m2) compared to spring (0.07/100m2).This was the only impact recorded in a higher abundance in autumn. However, theabundanceofDrupellascarswasnotreflectiveofrecordedDrupellaabundance,whichwasequalacrossseasons(Figure17).

Figure20:Seasonalabundanceofreefhealthimpactsper100m²normalisedbythepercentageofcoralcoverperseasonacrossallFlindersReefsurveysitescombined.Anchordamagewasnotseenduringsurveys.

Physicalcoraldamagecanresultfromnaturalcausessuchasstorms,oranthropogenicfactorssuchasboatanchoring,poorlytraineddivers,snorkelersandfishing.ThelowabundanceofdiscardedfishinggearonFlindersReefwasapparent.Althoughrecordedduringtheimpactsurvey,coralbleachingwasnotincludedinthissectionasitisaddressedinthecoralhealthsectionbelow.

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Seasonal Patterns of Reef Health Impacts at Survey Sites Theaverageabundanceofreefimpactsper100m2andnormalisedbypercentagecoralcovergenerally increased from autumn to spring for each site (Figure 21). However, Plate hadalmostequallyhighdamageinbothseasons(autumn:0.52/100m2;spring:0.54/100m2).ThehighestabundanceofimpactswasfoundatPlateinautumnandatTrevoinspring(0.66/100m2),followedcloselybySouth(0.66/100m2)(Figure21).Thehealthiestsitesacrossseasonswithasummedtotaloflessthan0.50impactcountsper100m2includedNorth,Donna,Stevo,SylviaEarleandCoralGarden(Figure21).Northhadthelowestabundanceofreefimpactsinautumn(0.08/100m2)andalsoexhibitedoneofthelowestabundancesofreefimpactsinspring(0.19/100m2),togetherwithDonna(0.19/100m2).Despitehavingthehighestcoralcoverinbothautumn(55%)andspring(78.8%)(Figure13),CoralGardenexhibitedsomeofthelowestabundancesoftotalimpactsinbothseasons(autumn:0.15/100m2;spring:0.22/100m2).

Figure21:Seasonalabundanceofreefhealthimpactsper100m²atFlindersReefnormalisedforcoralcoverforeachsurveysiteperseason.

Intermsofspecific impacts,allsitesexhibitedsomedegreeofcoraldisease,coralphysicaldamage and unknown scars in at least one season (Figure 21). Although total impactabundancewasrelativelylowinCoralGarden,thissiteexperiencedthehighestabundanceofcoraldiseasecomparedtoothersitesinautumn(0.12/100m2).Theincidenceofcoraldiseaseatthissitewasalsohighcomparedtootherimpactsacrossbothseasons.Inspring,ArusBaleandTrevodisplayedanevenhigherabundanceofdisease(both0.24/100m2).Interestingly,however,Trevoexperiencedthelowestabundanceofdiseaseintheautumn(0.01/100m2)andinspring,Donnahadthelowestabundanceofcoraldisease(0.01/100m2).Platedisplayedhighabundancesofcoralphysicaldamageinbothseasons(autumn:0.38/100m2;spring:0.34/100m2),exceededonlybyTurtleCleaninginspring(0.44/100m2)(Figure

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21). While Coral Garden displayed a high incidence of coral disease, there was a lowabundanceofcoraldamageacrossseasons(autumn:0.01/100m2;spring:0.02/100m2),withminimalunknownscarsatthissite inautumn(0.01/100m2)andnonereportedinspring.Conversely,Trevo (0.38/100m2)andSouth(0.40/100m2)had thehighestabundancesofunknownscars,bothpresentinspring.AlthoughDrupella scarswere found atmost sites, total countswere low (Figure 21). ThehighestabundanceofDrupellascarsinautumnandspringwerefoundatPlate(0.09/100m2)andSylviaEarle(0.03/100m2),respectively.Fishinggearwasencounteredinfivesites,withthehighestincidencerecordedatSouthinSpring(0.05/100m2).Fishinggearwasalsofoundin thisseasonatArusBaleandTrevo,and inautumnfishinggearwas foundatNorthandDonna.

Coral Health (coral bleaching) Fortheperiodofobservation,therecordedcoralhealthwasrelativelystablewithnoobviouscoralbleaching(Figure22)onascalefrom1to6(1unhealthy,6veryhealthy).Overall,thelightestscoreswereobservedinautumn,whenthewatertemperaturewashighest(Figure22).Asdatawasconsistentandsimilarforthe11surveytransects,theywerepooledtocreatean average for the FlindersReef dive site region. Figure 22 shows that the average scorerangesfrom3.5inautumnto4inspring.

Figure22:Averagecolourscoreforrandomlysurveyedcoralspersiteseparatelyforautumnandspring.

The average colour score as an indicator for coral health ranged between 2.9 at South inautumnand4.5atTurtleCleaningandCoralGardeninspring.Onsixoutofthe11surveysites,theaveragecolourscorewaslowerinautumnthaninspring,i.e.coralsshowedhigherdegreeofhealthinspring.Ingeneral, theaveragecolourscorepersiteandperseasonfollowsthesametrendasthepercentagehardcoralcover,i.e.whenahighcoralcoverismeasured,theaveragecolourscoreishigherthanwhenalowcoralcoverismeasured(Figure23).


Figure23:SeasonalaveragecolourscoreofrandomlysurveyedcoralsatFlindersReefpersite(2ndy‐axis)andthesoftandpercentagehardcoralcoverpersiteperseason(1sty‐axis).

Ingeneral,thelowestcolourscoresweremeasuredatmostsitesandseasonsforthegrowthtype soft coral (Figure 24). The average colour score per growth type did not varymuchbetweenseasonspersite,butalargervariationwasfoundbetweensites.Thelowestaveragecolourscorevalueswererecordedforsoftandbouldertypes inspringatNorthandStevo(bothaveragea colour scoreof 2.5) andhighest average colour scoreswere recorded forbranchingandplateinspringatTurtleCleaningandinautumnatPlate(bothaverageacolourscoreof5.3)(Figure24).Nosoftcoralswererandomlyselectedinthesurveys inspringatDonnaandinautumnatAldenCave,andnoplatecoralswererandomlysurveyedinspringatPlate.Therefore,nobarisshownforthesesites/seasons(Figure24).


Figure24:Seasonalaveragecolourscoreofrandomlysurveyedcoralspersiteperseasonpergrowthtype(bars)andaveragepersiteperseason(bluedot)atFlindersReef.

3.3.5. SubstrateoverTime,Annuallyfrom2007to2017Inthisstudy,thedatacollectedatCoralGarden,TurtleCleaning,PlateandAldenCavewerecompared with long‐term Reef Check Australia data for these sites previously collected.Overall,recordedhardcoralcoverwasfoundtobeloweronFREAsurveysthanonlong‐termReefCheckAustraliaaverages,exceptatTurtleCleaning(Figure25),potentiallysuggestingslightlydifferentsurveylocations.From2007to2016,sitesweredominatedbyrockysubstrate(long‐termsiteaverages21‐30%)andhardcoral(22‐65%).Platehasthehighestaveragecoverofsoftcoralovertime(20%)and“other” (mostlycorallimorphs)(14%),but the lowestaveragehardcoralcover(22%).CoralGardenhasanaveragecoralcoverof65%overthecourseofmonitoring,whichis almost exclusively branching coral. There appears to be an upward trend in hard coralcover,duetorelativelyfast‐growingbranchingcoralandwhatappearstobelimitedmajordisturbances.AldenCaveon thewindwardsideof thereefhasconsistentlyhigherspongecoverthansitesontheleewardside(16%).TurtleCleaninghasamorelimitedmonitoringregime,but also showshigh cover of “other” (mostly corallimorphs) (12%)and soft coral(11%).


Figure25:Comparisonof2009to2017substratedataforfoursitespreviouslysurveyedatFlindersReefbyReefCheckAustralia,theseincludeCoralGarden,AldenCave,PlateandTurtleCleaning(herenamedasTurtleCleaningStation).HC=HardCoral,SC=SoftCoral,BC=BleachedCoral,RKC=RecentlyKilledCoral,RC=Rock,NIA=NutrientIndicatorAlgae,SP=Sponge,OT=Other,SI=Silt,RB=Rubble,andSD=Sand.


3.3.6. SubstrateComparedtoSouthEastQueenslandandSouthernGreatBarrierReefBasedonaveragehardcoralcoverrecordedbytrainedvolunteersatlong‐termReefCheckAustraliamonitoringlocationsinthesouthernsectionofQueensland(2007‐2017),FlindersReefdemonstratesitselfasastandoutlocationforcoral,with36%hardcoralcoveraveragedacross all sites over the course of monitoring (Reef Check Australia 2017, Reef HealthDatabasewww.reefcheckaustralia.org/data.html).ThisishigherthantheFraserCoast(22%),SunshineCoast(28%),Pointlookout(17%),andInshoreMoretonBay(20%).WithinFlindersReef,CoralGardenwithitsextensivestandofbranchingAcroporaspp.corals,isaparticularlyunique location for hard coral cover, with a cumulative average of 64% cover. This iscomparable to cover at well‐known dive sites at Heron Reef (Heron Bommie and CoralGardens,65%cover),andthesouthernGreatBarrierReef,whichalsohostsimilarhabitatsofmostlybranchingcoral.OtherslopesitesatHeronReefhave51%coralcoverand includeplate,massiveandbranchingcorals,whereontheshallowreefflatatHeronReefhardcoralcoverisaround17%(Salmondetal.2016).

Figure26:PercentagecoverofcoralgrowthformsatFlindersReefcomparedwithotherSouthEastQueenslandsitesandHeronReefatthesouthernextentoftheGreatBarrierReef.


3.4. Environment

3.4.1. DailyWeatherObservations–TemperatureandWindTheair temperatureatCapeMoretonLighthouseshowsaclear seasonalpattern,with thehighest temperatures in February and March and the coolest months in July and August(Figure 27). The difference between theminimum andmaximumdaily temperature is onaverage5.6°C,varyingbetween0.7and10.8°C.When the observed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is compared with the observed airtemperature, the SST shows less variability and is closer to the maximum observed airtemperature.However,itisnotclearhowtheairtemperaturecouldbeusedasaproxyfortheSST.Therefore,weshouldrelyonobservedSSTifwewanttocorrelateforexampleobservedcoralbleachingtowatertemperaturesorfishabundanceatFlindersReef.

Figure27:DailyobservedminimumandmaximumairtemperatureatCapeMoretonLighthouse(source: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/) combined with the observed Sea SurfaceTemperatureat3locationsbasedonNOAAprocessedsatellitedata(source:Liuetal.2014).

IfwelookatalongertimeseriesfortheobservedSSTatCapeMoretonLighthouse,wecanidentifythesummerof2014/2015asawarmersummer.Theaveragetemperatureforthisseasonwasupto1.3°Cwarmerthanthesameseasonintheotheryearsinourdataset(Figure28.Table1showsthecompletetimeseries,togetherwiththemovingaveragetakenover4weeks.Table2:SeasonalaverageSeaSurfaceTemperatureintheperiod03/03/2013until12/10/2017atCapeMoretonLighthouse.Note:springaveragefor2017isbasedonpartialdatasetfromBOM.

Average SST 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Autumn 24.69 25.10 25.45 25.76 25.27


Winter 21.21 21.65 21.74 21.88 22.10

Spring 23.03 22.89 23.02 22.71 22.21

Summer 25.38 26.70 26.09 26.15

Figure28:ObservedSeaSurfaceTemperatureatoffCapeMoretonLighthousebasedonNOAAprocessedsatellitedata(source:Liuetal.2014)overaperiodof4years,togetherwiththemovingaveragetakenover4weeks(inred).

ThewindclimatenearFlindersReefcanbecharacterisedasmild,withwindspeedsgenerallylessthanBeauport5.ThedominantwinddirectionatCapeMoretonLighthouseissoutheast,occurringforabout30%ofthetime.TherelativelyhighpositionofCapeMoretonWindgaugecompared to FlindersReef thewind speeds are known tobe considerablyhigherbutwillprovideagoodrepresentationofdirection.Figure29showswindrosesforthemorningandafternoon,averagedfortheentireyear.Inthemorningacalmwesterlywindispresent,butnotintheafternoon.The wind speeds and directions at Cape Moreton Lighthouse show a distinct seasonalvariation(Figure29).Inautumn,thepredominant9AMwinddirectionisSE,movingtowardsS/SWgoingintowinter(Figure29).Inspring,thepredominant9AMwindiseitherSEorNW.


Figure29:9AMand3PMwindrosesatCapeMoretonLighthouseaveragedovertheperiod01‐01‐1957to10‐08‐2017(sourcehttp://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/).

ThepredominantwinddirectionsatPointLookout(Figure30)aredifferent,thereforethisdataislessrelevantwhenlookingatthewindconditionsatFlindersReef.Thewindrosesforautumnandspringhavebeenincludedin(AppendixI).

Figure30:9AMand3PMwindrosesatPointLookoutaveragedovertheperiod06‐02‐1997to11‐08‐2017(source:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/).

Therecordingofthemaximumdailywindgustgivesanindicationofstormevents,whichmaycause damage to the reef. This information can be related to unusual swell and thereforepotentialobservationsofdamagedcoral(e.g.branchingcoral).Figure31showsdatesforthedays when the maximum recorded wind gust was 80 km/h or more, together with thecorrespondingwinddirection.

9am 3pm


Figure31:Dailymaximumwindgust(velocityanddirection)atCapeMoretonLighthousefordayswhenmaximumrecordedwindgustwas80km/hormore(source:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/)

3.4.2. WavemonitoringdataTherecordedmaximumwaveheightanddirectionattheNorthMoretonBaywavebuoyshowsomecorrelationtotheobservedmaximumwindgustsatCapeMoretonLighthouse.Figure32showstheeventswheretherecordedmaximumwaveheight(Hmax)was4morhigher,togetherwiththecorrespondingdirectionforthesameperiodasusedinFigure31.

Figure32:Maximumwaveheight(Hmax)anddirectionatNorthMoretonBaywavebuoyfordayswhenmaximumwaveheightwas4mormore(source:https://data.qld.gov.au/dataset/)


3.4.3. ChlorophyllHighchlorophyllconcentrationvaluesareanindicationofalowerwaterqualitylikelyduetoeutrophicationandbyconsequence,potentialstressonthereef.Overaperiodofalmostfiveyears,severalpeakscanbeidentified,thebiggestbeing10µg/lon26/09/2013(Figure33).Otherpeaks(withvalueshigherthan1µg/l)havebeenobservedandarelistedinTable3.

Figure33:DailyaveragedobservedchlorophyllconcentrationatCapeMoretonLighthousebasedonNASAgatheredsatellitedata(source:NASAGoddardSpaceFlightCenteretal.2017)overaperiodofmorethanfouryears.Thehighconcentrationobservedon26‐09‐2013of10µg/lisoffthescale.

Table3:Peakeventsinobserveddailyaveragechlorophyllconcentrationsintheperiod01‐01‐2013until05‐10‐2017atCapeMoretonLighthouse.

GMT Chlorophyll.obs GMT Chlorophyll.obs

(µg/l) (µg/l)

26‐09‐13 12:00 1.20 02‐05‐15 12:00 1.85

17‐10‐13 12:00 1.92 05‐09‐15 12:00 1.41

19‐10‐13 12:00 1.15 09‐06‐16 12:00 1.21

30‐06‐14 12:00 1.11 22‐09‐16 12:00 1.26

08‐07‐14 12:00 1.16 03‐02‐17 12:00 1.13

10‐10‐14 12:00 2.41 11‐04‐17 12:00 1.63

15‐01‐15 12:00 1.15 18‐08‐17 12:00 1.01


4. DiscussionFlinders Reef and the surrounding rocky reefs host temperate, tropical and sub‐tropicalspecies co‐existing to forman important transitionalmarinehabitat (Perry andLarcombe2003).SouthEastQueenslandisexhibitingrapidpopulationgrowthandcoastaldevelopment,withpotentiallycorrespondingimpactsuponitsmarineenvironmentssuchasfoundaroundFlindersReef.Climatechangeinducedimpactsduetorisingsealevelandwarmingocean,haveresultedinmasscoralbleachingeventsintheGreatBarrierReefandincreasedoccurrenceand severity of cyclones (Pandolfi et al. 2005). Previous studies have recognised theimportance of South East Queensland reefs for biodiversity and its unique speciesassemblages(Harrisonetal.1998),andongoinglong‐termmonitoringisdrivenbyvariouscitizenscienceinitiativesfillingindatagaps(Loderetal.2010).TheFREAsurveyprojectisoneofthose initiativesandhascontributedefforttothedocumentationandmonitoringofFlindersReef.

4.1. InterpretationofFindings

SubstrateThesurveyscarriedoutinautumnandspringidentifiedrockasthemostdominantsubstratetypeatFlindersReef,followedbythebenthiccategoryhardcoral.Theencrustinggrowthformwasthemostabundanthardcoralgrowthform,followedbybranchingcorals.CoralGardenhadthehighesthardcoralcoverincomparisontoall11sitessurveyedaroundFlindersReef.Thismoreshelteredsitefeaturesalargemonospecificofbranchingcoral.PlateandencrustingcoralaremoredominantonthewindwardsideofthereefwhichalignswithfindingsfromtheGreatBarrierReef(Doneetal.2017,Ortizetal.inpress).Atvariouslocationsaroundthereef,large plate corals of more than two meters in diameter were found. Mushroom, foliose,massiveandsub‐massivecoralmorphologieswerealsoobservedatFlindersReef.TheFREAprojectfurtherexpandsonsiterepresentationatFlindersReefandsupportsReefCheckAustraliadatashowingthathardcoralcoveratthisreefisthehighestforSouthEastQueensland.Withhardcoralcoverofupto79%recordedatCoralGarden,FlindersReefiscomparabletoandevenexceedscoralcoverrecordedforreefsitesatHeronReef,southernGreatBarrierReef(upto63%coralcover).Thishighcoverofcoralislikelysupportedbythelocationofthisoffshorereef,withwell‐flushedwaterregimes(DennisonandAbal1999).TheredalgaeAsparagopsissp.asthedominantmacroalgaeobservedatFlindersReefshoweda strong seasonal trend, with two times higher abundance in spring than in autumn.SeasonalityofmacroalgaeisknownforthesouthernGreatBarrierReef(Rogers2009)andalsofromupwellingregionswhereseawatertemperature(Diaz‐PulidoandGarzon‐Ferreira2002)andtheavailabilityofnutrients(Bayraktarovetal.2014)wereproposedasdriversofseasonality.ForFlindersReef,exposuretowindandwatercurrentsisalikelydriverfortheabundanceanddistributionofmacroalgae.Laurenciasp.dominatedthedeeperwaters(>15m)ontheeastsideofthereef.Here,alimitednumberofthehardierspeciessuchasSargassumsp.orTurbanariasp.wereobservedwhilenokelp‐likespecieslikeEckloniasp.werefound.Most rock and rubble surfaces were either overgrown with macro algae or covered bysponges,coralsorafineturfalgaelayer.


FishFish surveys were conducted using the Reef Check protocol to match the fish categoriestargeted inprevioussurveysbyReefCheckAustralia.Onlya fewnewspecieswereaddedspecifically for the FREA project, mainly including fish from sub‐temperate regions. Theabsence of three main key fish groups (grouper larger than 30 cm, blue grouper andhumpheadwrasse)suggeststhatthereefenvironmentofFlindersReefmaynotbeoptimalforthesegroups.Theabsenceofgroupersgreaterthan30cminsizeislikelyrelatedtotheroleof theshallowerareasofFlindersReef thatwere included inthisstudyand theymayfunctionasnurseries.Smallersizedgroupersaswellassmallerparrotfisheswereobservedduringthesurveys(personalcommunicationM.Grol).Similarly,smallersizedsurgeonfisheswere very abundant on the transects, while larger surgeon fishes and angelfishes werepresentonthesurveysites.ThesizerestrictionfollowedbytheReefCheckprotocolmayhaveinfluencedtheapparentabsenceofsomekeyfishgroupsfromourresults.Notably,volunteersobservedmorefishspeciesandhighfishabundances,howeverthesewerenoindicatorfishspecies,hencewerenotaccountedforwithinthesurveys.Oursurveysrevealedspatio‐temporalvariationsbetweenthedifferentstudysitesandkeyfishkeygroups.Overall,lessfishwereobservedinspringcomparedtoautumn,mainlydrivenby a drop in the abundance of the two most abundant key fish groups represented bybutterflyfishandsnapper.Themaindifferenceinenvironmentalconditionsbetweenthetwoseasonswas the temperature thatvariedbetween22.2°and25.3°C inspringandautumn,respectively.Mostof the fish species included in thebutterflyfishand snappergroupsareknownasresidentsoftropicalcoralreefs,andhencemaypreferthewarmertemperaturesrecordedinautumn.Despite a difference in abundance between seasons, the butterflyfish groupwas themostabundantkeyfishgroupforallsitesandacrossbothseasons.Attemptstoexplaintheirhighabundanceusingpercentageofcoralcoverandcoralgrowthformasexplanatoryfactorsweremadewithoutanyclearcorrelation.Itwillbeinterestingtoexpandthisanalysistomorereefsin South East Queensland which are similar to Flinders Reef, such as Point Lookout orMooloolaba. Comparing these relationships between rocky reefs andwell‐known tropicalcoral reefs will allow managers to better understand the value of rocky reefs for theconservationofreeffishdiversity.

InvertebratesDiversity of invertebrates at Flinders Reef was very similar in both surveyed seasons.However,theirabundancewashigherinautumnthaninspring.Thisdifferenceinabundancebetweenthetwoseasonsappearstobearesultofhighabundanceofanemonesinautumn(Figure17).Anemonesarenotstrictlysessileorganisms. It ispossible that theymayhaverelocated or died out as a response to an environmental factor. However, a more likelyexplanation is that the transect linevaried inpositionbetween the two seasons.Differentpositioning of transect lines can be provenby inconsistent numbers of sessile and easily‐recognisablegiantclamsbetweenthetwoseasons(Figure19).Theseasonaldifferencespersitearemorepronouncedforsomesites(North,StevoandSylviaEarle)wherethediversityof taxa recordedbetween the twoseasons is completelydifferent (Figure18). Incontrast,somesitesshowedseasonalconsistency inbothdiversityandabundance(Figure18).The


differences in diversity and abundance between the two seasons could be a result of: (a)mobilityoforganisms,i.e.mostoftheinvertebratesrecordedaremobileanimalsthatchangetheir location in response to time of the day and diverse environmental factors (e.g.temperature,sunlightandwaterenergy);(b)inconsistencyoftransectpositionbetweenthetwo seasons; (c) observers bias. The Reef Check protocol was followed and its indicatorinvertebrates counted on the transects are typical for tropical reef environments, thus avariety of other invertebrates observed on the dives such as different sea cucumbers,nudibranchsorflatwormswerenotrecorded.

ImpactsThereefimpactsatFlindersReefwerelow,threetimeslowertothanobservedforotherlocalreefs, such as Point Lookout (Roelfsema et al. 2016). Point Lookout has lessmanagementprotectionandmorevisitorsdue to its closeproximity toNorthStradbroke Island.Of theimpactspresent,coralphysicaldamage,unknownscarsandcoraldiseasewereobservedatleastonceduringeveryseasonandateachsite.Drupellascars,fishinggearandgeneralmarinedebriswerefoundincomparativelylowabundancesandatfewsites.Despitebeingexposedtotheprevailingsoutheastwinds,east‐facingDonna,StevoandNorthhadaverylowimpactabundancecomparedtoothersitesatFlindersReef.Thehighernumberofmooringsandthemoreshelteredwatersatthewesternsideofthereefmayexplainthelessfrequentvisitsof theeasternsideandwhytheyare lessaffectedbyrecreationalactivities.Physical damage to the coral (including unknown scars)was generallymore abundant atwesternsitesincludingPlateandTurtleCleaningwhichhavemorebranchingcoralthattendtogrowfasteasilybutareveryfragile.Overall,impactabundancegenerallyincreasedfromautumntospring,whichwasespeciallytrueforcoraldisease.Coraldiseaseisgenerallycausedbyeitherbiologicalfactorsorabioticstressesincludingincreasedseawatertemperatures,salinityvariationsandchangesinwaterquality(HayesandGoreau1998,Brunoetal.2003,SutherlandandRitchie2004).Fishinggearwasencounteredinsmallquantitiesatonlyafewsites,eventhoughillegalfishingwasobservedwithinthe500mexclusiongreenzoneduringthesurveytrips.Theavailabilityofmooringsmostlikelycontributestopreventinganchordamageatthishighly‐traffickedsite.Fishinggearwasremovedfromthereefaftereachsurveywhenpossible.Betweensitesandseasons,theaveragecolourscoremeasuredbythecoralhealthchartdidnotverymuchandallscoreswere3orhigherwhichsuggestsahealthyreef.Growthtypesmeasureddidnotvarymuchbetweensitesandseasons.Softcoralswerelighterincolouronaveragewiththelowestcolourscoreof2.5indicatingpotentialbleaching.However,mostsoftcoralpresenton the siteswere leathery soft coralswhich in general are lighter in colour,especiallywhentheirtentaclesareretracted.Hardcoralgrowthtypesscoredhealthycolourscores. Coral colour scores had similar values as recorded at Point Lookout in the past(Roelfsemaetal.2016).


EnvironmentalDataThedominantwindandwavedirectioncorrelateswiththelocationofdifferentcoraltypesfoundaroundthereef.HistoricaldatacanalsohelptoidentifypotentialstressorstothereefcommunityatFlindersReef.Inthesummerof2014/2015therewasanincreasedseasurfacetemperatureobserved,which couldpoint towards a coralbleaching event. In the last fiveyears,morethan10eventsof increasedobservedchlorophyllconcentrationcouldindicatereducedwaterqualityevents.Theobserveddailymaximumwindgustscorrelatetostormsthatcanexplainsomeobservationsofdamagedcoral.

4.2. ProjectandDataLimitationsTheFREAprojectanddatalimitationsaresimilarasforthepreviouscitizenscienceprojectconductedbythevolunteerteam,e.g.thePLEAproject(Roelfsemaetal.2014).The large number of volunteers involved in the project resulted in a higher chance ofmeasurementerrorsandbroughtvariabilityinthedatathatcouldbemisinterpretedasrealecologicaldifferences.Toreducethisvariation,diversweretrainedtoahighstandardinReefCheckandCoralWatchsurveymethods(passmark≥75%onwrittensurveyIDexams)andifpossible, divers were appointed consistent survey activities. Furthermore, all Reef Checkdivers, previously certified or not, had to participate in an academic exam. In addition,certifiedReefCheckdivershadapracticalreviewsessionduringthetrainingweekendsandnewlycertifiedReefCheckdiversdidundertookpracticesurveysduringtheindividualdaytrips.Allofthe24previouslycertifieddivershadsurveyexperiencegainedduringthePLEAproject.Thenewlycertifieddivershadtosubmitknowledgereviews,completeanacademiconlineandpaperexam,participateinsurveytechniqueandbuoyancypooltraining,aswellasdoIDtrainingandanexamintheopenwater.Within the FREA project differences have been observed between survey dates that areexpectedtobeduetomisalignmentoftransectsovertimeforthesamesites.Differencesintransectlocationbetweensurveysforthesamesiteareallowedtovaryaslongasthedifferenttransectsfallwithintherepresentativeareaofthatspecificsite.AReefChecksiterepresentsthedifferentareasofa reef, eachsite itself is chosen to represent itsdirect surroundings.Slightdifferencesintransectlocationareknowntovaryintheobservationsmade,whicharemostnotablewiththesubstratetransect,ashereobservationsaremadeevery50cmalongeachofthefoursegments.Improvingtherelocationofatransectisthereforereliantongoodstartandendpoints,whichcanbeachievedbyusing:1)permanentmarkersforeachsegmentor2)goodmapsandstartGPSlocations.PlacementofpermanentmarkersasdoneforPLEAcouldimpactthereef,henceFREAchosetousethesecondoptionandtrytorelocatethesamesurveytransectareas.Additionally,environmentalconditionssuchaswavesandsurgealsoresultinmisalignmentoftransects,specificallyforthedetailedsubstratesurvey,explainingsomevariationintheidentifiedsubstratebetweensurveys.Ecologicalsurveyswerecarriedoutintwoseasonsoversixmonthsapartwheresurveyswerecompletedoveroneweekendandadditionaldaytripstofillinthegaps(seeAppendixI).Theenvironmentalconditions(e.g.wind,swell,tides,andtemperature)duringthesurveysvariedduetonormalweatherpatterns,whichhadsomeinfluenceonthefloraandfaunapresent.


5. RecommendationsforManagementandtheCommunity

ContinuedandImprovedMonitoringofFlindersReefRepeatingtheecologicalassessmentonanannualbasisforaselectnumberofsitesandevery five years for all 11 siteswould be beneficial for further understanding andmanagement for conservation. The results of the study show both seasonal and spatialdifferences.TheexistingannualReefCheckmonitoringofthesereefsisimportantandshouldcontinue,asitdocumentschangesovertime.Thedatadocumentspotentialecologicalchangesandenablesustobetterunderstandiftheyarenaturalvariationsorcausedbyexternalfactorssuchas fishing,pollutionorphysicaldamage.TheFREAprojectreport is the firstdetailedecologicalassessmentfor11sitesatFlindersReef,creatingabaselineforthewholereef.Asthiswasalogisticalchallengetocompleteattheseisolatedandexposedsites.Therefore,itisadvisedtoconductthislevelofassessmentonafive‐yearlybasis.Adjustmentofindicatorcategoriesforecologicalassessment.TheFREAsurveysincludedadditionalfishandsubstratecategoryindicatorstothoseofReefCheckAustraliaadvisedbylocal scientists. Theseweremainly indicators for sub‐tropical and temperate regions andrelevance. Observations by the FREA team suggest considering the addition of otherindicators for the invertebrate category such as nudibranchs and additional types of seacucumbers.Improvedmonitoringthroughlivecamerafeed.Itisadvisedthatongoingmonitoringofrecreational activities is conducted through regular visits by Queensland Parks andWildlifeServicesrangersand/ortheplacementofaremotecameraatCapeMoretonLighthouseoronastructureontheexposedpartofFlindersReef.Thecameracouldprovideliveinformationto authorities and public recreational users about the reef and its visitors’ activities. Forauthorities,thecameracouldbeusedtopotentiallyreduceillegalanchoringand/orfishingintheprotectedwatersaroundFlindersReef,whichwasobservedduringtheFREAprojectandhasbeenobservedbyotherreefvisitors.Forthepublic,permanentcamerafootagecanbeusedtoassessenvironmentalconditions,helpingwithplanningofrecreationalactivitiesatFlinders. It is our recommendation that a combination of increased penalties and stricterenforcementbeappliedtodeterfurtherfishinginthisprotectedmarinereserve.Detailedmapsoftransectlocationsanddeployingadropbuoyatthestartoftransectsprovidethebestoptiontorepeatthesametransectlocationandimprovethequalityand reliability of survey result comparisons between sites and years. Based on thelessonslearnedfromthePLEAproject,theFREAprojectusedGPScoordinatesanddropbuoystolocatethestartofeachtransect,thenusedadetailedmapandlocalknowledgetodeploythetransectline.Thisapproachisfavourableasitisfastandhasahighchanceofpositioningthe transect in a representative area for that site, without placing permanent transectmarkers.


ReducingPhysicalDamagetoCoralsbySnorkelersandDivers Educatingdivers,spearfishers,snorkelers,fishersandvesselskipperscouldhelptoreduce incidentalphysicaldamagetothereef.WhilerecordedimpactsatFlindersReefwere relatively low, it is important to encourage best practice at such unique locations.Snorkelersanddiversshouldbeencouragednottotouchanythingorgetclosetothebottom,reducingtheirimpact.Additionalmooringsare recommended toprovideaccess tonorthernand southernareasofthereef.AsnoanchordamagewasrecordedonthereefduringtheFREAprojecteven though the reef is frequently visited by snorkelers and divers, it is concluded thatmoorings functionsuccessfully.BasedontheecologicalassessmentandmappingactivitiestheprojectfoundthatboththeNorthandSouthsitearefavourablefordiving,howevertheydo not have moorings and anchoring is wisely not allowed. Hence, we suggest addingadditionalmooringsormovingoneofthesixmooringsfromtheNurserytotheseareas.Noanchordamagewasrecordedinanysurvey.Thiscouldbeattributedtothepresenceofpermanentmoorings.However,highamountsofphysicaldamagewaspresentatthehighlytrafficked sitesofPlateandTurtleCleaning,whichare frequentedbyboth snorkelersanddivers. However, Coral Garden, which is adjacent to the above‐mentioned sites and alsofrequentedbyrecreationaldivers,remainedminimallyaffectedbycoraldamage.Therefore,damagemaybeunrelatedtodiverfrequency(e.g.turtlescleaningtheirbodyoncoral)andshouldbeametricinvestigatedinfuturestudies.Attheactualturtlecleaningstation,diversobservedthatthetopsofthebranchingcoralareaareerodedduetofrequentvisitsofturtlespurposelycleaningtheirbellybymovingoverthecorals(personalobservation).

CommunityEngagementtoCreateAwarenessoftheImportanceoftheReefsEducating the community about the Moreton Bay reefs will help preserve theseresourcesforthefuture.AcommunitysurveyundertakenbyReefCheckin2010indicatedthat1in4peopledon’tknowaboutSouthEastQueensland’ssub‐tropicalreefs(ReefCheckAustralia2010).AsindicatedinpreviousUniDiveprojects, increasingawarenessabouttheimportanceofthesehabitatsandhowpersonalactionscansupporttheirprotectioniscriticaltohelpintheconservationoftheseecosystemsforthefuture.DuetoFlindersReef’sremotelocationitisevenhardertoaccess.Hence,tomaketheSouthEastQueenslandcommunityawareofthisspecialreef,weproducedaphotobook“FlindersReef,AMarineFloraandFaunaDescriptionofLocalDiveSites”andavideowhichwillassistinincreasing community awareness about the existence of the reefs around South EastQueenslandandshowcasethevalue,beautyanddiversityofthesereefs.ThecommunitycanhelpbuildanunderstandingofMoretonBayreefsthroughcitizenscience.Thebroadercommunitycangetinvolvedinnumerouscitizenscienceinitiativestosupport increased understanding of Moreton Bay reefs: Reef Check Australia(http://www.reefcheckaustralia.org/),CoralWatch(http://www.coralwatch.org/)GreyNurseSharkWatch(http://www.reefcheckaustralia.org/grey‐nurse‐shark‐watch.html)SpottheLeopardShark(http://www.uq.edu.au/whale/spot‐the‐leopard‐shark)


SupportConservationoftheReefsbyProvidingPeer‐ReviewedInformationThe scientific community, non‐governmental organisations,management authorities, localareacouncilsandinterestedcitizenscanusethefindingsofthisresearchandfutureresearchprojectstohelpsupportmanagementdecisionsandguidefurthermonitoringofthereefs.Theresultsanddatafromthisprojectwillbemadepubliclyavailable,andinclude:

ProjectDocuments● RoelfsemaC.M.,E.Bayraktarov,C.vandenBerg,S.Breeze,M.G.G.Grol,T.Kenyon,S.de

Kleermaeker,J.Loder,M.Mihaljević,J.Passenger,P.Rowland,J.VercelloniandJ.Wingerd(2017). Ecological Assessment of the Flora and Fauna of Flinders Reef, Moreton BayMarine Park, Queensland. UniDive, The University of Queensland Underwater Club,Brisbane,Australia.(thisreport)

Thedocumentwas reviewedby twocoastal regionmanagers,bothhavingover fifteenyearsofexperiencewithmonitoringandmanagingthecoastalregionsandnationalparksinSouthEastQueensland.

● RoelfsemaC.M. andA.D. Kleine (2017).FlindersReef,FloraandFaunaofFlindersReef,NorthMoreton Island, Queensland. Unidive, The University of Queensland UnderwaterClub,Brisbane,Australia.

Photo book (100 pages) created with the help of UniDive volunteers capturing 200+photostakenbyUniDivevolunteersatFlindersReef.

Peer‐ReviewedScientificPapers● RoelfsemaC.M. E. Bayraktarov, C. van deBerg, S. Breeze,M.G.G. Grol, T. Kenyon, S. de

Kleermaeker,J.Loder,M.Mihaljević,J.Passenger,P.Rowland,J.VercelloniandJ.Wingerd(manuscript inpreparation).FloraandFaunaofFlindersReef,adetailedCitizenScienceassessmentintimeandspace,MoretonBayMarinePark,Queensland.JournalofEcosystemandEchography

Peer‐ReviewedDataSet● ThebyFREAcollectedReefCheckandCoralWatch2017DataSetwillbeaccessiblethrough

theironlinedataportalsfromeitherorganisation.● RoelfsemaC.M. T. Barenger, R. Anderson, A. O’Hagen,M. Grol, T. Kenyon, P. Arlow,M.

Pheasent,P.Bray,J.PassengerandD.King,GeoreferencedPhotoscollectedin2017oftheFlindersReefDiveSitesatNorthMoretonIsland,Queensland.UniDiveFREAProject.PangeaorCoastalDataPortal.

● KovacsE.K.,S.Breeze,P.Rowland,K. JohnsonandC.M.Roelfsema.BenthiccompositionderivedfromtheGeoreferencedPhotoscollectedin2017oftheFlindersReefDiveSitesatNorthMoretonIsland,Queensland.UniDiveFREAProject.PangeaorCoastalDataPortal.

● RoelfsemaC.M.,M.G.G.Grol,T.Barrenger,M.Pheasant,P.Arlow,J.Kunze,A.O’Hagen,R.Andersen(inpreparation).HabitatMapsCreatedaspartoftheEcologicalAssessmentoftheFlindersReefDiveSitesatNorthMoretonIsland,Queensland.UniDiveFREAProject.PangeaorCoastalDataPortal.


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AppendicesAppendixA:ParticipatingDivers

OWD=Openwater,ADV=Advanced,RES=Rescue,DM=DiveMaster,INS=Instructor,RCA=ReefCheckCertified,RCA+Fish=RCAcertifiedincludingfish.

Name PointsTraining

divesSurvey dives Cert Training B

oat H

andl

ing

RC

A S

urve

y

Map

ping

Cor

al W

atch

Org

anis

atio

n

Scie

nce

Ana

lysi

s

Boo

k

Vide

o

Alex Burt 8 4 RES RCA+FishAndrew O'Hagan 29 4 12 DM RCA-new x x x xAndy Holland 17 4 4 DM RCA-new x x xBreanne Vincent 32 4 12 DM RCA+Fish x x x x x x xBruce McLean 7 4 2 DM RCA x x x xCatherine Kim 11 4 RES Non x xCedric van den Berg 25 4 20 RES RCA-new x x x x xChris Roelfsema 45 16 19 INS RCA x x x x x x x x xClemens Müller 18 4 4 RES RCA-new x x xDa King 3 5 DM Non x xDee Passenger 10 4 2 DM RCA+Fish xDiana Kleine 20 4 3 INS RCA+Fish x x x x x xDjoy Roelfsema 3 RES Non x xDonna Easton 22 4 9 RES RCA x xDouglas Stetner 27 8 10 INS RCA x x x x x x xElisa Bayraktarov 31 4 15 RES RCA-new x x x x xElisa Girola 6 4 DM RCA-new x xEmily Purton 7 4 DM RCA-newEva Kovacs 10 4 4 DM RCA+Fish x x x x xJaap van der Velde 15 4 1 RES RCA-new x x xJames Mcphearson 1 2 OWD Non xJen Calcraft 27 4 24 RES RCA+Fish x x x x xJen Loder 5 DM RCA+Fish x x x xJens Kunze 28 4 15 RES RCA-new x x x x x xJosh Passenger 22 8 16 DM RCA+Fish x x x x x x xJosh Wingerd 18 4 6 RES RCA-new x x x x xJulie VanDore 24 4 9 RES RCA-new x x xJulie Vercelloni 15 4 2 RES RCA-new x x x xJustin Marriner 6 DM Non xKaren Johnson 28 4 19 DM RCA+Fish x x x x xKatherine Trim 6 4 RES RCA+Fish xLiette Boisvert 20 4 4 RES RCA x x xLock Pollard 6 4 2 DM RCA x x x x xMark Stenhouse 24 4 13 DM RCA x x x x x x xMelanie Oey 19 4 DM Non xMike pheasant 18 4 12 DM RCA x x x xMonique Grol 34 4 15 RES RCA+Fish x x x x x x x xMorana Mihaljevic 26 4 4 RES RCA-new x x x xOlivier 10 4 3 RES RCA-new xPeran Bray 22 4 9 INS RCA x x xPeter Arlow 10 8 RES Non xPhebe Rowland 10 OWD Non x xRikki Andersen 24 4 11 RES RCA-new x x x xRobert Cook 9 DM Non xRyan Booker 16 4 INS RCA xSANTIAGO MEJIA 11 4 2 RES RCA xSarah Breeze 8 RES RCA-new x xSimone De Kleermaeker 20 4 8 RES RCA-new x x xSonja Meier 24 4 11 RES RCA-new x xSophie Remond 10 4 RES NonStefano Freguia 9 4 5 RES RCA+Fish xTania Kenyon 19 4 6 DM RCA+Fish x x x x x x xTanya Dodgen 21 4 6 RES RCA-new x xTrevor Barrenger 32 4 18 DM RCA x x x x x x xYu Pei Tan 10 4 RES RCA-new


AppendixB:DataSheets


AppendixC:DivingStatistics

# Dive DateNumber of

DiversTotal dives

Bottom Time (hrs.) Dive location

Type of Dive

1 12/11/2016 22 44 33 Shag Rock Training2 13/11/2016 22 44 33 Shag Rock Training3 4/02/2017 22 44 33 Shag Rock Training4 5/02/2017 22 44 33 Shag Rock Training5 12/03/2017 10 20 15 Coral Garden/North Survey6 25/03/2017 26 31 23 Sylvia Earl/Alden/Turtle Survey7 26/03/2017 25 30 23 Donna's/Stevo/South Survey8 16/04/2017 10 20 15 Plate/Alden Survey9 1/05/2017 10 20 15 Plate/Trevo Survey10 27/05/2017 10 20 15 Stevo/Trevo Mapping11 10/06/2017 10 20 15 Plate/Coral Garden Mapping12 24/06/2017 10 20 15 North/Alden Mapping13 26/06/2017 2 4 3 All around Mapping14 27/06/2017 2 4 3 All around Mapping15 8/07/2017 10 20 15 North/DeepGarden/South/Trevo Mapping16 15/07/2017 10 20 15 Fake Alden Mapping17 5/08/2017 10 20 15 Alden/Coral Garden Mapping18 13/08/2017 9 18 14 North/Plate/UniDive Shoal Mapping19 27/08/2017 8 16 12 North/Stevo Survey20 1/09/2017 16 16 12 Coral Garden/Turtle Cleaning Survey21 2/09/2017 16 36 27 Plate/Alden/Sylvia Earle/Donna Survey22 3/09/2017 16 36 27 South/Trevo/Arus Bale Survey23 7/10/2017 7 14 11 South/Trevo/Arus Bale Survey

Dive DaysNumber Dives

Bottom Time (hr)

Training 4 176 132Survey 10 239 179Mapping 9 146 110Total 23 561 421


AppendixD:TransectLocations


AppendixE:TransectCoordinates


AppendixF:RareanimalsatFlindersReef

Numberof rareanimalsper100m2atFlindersReef study sitesduringautumnand springsurveysin2017.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring

Autumn

Spring


Stevo ArusBale

Trevo South SylviaEarle

CoralGarden

TurtleCleaning

Plate

Number per 100 m²

Trevally

Barracuda(1m)

Nudibranch

Crayfish

Octopus

Turtle


AppendixG:Collecteddailyweatherobservations

Collecteddailyweatherobservationsfor2015‐12‐01until2017‐08‐31. Cape

Moretonlighthouse

PointLookout

Redcliff Brisbane &BrisbaneAero

BoMstationnumber

040043 040209 040958 040913 &040842(Aero)

Minimum temperature (ｰ C) X X X X

Maximum temperature (ｰ C) X X X XRainfall (mm) X x X XEvaporation (mm) AeroSunshine (hours) AeroDirection of maximum wind gust X X XSpeed of maximum wind gust (km/h) X X XTime of maximum wind gust X X X9am Temperature (ｰ C) X X X X9am relative humidity (%) X X X X9am cloud amount (oktas) X Aero9am wind direction X X X X9am wind speed (km/h) X X X X9am MSL pressure (hPa) X X X3pm Temperature (ｰ C) X X X3pm relative humidity (%) X X X3pm cloud amount (oktas) Aero3pm wind direction X X X3pm wind speed (km/h) X X X3pm MSL pressure (hPa) X X X


AppendixH:ObservedSeaSurfaceTemperatureandSeaSurfaceChlorophyll

Observed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) based on processed satellite data for a cut out ofapproximately300x300kmoftheglobaldatasetsfromNOAA(source:Liuetal.2014).Forthemarkedlocations,scalartimeserieshavebeenextractedforanalysis.


ObservedSeaSurfaceTemperature(SST)basedonprocessedsatellitedataforacutoutoftheglobaldatasetsfromNOAA(source:Liuetal.2014).Eachgridcellisapproximately5kmx5km.


Observeddailyaveragechlorophyll(SeaSurfaceChlorophyll)concentrationbasedonprocessedsatellitedataforacutoutoftheglobaldatasetsfromNASA(source:Nasa2017).Forthemarkedlocations,scalartimeserieshavebeenextractedforanalysis.


AppendixI:MonthlyWindRoses

9AMwindrosesatCapeMoretonLighthouseaveragedpermonthovertheperiod01‐01‐1957to12‐08‐2017. Left: autumn (Mar‐May), right: spring (Sept‐Nov) (Source:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/).


9AMwindrosesatPointLookoutaveragedpermonthovertheperiod01‐01‐1957to12‐08‐2071.Left:autumn(Mar‐May),right:spring(Sept‐Nov)(Source:http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/).

This study was possible by the support and assistance of the following contributing agencies and organisations:

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