Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Cape Howe Marine National Park

Situated adjacent to the New South Wales border off the far eastern tip of Victoria, this 4,050 ha park provides habitat for a mixture of cool water southern marine species and warmer water species more common in the north. Beneath a thick canopy of the brown seaweed Phyllospora, shelter a range of species, including red sea tulips, sponges, colourful sea stars and many smaller seaweeds.

Facilities
Within the neighbouring Croajingolong National Park a number of education facilities are available to visitors including information shelters and boards.

The whole region is alive with a variety of fish, with an assortment of warm and cool water species. Purple Wrasse, Blue-Throated Wrasse and Herring Cale dart amongst the kelp. Large, disk-like sunfish are relatively frequent visitors, cruising slowly in the surface waters feeding on jellyfish. Hundreds of humpback whales pass in the vicinity of the park on their annual migration between the tropics and Antarctic waters, sometimes followed by pods of Orca's. Little Penguins are common too and forage from the large rookery at Gabo Island.

A variety of reefs including granite and sandstone reefs add to the total habitat complexity of the area. Low profile reefs within the park are covered in a dense forest of the brown seaweed Phyllospora that reaches over two metres in length. Beneath this thick, swirling canopy shelter many smaller seaweeds, Pyura ascidians, foliose red algae, coralline algae, brown algae (Zonaria), red sea-tulips, sponges, colourful sea-stars (eg. Pateriella calcar) and many large shells. Tiny brittle-stars, isopods and brightly coloured worms nestle around large sea-squirt congregations, which are quite dense in some areas.

Further off the coast, the seafloor tilts steeply down into deeper water. Sandstone reefs to a depth of about 50 m, are heavily covered by a diverse array of sponges, hydroids, ascidians and gorgonians (soft corals). There is not enough light at these depths for the large brown seaweeds, and the low sandstone reefs are instead covered with small patches of leafy red seaweeds and a range of animals attached to the rocks. Sea-whips are common here and arch gracefully up from the seafloor.

Geological, Hydrological and Landform Features

Habitat types represented in Cape Howe Marine National Park include sandy beaches, intertidal and subtidal rocky reefs, and subtidal soft sediments.

The rocky habitats of the area have complex forms and structure, including low profile reef eroded into pits and gutters, and heavy boulder reef with gutters rock ridges running parallel to the shore at around 5m depth. The reef is exposed to the prevailing easterly swell. Much of the coastline is formed from mobile sand dunes that are gradually shifting over the border into New South Wales. Bordering these dunes is a mixture of ancient pink granite and purple sandstone formed over 350 million years ago. These rocks outcrop near the border at Cape Howe.

How to Get There
Cape Howe Marine National Park is situated adjacent to the New South Wales border off the far eastern tip of Victoria. Accessibility to this remote wilderness is very low, and is either via boat or a long and remote walk in on foot. Few people have seen this remote wilderness at the far eastern tip of Victoria.

• Alfred National Park
• Coopracambra National Park
• Croajingalong National Park
• Gabo Island