Nature, culture and history

Champagne Rock Pools, Fraser Island.

Photo credit: © Tourism and Events Queensland

Natural environment

The Great Sandy Marine Park contains a vast array of marine habitats and coastal landscapes. The almost pristine estuary of Baffle Creek lies next to the northern boundary of the marine park. There are remote beaches, south of Baffle Creek, which stretch to Littabella Creek and beyond to the Kolan River. Moore Park's beaches are popular for low-key activities such as swimming and walking. However, the coast changes abruptly south of the Burnett River and along the Woongarra coastline to the Elliot River.

The sandy shores were transformed into basalt boulder shores, about one million years ago, when a volcanic eruption threw tonnes of volcanic rock into the sea. These days, fringing coral communities thrive just offshore from the Woongarra coast and receding tides reveal interesting rock pools.

The sandy beaches that stretch south of the Woongarra Coast are easily accessible from the coastal towns of Woodgate, Burrum Heads and Toogoom. The northern most headland of the town of Hervey Bay, Point Vernon, has folded sedimentary rock strata and this interrupts the sandy beach landscape. Mature fringing coral reef communities line the Hervey Bay coast from Gatakers Bay south to Torquay and to the edges of Woody, Little Woody and Round islands.

World Heritage-listed K’gari (Fraser Island), the world's largest sand island, is renowned for its remarkable natural beauty. Its influence over the marine park cannot be understated. The island shelters Hervey Bay's extensive waters from oceanic wind and surf. Its formation from sands drifting north from granites eroded from the New England Tableland has created an amazing calm water channel between K'gari and the mainland called Great Sandy Strait. The Strait's inter-tidal sand banks, mud flats, salt marshes and calm waters are ideal for the development of extensive seagrass beds and mangrove forests.

Habitats

An indicative map of the various benthic (sea floor) habitats (PDF, 1,019.0KB) that occur in the marine park was developed in 2019 to support the review of the zoning plan and day to day management of the marine park. The map was the outcome of a benthic habitat mapping project in the initial stages of the review, that applied the Queensland intertidal and subtidal ecosystem classification scheme to identify and map the marine park’s habitat types. This process was guided by an expert panel to help identify and categorise the ecological attributes and the different combinations of these used to determine each habitat type. Identification of the marine park’s habitat types was informed by approximately 80 different biophysical and biological attribute data sources as well as the mapping of the intertidal and subtidal ecosystem types of Central Queensland. The final marine park typology and map of 23 habitat types, has been refined throughout the review process due to newly available data, expert input and local knowledge.

The marine park benthic habitat map with marine national park zones, effective 21 May 2024 when the new zoning plan commences, and information on how to download digital habitat mapping, can be accessed via the maps and resources page.

Read more about the main habitat types in the Great Sandy Marine Park.

• reef communities – rocky and coral
• sandy / muddy habitats
• seagrass
• mangroves
• saltmarsh

Threats to habitats in the marine park

• deterioration in water quality from catchment-based run-off and storm events
• degradation and/or removal to facilitate foreshore development and coastal infrastructure
• physical damage from uncontrolled access to sites from vehicles, feral animals and human use or interaction
• alterations to flooding and tidal regimes
• climate-change impacts, such as rising sea levels and increasing sea surface temperatures
• dredging, reclamation, beach nourishment and development of erosion control structures.

Wildlife

Read more about some species of interest in the Great Sandy Marine Park.

• whales
• dolphins
• dugongs
• turtles
• grey nurse sharks
• migratory shorebirds and resident waders

Threats to the wildlife of the marine park

• vessel strikes on slow moving species such as turtles and dugong
• recreational and commercial fishing impacts, e.g. by-catch, entanglement in fishing gear such as nets and crabbing apparatus (crab pots)
• disturbance by humans of wildlife species during critical life stages
• habitat loss and degradation
• increasing vessel traffic and use of the marine park
• poor water quality and pollution associated with catchment run-off
• population viability as a result of ecological characteristics, for example, low reproductive rates.

Middle Bluff lighthouse established 1866.

Photo credit: Queensland Government

Culture and history

A continuing Culture

First Nations peoples use of the coast and marine region extends back thousands of years and continues today. Clans and families came together for the plentiful seafood and seasonal delicacies such as turtle eggs. Evidence of First Nations peoples occupation includes shell middens, stone artefact scatters and stonewalled fish traps on some island and mainland areas.

The Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda people, the Butchulla, and Kabi Kabi First Nations peoples hold important spiritual and cultural connections to the waters now identified as the Great Sandy Marine Park. This is an ongoing and enduring sacred connection that spans tens of thousands of years and continues today for future generations. First Nations peoples have rights and interests over land and sea Country within the marine park, which include fishing and hunting. They have inherited custodial responsibilities to care for Country, protect their cultural landscape and pass on traditional knowledge to future generations. Read more about the First Nations peoples with a connection to the sea Country of the Great Sandy Marine Park.

A new zoning plan for the marine park, commencing on 21 May 2024, includes a number of management measures to conserve the marine park’s cultural values. These include go slow areas for natural and cultural values, no-motorised vessel areas, no-anchoring areas that protect sensitive habitats and cultural resources and a fish trap area at Booral that prohibits anchoring and other activities that could damage the fish traps. The tidal portions of parcels with exclusive native title (Butchulla Land and Sea Claim #2 Determination Area) are also included within the boundary of the marine park.

South Sea Islander heritage

Dry rubble walls and wharfs were constructed by South Sea Islander labourers (circa 1890) with rocks cleared from land destined for sugar cane farming. These walls can still be seen within and around Mon Repos Conservation Park, which adjoins the marine park.

Non-indigenous heritage

There are a number of non-indigenous cultural heritage sites in the Great Sandy region. These include Tooliwah’s (Big Woody Island's) lighthouses and the lighthouse at Sandy Cape on K’gari (Fraser Island). In the marine park there are old oyster leases, remnants of Pettigrew’s Cooloola Timber Tramway and McKenzie’s Jetty, used to load and transport goods, as well as logs, to the mainland. There are also wrecks of aircraft and various shipwrecks such as the SS Maheno on the eastern beach of K’gari (Fraser Island). Many of these items are listed on the State Heritage Register or as historic shipwrecks under Commonwealth legislation. The ex-HMAS Tobruk was scuttled in the marine park in 2018 and now rests on the sea bed as an artificial reef and dive site.