[IIOE2-EP65] Climate ready futures to safeguard the world heritage status of Shark Bay

Lead Investigator :

1. Fabio Boschetti, CSIRO Environment Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre The University of Western Australia M097, 35 Stirling Highway Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
   Fabio[dot]boschetti[at]csiro[dot]au

Other Key Participants:

1. Daniel Gorman, Co-investigator CSIRO , Australia
   d[dot]gorman[at]csiro[dot]au

Period of Project: February 2026- March 2028

Brief description of the Project:

The Shark Bay World Heritage Area (Gathaagudu) is a globally significant marine ecosystem, home to the most extensive 4,800 km² seagrass meadows on Earth, the world's largest dugong population with a population of around 11, 000, and ancient stromatolites dating back 3.5 billion years. Humpback Whales and Southern Right Whales use Shark Bay as a migratory staging post, and a famous population of Bottlenose Dolphin lives in the Bay. Large numbers of sharks and rays are frequently observed, including the Manta Ray which is now considered globally threatened. Shark Bay's sheltered coves and lush seagrass beds are a haven for marine species, including Green Turtle and Loggerhead Turtle, both endangered, and the area provides one of Australia's most important nesting sites for this second species. These features underpin its Outstanding Universal Value and make Shark Bay a cornerstone of global biodiversity heritage. Yet this irreplaceable ecosystem is under severe threat. Climate Vulnerability Index assessments reveal that Shark Bay is at high risk, and its World Heritage status was recently downgraded by the IUCN to "significant concern." Extensive seagrass meadows, including Wooramel Seagrass Bank have been listed as compromised (https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/216981) and predicted to be seriously compromised by 2028. This reflects escalating impacts from climate change, marine heatwaves, rising temperatures while tourism and boating activity also need to be carefully managed. These cumulative stressors are degrading benthic habitats and destabilizing food webs. Sea surface temperature of Shark Bay coast is warming faster than global average. Seagrass are sensitive to increased water temperature and turbidity changes with impacts cascading to the whole ecosystem (Figure 1). Two years after 2011 marine heatwave event, seagrass biomass shows limited recovery, belowground mass decreased, impacting abundance and distribution of crabs, prawns and scallops. Die-off affected turtles/sea snakes and released 2-9million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Without urgent intervention, Shark Bay risks further ecological collapse and potential loss of its World Heritage status, with profound consequences for biodiversity, cultural values, and global conservation credibility.

Region(s) of study:

Shark Bay, Western Australia, Australia 25.7834°S, 113.2988° E