Special Features of Lord Howe Island Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)

Soft corals at Lord Howe Island, James J Brown, Australian Heritage Commission Collection

Due to its distance from any large landmass, the Island's marine ecosystem is largely in an undisturbed, natural state. The alternating influences of warm and cool currents create a transition zone between temperate and tropical regions that contributes to an unusual mix of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate marine fauna and flora and a high level of endemism.

In 1982 the significance of Lord Howe Island and its marine environment was recognised by their addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Some of the World Heritage values of the Lord Howe Island group specific to the marine environment include:

the unusual combination of tropical and temperate marine flora and fauna, including many species living at their distributional limits, reflecting the extreme latitude of the coral reef ecosystems which comprise the southernmost true coral reef in the world
the diversity of marine benthic algae species, including at least 235 species of which 12 per cent are endemic
the diversity of marine fish species, including at least 500 species of which 400 are inshore species and 15 are endemic
the diversity of marine invertebrate species, including more than 83 species of corals and 65 species of echinoderms of which 70 per cent are tropical, 24 per cent are temperate and 6 per cent are endemic.

Some species living on the underwater seamounts appear to be relicts of groups believed to have disappeared in the Mesozoic age (225-65 million years ago). Studies have revealed that these seamounts appear to be isolated marine systems. Most species do not travel between the seamounts and this has led to highly localised species distributions that are exceptional for the deep sea.

Black cod (Epinephilus damelii) is found in the Park. Once common along the New South Wales (NSW) coast, the black cod is now extremely rare and is protected from fishing and other activities under New South Wales legislation.

The deep-water pelagics known through fishing activities include marlin (blue and striped), sharks (Galapagos, whalers, some tigers, whites and makos), sailfish, dolphin fish, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, trevally, bonito, yellow-tail kingfish and spangled emperor fish

The Lord Howe Island group is a major seabird breeding area. The largest numbers are present in spring and summer, but there is activity all year round. Fourteen species of seabirds breed on the islands, including

Coral reef and fish at Lord Howe Island, James J Brown, Australian Heritage Commission Collection

masked boobys
grey ternlets
sooty terns
white terns
common noddys
black noddys
red-tailed tropic birds
little shearwaters
wedge-tailed shearwaters
flesh-footed shearwaters
black-winged petrels
whitebellied storm petrels
Kermadec petrels
Providence petrels.

Balls Pyramid is the only known Australian breeding ground of the Kermadec petrel.