Freycinet Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Freycinet Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a 57,942 km2 marine protected area within Australian waters located off the east coast of Tasmania. It extends to the outer limits of the Australian exclusive economic zone in the Tasman Sea. The reserve was established in 2007 and is part of the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network. It is the largest reserve of the South-east Network, the area covered is approximately equivalent to about 86% of the land area of Tasmania. Several large offshore seamounts believed to be too deep to have been fished are within the reserved area. Seamounts generally host a wide variety of habitats that support deep ocean biodiversity, the large seamounts to the east of Tasmania are individually important, as they are expected to include endemic species. The shallower regions of the reserve includes habitat important to seabirds. Great white shark also forage in the reserve. Protection Most of the Freycinet marine reserve area is IUCN protected a ...
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Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 was the first known person to cross it. British explorer Lieutenant James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s during his three voyages of exploration. The Tasman Sea is informally referred to in both Australian and New Zealand English as the Ditch; for example, "crossing the Ditch" means travelling to Australia from New Zealand, or vice versa. The diminutive term "the Ditch" used for the Tasman Sea is comparable to referring to the North Atlantic Ocean as "the Pond". Climate The south of the sea is passed over by depressions going from west to east. The northern limit of these westerly winds is near to 40°S. During the southern winter, from April to October, the northern branch ...
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