BACKGROUND
You’ve uncovered two important reasons why the kelp forests in the Great Southern Reef are disappearing.
First, warmer ocean water is flowing down the east coast, making kelp more vulnerable to disease and less resilient to other threats in the environment.
Second, the warmer water is bringing more sea urchins into new areas, like Victoria and Tasmania. Here, they are spreading quickly and stripping the kelp from the reef as they eat.
The reef still holds secrets we need to uncover…
Do sea urchins have any predators? And if they do, who are they and where are they now?
🔍 We just found some photos, videos and news stories in our detective files. Your mission is to look at each piece of evidence carefully and make scientific observations. Use the questions below to help you collect clues and build your explanation.
Evidence 1: Photo and video taken by a scuba diver during a reef investigation.
Detective, what clues can you collect from the photo and the video? What do you think is happening?
Evidence 2: Marine Parks
A Marine Park is a part of the ocean where marine life is protected and carefully managed. In these areas, human activities like fishing are controlled or not allowed, so marine life can grow, reproduce, and stay safe.
Nearby areas that are fished are places where people can catch marine animals like fish and lobsters. Fishing can reduce the number of animals and change how the reef ecosystem works. Scientists study both protected and fished areas to compare them. They count animals, observe the condition of the reef, and record changes in populations and biodiversity over time.
Why do you think there are fewer rock lobsters outside the marine park?
How does the presence or absence of rock lobsters affect the number of sea urchins?
Where does the kelp seem to be growing better? Why do you think that might be?
Marine Parks - Create a poster
Your task is to make a poster to promote a marine park near where you live or study.
First, find out which marine park is closest to your area. You can use the internet or ask your teacher, friends, or family.
Then, create a poster in your notebook that includes:
The name and location of the marine park, and a simple map showing where it is
The size of the marine park, explaining how big it is
Activities people can do there, such as snorkelling or diving
Any threats or dangers the marine park faces
The marine creatures that live in the park
You can add pictures, drawings, or diagrams to make your poster more interesting and informative.
Clue File
🔍 What did you discover?
Well done, detective! It looks like you have found three reasons why kelp forests are disappearing. Write them down, and get ready to discover what we can do to help protect the kelp in the next pages.