There are 19 marine parks and 83 sanctuary zones in the Great Australian Bight. Aside from that, Statoil are actively looking to drill for oil in two locations in the Bight before their three-year exploration permits end in 2020. Santos are also planning to conduct seismic testing for suitable drilling wells in the Bight. The M/Y Steve Irwin will conduct a critical two-week ecological marine survey off some of these remote offshore island marine park sanctuary zones in an effort to further highlight the critical importance these protected areas have on the Great Australian Bight. Four research dives a day per location conducting underwater surveys and gather the vital evidence they need to continue to protect the Bight. The M/Y Steve Irwin and an international crew will depart Port Adelaide on Monday, March 19 and will return on Wednesday, March 28.

A five-year report released in January 2017 showed that the state’s marine park network is on track with its program of protecting and conserving the Bight’s significant biodiversity of marine life.

Highlights of the report include:

- 205 species of fish have been discovered in SA’s marine parks

- SA’s marine parks and sanctuary zones are protecting vulnerable species such as the blue groper, blue devils, harlequin fish, and the weedy sea dragon

Despite strong public support for marine parks (91 per cent of Australians supported marine parks in 2017), the Federal Government plans to dramatically reduce protection of Australia's oceans by allowing commercial fishing in 80% of the total area of Australia’s marine parks. We need to gather the critical evidence to show just how important marine parks are, not only for the Great Australian Bight, but for all vital marine parks around Australia.