Barrow Island Marine Park

Barrow Island Marine Park is a significant breeding and nesting area for threatened sea turtles and its waters support important coral reefs and a diversity of tropical marine animals.

Reef of life

The 4100 hectare park, on the western side of Barrow Island, contains Biggada Reef, one of only two significant fringing reefs in the Montebello/Barrow Island reserve system.

Turtle Bay

From the end of July, large numbers of threatened green turtles begin to congregrate in Turtle Bay, although the start of the breeding season is usually later. During mating time, males cluster around and compete for individual females, which inevitably breed with more than one male. Within a short time, the female lays her first parchment-shelled eggs on the beach, repeating this on a fortnightly basis up to six or even eight times in a season. Turtle Bay is also sometimes used by hawksbill and flatback turtles.

Providing sanctuary

The entire Barrow Island Marine Park is a sanctuary zone, giving the park the highest percentage of ‘no take areas’ of any marine park in Western Australia. Sanctuary zones are ‘look but don’t take’ areas managed for nature conservation and low-impact recreation and tourism. They are important refuge areas for marine life, including fish, and may help to replenish adjacent areas.

Please refer to the Management Plan for the Montebello/Barrow Islands Marine Conservation Reserves in the Downloads & Resources tab for further information on permitted activities.

Please refer to the Management Plan for the Montebello/Barrow Islands Marine Conservation Reserves in the Downloads & Resources tab for further information on permitted activities. Information on Barrow Island Marine Park can also be accessed on Apple and Android smartphones by downloading the “Explore Marine Parks WA” smartphone App available through iTunes and Google Play.

Available to download FREE for Google Play now on the Google Play and Apple iTunes stores.

This information was provided by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions: dpaw.wa.gov.au