Orca at Bremer Canyon - Credit: Whale Watch Western Australia
BREMER CANYON
The Bremer Canyon is an amazing deep water ecosystem that has proven to be one of the few locations on our planet where off shore killer whales can be reliably encountered throughout the Australian summer months.
Between 2005 & 2013 , Dave Riggs and his team participated in a number of oceanic surveys looking at a variety of species including the abundance of Bluefin Tuna off the coast of southern Western Australia.
In a small geographical location some 50km from shore and several nautical miles over the edge of the continental shelf adjacent to Bremer Bay, they consistently observed large aggregations of the oceans most revered apex predators. These include Orca, sperm whales, giant squid, numerous species of shark and perhaps most significantly, beaked whales. A wide range of oceanic bird species are also prevalent at the Bremer Canyon, adding to the diversity of this marine hotspot.
The first dedicated expedition to work out what was happening out there took place in February 2013, when the production of a documentary for ABC TV entitled “The Search For The Oceans Super Predator” was filmed.
A subsequent film was produced in 2015 for Discovery Channel. Since 2014, charters have been running to take expeditioners to see the Bremer Canyon for themselves. Each and every time they venture out something new is learnt which could not be done without the support of the general public. By going on an expedition you are allowing scientists to continue documenting and researching this amazing ecosystem.
The Bremer Marine Park (formerly Bremer Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is a 4472 km2 marine protected area, with a depth range of about 15–5000 m, lying in the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of Western Australia about 50 km south-east of the town of Bremer Bay. An area of 284 km2, comprising the northernmost section adjoining Western Australia’s coastal waters, has been zoned as a marine national park (IUCN Category II), with the remainder as multiple use or special purpose zones (IUCN Category VI).[2]
It was gazetted in 14 December 2013 and was renamed on 11 October 2017.[
