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Two species of great whales are commonly encountered on a seasonal basis in the Great Barrier Reef: the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), and the dwarf minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp). The RIMReP report focuses on these two species, acknowledging that many other large and migratory whales utilise the Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef supports one of the world’s largest populations of the dugong (Dugong dugon). Dugongs are impacted by indirect pressures such as changes in the status of the seagrass communities on which they depend for food, affecting their growth, fecundity, movements, and mortality; and by direct pressures that cause mortality.

Effective management of the Great Barrier Reef’s extensive range and diversity of islands requires a sound understanding of past, current and emerging threats to island values. A key challenge to building this understanding is the logistical, and resource challenges and constraints that relate to gathering meaningful information across the vast geographic spread (348,000 square kilometres) of the approximately 1050 islands.

The physical and chemical environment of the Great Barrier Reef underpins all ecological and human-cultural processes. Reef water quality is also a pressure on many ecological, cultural, social and economic values through a range of physical and chemical processes. As such, understanding the physico-chemical environment is fundamental to many of the information needs and reporting requirements for management of the Reef.

Shorebirds, also known as waders, gather in intertidal areas or on the fringes of freshwater wetlands. There are two major components to current shorebird monitoring in the Great Barrier Reef, each are discussed in the RIMReP report.

Autonomous underwater vehicles for ocean data collection

The Queensland Government's Marine Turtle Breeding and Migration Atlas allows for a mapped display of nesting distribution and abundance and migration between breeding areas and foraging areas.

In this report, the concept of human dimensions refers to how humans interact with and impact the Great Barrier Reef. The National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) Project 3.2.2 and funds provided through RIMReP have provided a methodology for assessing and monitoring the Reef’s human dimensions as a key mechanism to support governance and management of the World Heritage Area.

As partners, Tourism Queensland, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the Authority are working with Indigenous groups plus other government agencies and tourism operators to enhance Indigenous participation in tourism and its management in the Great Barrier Reef.

The co-management vision and principles will set the parameters of the policy platform and allow for principles to be applied across the Reef Authority’s strategic direction and approaches.