Artificial Reefs
Busselton Jetty is one of Australia’s greatest artificial reefs. Over 158 years the Jetty’s submerged timber and steel piles have become colonised with a beautiful array of marine invertebrates, creating a vibrant and diverse habitat for over 300 marine species!
Artificial structures can become wonderfully productive ecosystems, enhancing nearby natural environments. Busselton Jetty’s environment team are responsible for sustainably managing the existing artificial reef on the Jetty structure and enhancing the vertical nature of this reef by providing additional seabed structures for marine life to colonise and use as habitat.
Busselton Jetty Underwater Sculpture Park
Installation of the Busselton Jetty Underwater Sculpture Park (otherwise known as the Artificial Reef Trail) is now complete with 13 artistic sculptures, created by 12 WA artist’s anchored to the seafloor using concrete plinths.
The Underwater Sculpture Park is located at the northern end of the Busselton Jetty, beneath Sections 7, 9 and 10 in an area approximately 200m x 20m. Entry is via the Universal Access Platform that is down the ramp on the West side of the Jetty, just before the Underwater Observatory gates.
All 13 sculptures are situated 7-8 metres below the ocean surface with some rising to a height of 5 metres deep. Each structure is fabricated from a variety of materials that are inert in the marine environment, including mild steel, bronze, ceramics and marine grade concrete!
To find out more about the amazing Western Australian artists we worked with on the project and to view a range of above and below water photos of each sculpture, please click here.
This habitat enhancing project was progressed largely in response to customer survey results, where thousands of people suggested to us the building of reef structures, including ‘artistic’ elements at the end of the Jetty to enhance visitor experience and the abundance of marine life at the site.
With interest in the installation of artificial reefs increasing both nationally and internationally, we investigated the potential and suitability of the Jetty site for habitat enhancement using artificial structures.
After lengthy research into the idea of a sculpture trail, Busselton Jetty Inc determined the project would benefit biodiversity in the area.
The Busselton Jetty Underwater Sculpture Park incorporates a mix of undersea objects including themed elements, artistic elements, and educational signage. The Project also provides environmental benefits through providing additional hard seafloor habitat, which is naturally uncommon in Geographe Bay, where the seafloor habitat is predominantly seagrass meadows.
Busselton Jetty Inc hope the artificial reef will further enhances the colonising ecological community that is already present under the Jetty structure.
Busselton Jetty Inc, as the approved permit holder for this project, has liaised with the City of Busselton and Department of Transport for object deployment to ensure approval for the final location, installation methods and processes are communicated to the public.
Busselton Jetty Inc’s close working relationship with the local Departments of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and Fisheries will also ensure appropriate communication, notifications, and input around the project.
These measures will ensure sound management of potential impacts, whilst maintaining the heritage and integrity of the jetty structure and surrounding marine environment.
Busselton Jetty’s marine environment is one which has continuously experienced human disturbance due to shipping, construction, natural disasters, and tourism. The team at Busselton Jetty Inc is confident that they can sustainably manage the construction impacts of installing the reef elements through ongoing monitoring of the reef site.
You can read more about how we will manage and monitor the underwater sculptures in our Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan.
We are also reaching out to academics and students who may like to collaborate on research projects. Please email our Environment Manager with your interest uwo@busseltonjetty.com.au
Marine Monitoring
Here at the Busselton Jetty we pride ourselves on the conservation of our incredible marine environment so that future generations can also enjoy!
Marine Monitoring forms a large part of our marine conservation efforts with several initiatives being undertaken year-round such as:
- Water Temperature Recording
- Daily Marine Life Survey (used to create Fish Finder database)
- Australian Marine Debris Initiative
Read more about all of our Marine Monitoring initiatives below.
Water Temperature Recording
Water temperatures have been measured every hour under the Busselton Jetty since 2001, providing a very extensive data set going back over twenty years — it is one of the longest-running temperature monitoring programmes in Western Australia.
The water temperatures are recorded hourly at about 4m depth using self-recording temperature loggers which are accurate to ~± 0.2°C.
Apart from the value in showing the strong seasonal temperature cycles in Geographe Bay and year-to-year changes in temperature, they also helped to capture data relating to an extreme ocean warming event in 2011 where a pool of very warm water travelled down the length of Western Australia’s coastline with quite severe impacts on marine life in all parts of the state.
Water temperatures at the jetty reached a record high value of 25.6 ˚C in late February 2011, almost 4°C above the long-term average temperature for February.
To learn more about the 2011 marine heatwave, read the Fisheries Research Report.
Daily Marine Life Survey
Twice daily the Underwater Observatory Tour Guides survey marine life observed from the Underwater Observatory windows.
The survey includes many species of bony and cartilaginous fishes, mobile invertebrates, mammals and birds many of which are endemic to the South West of Australia.
This bioregion generally hosts temperate marine organisms but due to the effect of the Leeuwin Current other species which tend to more tropical habitats are occasionally seen.
Oceanographic observations are also taken and include tidal state, weather observations and visibility estimates.
It is hoped that these observations are used by research scientists to better understand fish and invertebrate biology in terms of migrations, spawning times, species distribution and feeding interactions.
For more information on individual species, please see our Fish Finder page. If you would like a species list or data from the Daily Marine Life survey, please see the Data Request section below.
Australian Marine Debris Initiative
Each day, on the walk out the Underwater Observatory, the Tour Guides diligently pick up and dispose of litter that is left by irresponsible jetty users.
All types of litter are encountered – camping chairs, fishing line, clothing, food packaging, beer bottles and cigarette butts. On one occasion an entire tent was removed from the water and all of this litter unfortunately becomes marine debris when it leaves our jetty and enters the water column.
Tangaroa Blue is also a not-for-profit organisation focused on the health of our marine environment and they coordinate the Australian Marine Debris Initiative, an on-ground network of volunteers, communities, organisations and agencies around the country monitoring the impacts of marine debris along their stretch of coastline!
Each year we contribute to the initiative by hosting several beach cleanups both above and under the water!
For more information on how you can help the Australian Marine Debris Initiative, please see the Tangaroa Blue website.
Data Requests
BJEF is committed to furthering knowledge about our local environments. Collaborating with state, national and international partners helps us to use rigorously collected data to inform our everyday management decisions and ensure we promote healthy resilience in the natural environment around the Jetty.
The data we collect is freely available for use by researchers, if you are interested to use biological or environmental data, or collaborate on a project please email your request to uwo@busseltonjetty.com.au.
