Geographe Bay, Flinders Bay and Bunbury coastal areas were three waters in Australia, NZ and the south east Indian Ocean which have been recognised as key habitats for the future survival of marine mammals.
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The waters areas are currently being considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to be listed as Important Marine Mammal Areas.
The IUCN is a global organisation made up of governments and civil organisations, it held an event in Perth earlier this year with its Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force.
The Task Force engaged 31 scientists mainly from Australia and New Zealand to participate in the process.
They identified 45 waters in Australia, NZ and the south east Indian Ocean as important areas for the survival of marine mammals based on scientific evidence.
Of the 45 candidate areas, 31 were in Australian waters, several of which were in Australia's southwest that included:
- Core coastal habitats between Bunbury and Perth occupied by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin communities
- Breeding and foraging habitats used by New Zealand fur seals in the Capes region and beyond and endangered Australian sea lions in the Perth Metro region north to Jurien and the Abrolhos, and eastward of Flinders Bay
- Calving and breeding grounds occupied seasonally by endangered southern right whales, and migratory corridors of vulnerable humpback and endangered blue whales including within Geographe and Flinders Bay and the surrounding region.
ECU's Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research associate professor Chandra Salgado Kent said it was such a big thing to put these marine areas into an atlas that was recognised by the IUCN.
"IUCN is a global organisation which deals with these types of things and lists species in terms of their conservation status globally," she said.
"We were able to propose these areas based on scientific knowledge about how marine animals use these areas, like Geographe Bay, and whether they fit the criteria to be listed as an Important Marine Mammal Area by the IUCN."
Important Marine Mammal Areas are used to inform governments to plan for the development of future Marine Protected Areas, as well as for monitoring, marine spatial planning and other conservation measures.
"For conservation this is huge progress," Ms Salgado Kent said.
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"Identifying and protecting these marine areas could safeguard the future conservation of many vulnerable marine mammals.
"We earmarked a variety of habitats that were crucial to marine mammal survival.
"Coastal areas that are important for Australian sea lions, Australian humpback dolphins and snubfin dolphins were included, right through to deep underwater canyon habitats that are important for vulnerable sperm whales and beaked whales.
"The migratory paths for endangered blue and southern right whales were also identified as areas needing protection.
"Although we focused on the protection of key marine mammal species, this will also provide an umbrella for the protection of many other species through protection of their habitats."
The candidate Important Marine Mammal Areas now go through a stringent scientific process of being assessed by an independent international review panel for meeting the criteria.
IUCN's Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force co-chair Erich Hoyt said this workshop was an important step in creating a global picture of important marine mammal areas.
"After these IMMAs are finalised they will be put on the IMMA e-Atlas, adding to 114 existing IMMAs from previous workshops in the South Pacific and Indian oceans and in the Mediterranean," he said.
