Ninety Mile Beach Marine Park

Victoria's Ninety Mile Beach lies on the edge of a long slender sand dune, thrown up from the sea by the easterly waves and protecting the Gippsland Lakes. Offshore, beneath the water, vast plains of sand stretch in every direction.

Yet these areas are not as monotonous as they might first appear. Sand particles are sorted into different groups and layers according to the waves and currents, while there are different surface features such as mounds and ripples as a result of animal and wave action.

Although the sandy sea floor may appear to be lacking in life, the fine sands of Gippsland harbour more animals per square metre than most other marine habitats in the world. In a scientific survey of 10 square metres some 803 species were discovered.

This great diversity is derived from the myriad of small creatures that call this area home. Creatures that live between sand grains, burrow into the sand, build tiny tubes or exist by eating scraps of food that drift by.

Larger animals are far fewer in number. To conserve their energy and retain access to oxygenated water, animals like crabs, octopuses, brittle stars and shrimp do not burrow very deep.

Beyond the Ninety Mile Beach the offshore sandy plains are only occasionally broken by low ribbons of reef, which formed as shorelines or sand dunes during ice-ages when the sea-level was lower than today.

Even these reefs are periodically covered by sand, shifted around by the strong tidal currents. These reefs do not support the large brown seaweed's characteristic of many Victorian reefs, but instead are covered by resilient red seaweed's and encrusting animals that can survive the sandy environment.

Fish too are here in abundance, many feeding on the seafloor's smorgasbord of tiny animals. Schools of pelagic fish like pike, school whiting and snapper are common.

For further information call the Parks Victoria Information Centre on 13 19 63 or visit their website at www.parkweb.vic.gov.au