Australian ocean territory is huge, with a coastline of almost 60,000 km from tropical waters of northern Australia to cool temperate waters of Tasmania. Australia has sovereign rights over around 8.1 million km2 of ocean (excluding Australian Antarctic Territory) and greater than its land area. The Australian mainland is bounded by East Australian Current on the east coast and the Leeuwin Current on the west. These major currents carry warm-water into southern regions and have considerable influence on our marine flora and fauna. To the south, the southern ocean flows from west to east, and connects the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
Australian marine waters
Australia claims the third largest exclusive economic zone in the world, with sovereign rights over around 8.1 million square kilometers of ocean (excluding the Australian Antarctic Territory), greater than its land area of around 7.7 million km2. Australia has a coastline of almost 60,000 km that spans from the tropical waters of northern Australia to the cool-temperate waters of Tasmania.
The Australia region is particularly complex oceanographically because it is bordered by the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. The west and east coasts are bounded by major warm, nutrient-poor, poleward-flowing currents (Figure 1), which exert considerable influence on marine flora and fauna, as well as the Australian climate more generally.
Figure 1. Major currents and circulation patterns around Australia. The continent is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Indian Ocean to the west and the Southern Ocean to the south. Figure courtesy of S. Condie/CSIRO.
