Macquarie Island Marine Park lies offshore from the isolated subantarctic Macquarie Island (half way between Australia and Antarctica) and extends far out into the Southern Ocean. The park is significant for its unique geological and biological characteristics, and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 on the basis of its outstanding natural values. The island’s orientation and the submerged Macquarie Ridge act as a major barrier to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, one of the largest and most important oceanic currents on Earth. The Macquarie Island Marine Park also includes critical foraging grounds many seabirds, including the black-browed, campbells and antipodean albatross’. A number of marine mammals, such as seals, penguins and whales also use this region for foraging, breeding and migration and the area holds international significance for its aggregations of these species.

The park is located about 1500 kilometres south-east of Tasmania and adjacent to the Macquarie Island Nature Reserve. It covers 9,991 square kilometres, and has Habitat Protection and Multiple Use zones. – Parks Australia

Macquarie Island ranges from 86 to more than 6,000 metres depth, with an average depth of 4,184 metres. The majority of the Park (68%) falls within the abyssal zone (4,000-6,000 metres). [View on map] The mapped areas of the seafloor are dominated by Plane (55%) and Saddle (20%) geomorphology. [View on map]

Read more about the Macquarie Island State of Knowledge (Parks Australia).