SPOTLIGHT ON GASCOYNE
Green sawfish can be found from north of Perth, around the top end of the country and over to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, but globally they are critically endangered.
Research conducted on sawfish populations in the Gascoyne informs and guides management and protection of these species within the proposed Exmouth Gulf Marine Park.
Murdoch University Researcher Karissa Lear studies Green Sawfish in the northern Exmouth Gulf.
“WA is pretty much the only place left in the world that we have what appears to be a healthy functioning population,” Karissa explains.
Preserving remote areas like Exmouth Gulf is important for species like sawfish and other threatened species that use those habitats.
Read more about Karissa’s research.
Story by Ailbhe Travers.
Photo by Jake Parker