The Apollo Marine Park (previously known as the Apollo Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is an
Australian Marine Park
Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the ...
located in
Bass Strait
Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...
off the coast of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and near
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
's
King Island. The marine park was established in 2007 and covers an area of .
It is managed as part of the
South-east Marine Parks Network.
One of the reserve's features includes the Otway Depression, a 100 m deep undersea valley joining the Bass Basin to the open ocean. This valley was an outlet channel for the ancient Bass Lake and mainland river systems, which existed during the
last ice age.
Protection
The Apollo Marine Park has been assigned
IUCN protected area category
IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The enlisting of such areas is part ...
VI and is wholly zoned as 'Multiple Use'.
[
The following table is a summary of the 'Multiple Use Zone' of the marine park:
]
Shipwrecks
The MS ''City of Rayville'' is located within the marine reserve near Cape Otway
Cape Otway is a cape and a bounded locality of the Colac Otway Shire in southern Victoria, Australia on the Great Ocean Road; much of the area is enclosed in the Great Otway National Park. The cape marks the boundary between the Southern Ocea ...
. It was the first American vessel sunk during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
See also
*Protected areas of Australia
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capita ...
Notes
References
External links
South-east Marine Parks Network Website
{{Protected areas managed by the Australian Government , state=collapsed
Australian marine parks
Protected areas established in 2007