true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

AUSTRALIA AND SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN

ISRA FACTSHEETS

AUSTRALIA AND SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay ISRA

148/158

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay ISRA

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay

Summary

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay is located in southern New South Wales, Australia. The area includes Bushrangers Bay, and the three surrounding sites of The Gutters, Gravel Loader, and Lagoon. The habitat is characterised by volcanic rocks, natural gullies, kelp, and sandy substrates. The area overlaps the Bushrangers Bay Aquatic Reserve. Within this area there are: threatened species and resting areas (Sand Tiger Shark Carcharias taurus).

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay is located in southern New South Wales on the east coast of Australia. Bass Point is a headland that includes the shallow protected Bushrangers Bay, characterised by volcanic rocks, natural gullies, kelp, and sandy substrates to a maximum depth of 8 m (NSW Government 2025). The bay opens up to oceanic waters that stretch to the north to sites known as ‘The Gutters’ and the ‘Gravel Loader’ where the depth drops to 25 m. The latter is an abandoned man-made metal pier structure. The waters here are sheltered from the prevailing southerly winds and contain a few rocky bommies and gullies, with the habitat comprised of kelp and volcanic rocks. To the southern side of the bay, the area stretches past a sheltered part of coast known as the ‘Lagoon’. The region is subject to semidiurnal tidal cycles, with sea temperatures ranging between 16.4–24.8°C (Sea Temperature 2025).

The area overlaps the Bushrangers Bay Aquatic Reserve (NSW DPIRD 2025).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 25 m based on the bathymetry of the area and the habitat use of Qualifying Species in the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

One Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occurs in the area. This is the Critically Endangered Sand Tiger Shark (Rigby et al. 2025).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C3 – RESTING AREAS

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay is an important resting area for one shark species.

Between 2014–2025, the citizen science project Spot a Shark collected 2,402 photographs of Sand Tiger Sharks from SCUBA divers in the area (Sharkbook 2025). Using photo-identification, at least 137 individual Sand Tiger Sharks were identified based on left flank images. Shark sightings in this area are regular and predictable, forming the basis of an ecotourism dive industry, and individuals have been sighted on average nine times, with some individuals being resighted >80 times (S Han-de-Beaux unpubl. data 2025).

The area offers a resting location for Sand Tiger Sharks due to its shallow, protected waters that are sheltered from swells, currents, and surge, creating a calm environment. Sand Tiger Sharks are present year-round, although there is a seasonal peak between January–March potentially related to thermal preferences (S Han-de-Beaux unpubl. data 2025) and their annual seasonal migration along the east coast (Bansemer & Bennett 2011). During the austral winter, an average of 3–5 sharks are observed per day, whereas in the summer months, the aggregation can comprise up to ~30–40 sharks observed per day (S Han-de-Beaux unpubl. data 2025), demonstrating the importance of this area as a resting location during their seasonal migration (Bansemer & Bennett 2011). Animals are observed in a calm resting state during the day, docilly navigating gullies and rock formations in the area (S Han-de-Beaux pers. obs. 2025). Sand Tiger Sharks are known to display resting behaviours during the day and are more active at night when it is presumed they are foraging (S Han-de-Beaux pers. obs. 2025). The Bushrangers Bay part of the area has considerably higher sightings of Sand Tiger Sharks (n = 2,335) than the other parts of the area (The Gutter n = 44, Gravel Loader n = 22, and the Lagoon n = 1), however, this is due to significant differences in survey effort and a lack of photographic equipment taken on dives to the more exposed parts of the area (noting these areas are more exposed for dive operations – particularly courses and discover SCUBA dives, but still provide shelter to the sharks due to the presence of gutters and gullies). Local ecological knowledge confirms that the more exposed areas are just as important to this species, with high numbers of animals sighted, but a lack of photo-identification submissions (S Han-de-Beaux pers. obs. 2025). Technical divers using diver propulsion vehicles that allow them to cover a greater distance have reported Sand Tiger Sharks all the way around the south of Bushrangers Bay amongst rocky habitats, supporting the importance of this extended area for this species (S Han-de-Beaux pers. obs. 2025).

Bass Point & Bushrangers Bay

SUBMIT A REQUEST

ISRA SPATIAL LAYER REQUEST

To make a request to download the ISRA Layer in either a GIS compatible Shapefile (.shp) or Google Earth compatible Keyhole Markup Language Zipped file (.kmz) please complete the following form. We will review your request and send the download details to you. We will endeavor to send you the requested files as soon as we can. However, please note that this is not an automated process, and before requests are responded to, they undergo internal review and authorization. As such, requests normally take 5–10 working days to process.

Should you have questions about the data or process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

    * indicates required

    Industry or sector (*)

    Under the terms and conditions of our User License Agreement , full and appropriate acknowledgement is required in any materials and publications derived from the data (and copies should be sent to the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group through the contact form). For any publications making substantial use of the data, the ISRA welcomes the opportunity for co-authorship, collaboration, and to comment prior to publication.


    Furthermore, we need to know whether you are a commercial or non-commercial user. Non-commercial includes scientific research, education or conservation. Commercial is defined as follows: any use by, on behalf of, or to inform or assist the activities of a commercial entity (that operates ‘for profit’) or use by a non-profit for the purposes of revenue generation

    Type of use(*):

    Please specify which layer (ex. all layers, layers within a specific Region, layers within a Jurisdiction or a single ISRA): Purpose (*):

    Please provide a description of how you intend to use the ISRA GIS Dataset. The more details you provide, the faster we can respond to your request. We may require further clarification prior to providing access. (min. 100 characters – max 1,000 characters)



    File format request (*)

    By providing your personal data, you consent to its processing as described below. The IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group will use the information you provide on this form to send the documents you requested. You can change your mind at any time by writing to the ISRA Data Coordinator www.sharkrayareas.org/contact. All personal details provided will be treated with respect. For any information you can visit our Privacy Policy.
    Please read the User License Agreement and ISRA Layer Metadata Description

    This form uses Google reCaptcha to reduce spam. Privacy - Terms