The Dragons of South Australia

Less known than the Great Barrier Reef, the temperate waters of the Australian continent offer exceptional biodiversity and breathtaking underwater landscapes, where forests of golden kelp intertwine with multicolored sponge gardens. Welcome to the Great Southern Reef, home to one of the most elegant and rare marine creatures on our planet: the leafy seadragon.

The Great Southern Reef

The Great Southern Reef (Great Southern Reef) has referred, since 2015, to an area of 71,000 km² of temperate reefs stretching along the southern half of Australia, from Brisbane to Kalbarri, passing through Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. Two species of seadragons, belonging to the syngnathidae family, reside there. The common seadragon, or weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus), can be spotted along the entire southern coast, including in Tasmania. It is even possible to encounter it in Sydney, despite its population of 5 million. Conversely, the leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) is limited to South Australia and the south of Perth, in Western Australia.