Ecological studies of the Bonaparte Archipelago and Browse Basin

On 9 October 2014, INPEX together with our Ichthys LNG Project joint venture participants Total, Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas, launched the book Ecological studies of the Bonaparte Archipelago and Browse Basin.

Its publication was funded by INPEX and the Ichthys Project joint venture and its 500 pages describe the company’s ecological investigations into the terrestrial and marine environments of the Bonaparte Archipelago and Browse Basin in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in the period 2005–2008.

INPEX’s team of scientists produced a large body of new information of great value to the scientific community.

For example, the coral survey showed that the Kimberley coast may be regarded as a global “hotspot” of coral species diversity. From three small island groups our biologists recorded 275 coral species, 54 of which are new records for the Kimberley.

The study included surveys of marine turtles and of whales and dolphins (23 species). Inventories were prepared for marine algae (162 species found, of which 5 were new to science) and molluscs (321 species).

We recorded 334 plant species on the islands, half a dozen of which were new to science, while 31 new animal species were discovered. These were mostly invertebrates, including snails and scorpions, although one new species of gecko was also collected.