Priority Species Data Inventory for the Gippsland Offshore Renewable Energy Area

Fifteen priority species, including 12 birds and 3 cetaceans, are the focus of this data inventory compiled for the Gippsland offshore renewable energy declaration area. The Australian Ocean Data Network project identified publicly-available occurrence data sources for species like the Blue Whale and Orange-bellied Parrot, which are listed as critically endangered or endangered. This work supports assessments for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Authority.

Use Cases

• Assess potential impacts of offshore renewable energy development based on listed endangered species occurrence data.
• Identify gaps in accessible environmental data for regulatory processes based on the project's evaluation of dataset utility.
• Plan field surveys or monitoring programs based on the collated data sources for 15 priority species.
• Improve data accessibility for environmental management based on the project's identified activities for format improvement.

Strengths

• Focuses on 15 specific priority species identified by Australian regulatory authorities.
• Explicitly targets data utility for official environmental assessments and regulatory processes.
• Project methodology involved evaluating dataset accessibility and utility, suggesting a structured approach.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified as the last update metadata is a future date (2026-07-13).

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Rapid exploration and collation of publicly-available datasets and information sources.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 19:55:34.345007; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Gippsland offshore renewable energy declaration area and adjacent areas in Bass Strait, Australia.