Twilight Marine Park, in the Great Australian Bight, protects important feeding grounds for Australian sea-lions, the rarest sea-lions in the world.

The seafloor here is relatively shallow continental shelf, rich with marine life.

The sea-lions choose from a banquet of seafloor-dwelling prey including:

• octopus
• cuttlefish
• small sharks
• rays.

After feasting, the sea-lions rest at nearby haul-out sites along the coast.

Other animals that benefit from a good source of food in the park are white sharks and seabirds, including little penguins and great-winged petrels.

The Mirning and Spinafex people have responsibilities for Sea Country in the park.

The park is 245 kilometres south-west of Eucla, Western Australia, and offshore from the Western Australian Nuytsland Nature Reserve. It covers 4641 square kilometres, with depths from less than 15 metres to 70 metres.

The park has National Park and Special Purpose (Mining Exclusion) zones.

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In the past, Australian sea-lions were hunted for their fur, and many drowned when they were caught accidentally in fishing pots and nets.

The population plummeted and is still low. They are the rarest sea-lions in the world.

Protecting haul-outs and foraging habitat for this species is crucial, which is why Twilight Marine Park is so important.

Fishers and fisheries are also helping by developing and using fishing gear that is more sea-lion proof, and by carefully managing fisheries in the places where sea-lions live.