Fig 1. Map of the study area, showing both the bathymetry contours (colorbar in meters) and a schematic of the main upper ocean current systems that can influence the Ningaloo shelf: Ocean Transport Pathways to a World Heritage Fringing Coral Reef: Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.

Map of the study area, showing both the bathymetry contours (colorbar in meters) and a schematic of the main upper ocean current systems that can influence the Ningaloo shelf.

The red dot denotes the M2 mooring off the Ningaloo Peninsula. The wind rose shows the statistical distribution of the wind direction (oriented in the direction the winds come from) and wind magnitude (colored bars in m s-1), calculated using two years (2009–2010) of wind data collected at a weather station maintained by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (located at the red star).