The Great Australian Bight Marine Park was declared on the 17 April 1998 to protect the Southern Right whale and the Australian sea lion and a representative strip of the unique benthic environment. The total area of the park is 19,769 km² and includes two overlapping areas, the Marine Mammal Protection Zone and the Benthic Protection Zone (BPZ). The BPZ is 20 nautical miles wide and stretches south from the edge of the State Park to the edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Australia (AEEZ) at 200 nautical miles. The BPZ is designed for the protection of the unique and diverse bottom dwelling fauna and flora and the seabed sediments. Both areas include the waters, seabed and the subsoil beneath the seabed to a depth of 1000 meters below the seabed.