Open water
The majority of habitat around Cook Island Aquatic Reserve is open water. All sizes of marine life live or travel through here, from the tiniest planktonic plants and animals to giant humpback whales.
Marine life
Many of the plants and animals living on the reef spend the early stages of their life cycle living in the open water as plankton. This allows them to move with ocean currents to new areas along the coastline where they settle and grow.
Other animals such as the schooling fish species blacktip bullseye, eastern pomfred, diamondfish, and silver sweep are permanent residents of open water habitat, feeding on plankton.
Many other fish, reptiles and marine mammals temporarily use the open water habitat of the aquatic reserve while hunting, foraging or travelling elsewhere.
Reef manta ray, remora and green turtle cruising through open water above coral garden (Photo: Gary Shuttleworth)
Moses’ snapper cruising through the open water above the rocky reef (Photo: Ecological Service Professionals)
Schools of blacktip bullseye (lower left) and eastern pomfred (upper right) always occupy the open water habitat (Photo: Ecological Service Professionals)
Common lionfish transiting through the open water to a new location on the reef (Photo: Gary Shuttleworth)
Spotted porcupinefish drifting through open water (Photo: Gary Shuttleworth)
Persian carpet flatworm (Pseudoceros bedfordi) undulating through open water to new habitat. (Photo: Professor Stephen Smith)
A resident pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) spends most of their time in the open water of the reserve, surfing, hunting for fish and squid, resting and mating (Photo: Ecological Service Professionals)
Australian sawtail in open water above rocky reef (Photo: Gary Shuttleworth)
