Native Animals History and Science
Native Sea Animals and Creatures of Victoria: Guardians of the Deep and Keepers of Connection
Beneath the waves along Victoria’s southern coastline lies a living world older than time — a realm of kelp forests, reefs, and sandy plains where marine life flourishes in diversity and colour. From giant cuttlefish and leafy sea dragons to stingrays, dolphins, octopuses, whales, and echinoderms, the Southern Ocean surrounding Victoria holds some of the richest marine biodiversity on Earth (Poore et al. 2015).
For Indigenous peoples, these are not just animals but Ancestors and story-beings, woven into Dreaming paths that stretch across the sea. The ocean is Sea Country — a place of law, life, and spirit, connected through kinship to the land and sky.
Every tide, current, and creature reflects a relationship of respect and reciprocity that sustained coastal communities for tens of thousands of years (Clarke 1997).
Today, marine science and cultural knowledge together reveal that these creatures are the guardians of ecological balance — maintaining oxygen production, food chains, and climate stability across an interconnected ocean world.
Deep-Time and Cultural Timeline
The story of Victoria’s sea creatures reaches back to the Precambrian oceans, over 600 million years ago, when the first multicellular life began to move through ancient seas.
During the Paleozoic Era (541–252 million years ago), coral reefs and early fish thrived in shallow marine environments, and by the Cretaceous Period, marine reptiles and ammonites dominated the southern seas.
As the supercontinent Gondwana drifted apart, the Southern Ocean evolved into one of the most nutrient-rich and cold-adapted ecosystems on the planet (Kirkwood 2005).
For over 40,000 years, Indigenous peoples across Victoria — including the Wadawurrung, Gunditjmara, and Bunurong Nations — have understood the sea as a living being.
Shell middens, fish traps, and oral histories record an unbroken relationship with marine life — from seals and eels to abalone and whales. Each species carried teachings about season, movement, and spirit, connecting people to the deep-time rhythms of Sea Country.
Colonisation disrupted these connections through overfishing, pollution, and the dispossession of coastal lands and waters. Yet both Indigenous and scientific communities continue to restore the balance of these living seas.
Ecology and Behaviour
Victoria’s marine life represents an intricate web of relationships — from microscopic plankton to apex predators.
Invertebrates: Octopuses, squid, sea urchins, starfish, and crustaceans form the foundation of marine food webs, recycling nutrients and shaping reef structures.
Fish: Species such as snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), King George whiting (Sillaginodes punctatus), and weedy sea dragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) inhabit kelp forests and rocky reefs.
Marine mammals: Australian fur seals, dolphins, and southern right whales frequent Victorian waters for breeding and feeding.
Reptiles: Occasional sea turtles migrate through warmer currents of Bass Strait.
Birds: Gulls, cormorants, and shearwaters link marine and terrestrial ecosystems through feeding and nesting.
These species interact through complex trophic relationships, regulating plankton blooms, seagrass health, and fish populations. Their diversity sustains both biodiversity and cultural identity across Victoria’s coasts.
Sea Creatures in Indigenous Knowledge and Story
For Indigenous communities, the ocean is alive with stories of creation, law, and transformation.
Marine animals are regarded as totems and kin, each representing a part of the moral and ecological order.
Whales and dolphins: Seen as ancestral beings guiding spirit and songlines across the seas. Whale Dreaming stories link Victoria’s coastlines to Tasmania and South Australia, tracing the pathways of migration and communication (Ryan 2012).
Seals: Regarded as shapeshifters between land and sea, teachers of adaptability and guardians of Sea Country (Clark 2011).
Fish and eels: Central to food systems and ceremonial life — their movements marking seasonal cycles (McNiven 2004).
Shells and sea stars: Collected not just for food but for ceremony and adornment, representing the continuity of life and the beauty of the ocean’s gifts.
Sea Country law: Stories teach that the ocean’s creatures are to be harvested with restraint and gratitude. Overfishing or disrespect could “close” the sea, bringing scarcity until balance was restored.
These knowledge systems mirror ecological principles — sustainability, renewal, and interdependence — ensuring abundance for both human and marine life for millennia.
Sea Life on Wadawurrung Country
Along Wadawurrung Country, from the Surf Coast to the Bellarine Peninsula, the sea has always been a teacher.
The coastlines, reefs, and estuaries tell stories of abundance and responsibility:
Connection to food: Wadawurrung people gathered shellfish, abalone, and crustaceans along the intertidal zones, using stone fish traps and woven nets to harvest sustainably.
Spirit of place: The sea dragon and dolphin are considered spiritual messengers — symbols of guidance, unity, and family.
Tidal knowledge: Seasonal tides, moon cycles, and currents guided travel, ceremony, and trade across Bass Strait.
Cultural renewal: Today, Wadawurrung Elders work with marine scientists and coastal managers to revive Sea Country knowledge, re-establishing sustainable harvesting, and protecting marine habitats such as Swan Bay, Lake Connewarre, and the Barwon Estuary (Wadawurrung TOAC 2023).
The resurgence of this connection demonstrates that cultural and ecological restoration are inseparable.
Colonial Impacts and Modern Threats
The arrival of European settlers in the 19th century transformed Victoria’s marine ecosystems.
Commercial sealing and whaling decimated populations of marine mammals; industrial fishing and pollution disrupted the balance of entire coastal systems (Ling 1999).
Ongoing challenges include:
Habitat degradation: Coastal development and dredging damage coral and seagrass beds.
Pollution: Plastic debris, oil spills, and agricultural runoff contaminate waters and harm marine life.
Climate change: Rising ocean temperatures and acidification threaten kelp forests and reef-building organisms.
Overfishing: Unsustainable practices continue to reduce biodiversity and food security.
Yet, recovery efforts led by Traditional Owners, scientists, and conservation groups are slowly restoring life to the southern seas.
Modern Science and Conservation
Contemporary marine research and Indigenous knowledge are increasingly intertwined in restoring Victoria’s ocean health.
Marine protected areas: Reserves such as the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park and Point Addis Marine Park safeguard critical breeding grounds for fish, seals, and sea dragons.
Cultural partnerships: Sea Country Plans led by Wadawurrung, Gunditjmara, and Bunurong peoples combine traditional custodianship with marine science (DELWP 2021).
Citizen science: Programs like ReefWatch and Great Victorian Fish Count engage the public in monitoring marine biodiversity.
Climate adaptation: Scientists study kelp reforestation and marine carbon capture to mitigate climate impacts.
Species protection: Breeding programs for weedy sea dragons and research on whale migration ensure the continuation of threatened marine life.
Together, these initiatives embody the principle that healthy oceans sustain healthy communities — both human and more-than-human.
Symbolism and Meaning
Indigenous symbolism: Marine creatures embody strength, guidance, adaptability, and transformation — each reflecting a law of the sea and a lesson for life.
Scientific symbolism: They represent ecological connectivity — from phytoplankton to whales, every species is part of a vast energy cycle that shapes climate and life itself.
Modern cultural meaning: The sea remains a place of reflection, recreation, and renewal — but also of responsibility, reminding us that what we take from the ocean must always be given back.
Conclusion
Victoria’s native sea animals are guardians of the deep, weaving stories of creation, balance, and resilience through both science and spirit.
For Indigenous communities, they remain Ancestors of the tide, teaching that the health of the sea reflects the health of the people.
For marine science, they are indicators of global change — living evidence of our shared connection to Earth’s systems.
As the waves continue to shape the coastlines of Victoria, they carry with them ancient voices — the calls of whales, the shimmer of fish, the whisper of kelp — reminding us that we are all part of the same ocean story.
To protect the sea is to protect ourselves — the breath of Country, the heartbeat of life, and the deep-time wisdom of the world beneath the waves.
References
Clarke, ID (1997). “The Aboriginal Cosmic Landscape of Southern Australia.” Records of the South Australian Museum, 30(1): 1–14.
Clark, ID (2011). Aboriginal People and Sealing in Victoria, 1800–1850. Ballarat Heritage Services, Ballarat.
DELWP (2021). Victoria’s Marine and Coastal Strategy. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Melbourne.
Kirkwood, R. (2005). “Marine mammal ecology in Bass Strait.” Marine Mammal Science, 21(2): 260–272.
Ling, JK (1999). “Exploitation of fur seals and sea lions from the eighteenth century.” In Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation, Springer, pp. 38–65.
McNiven, IJ (2004). “Saltwater people: spiritscapes, maritime rituals and the archaeology of Australian Indigenous seascapes.” World Archaeology, 35(3): 329–349.
Poore, G., Avery, L., & Gomon, M. (2015). Marine Life of Victoria. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Ryan, L. (2012). Tasmanian Aborigines: A History Since 1803. Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (TOAC). (2023). Sea Country Plan, Geelong.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 16/09/2025
Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land and community.
Copyright of MLA – 2025
Magic Lands Alliance acknowledge the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of communities.