Millions of dollars to save endangered Maugean skates

A very rare ray that lives only in one bay in western Tasmania and nowhere else in the world is endangered: the Maugean skate.

A supplied image obtained on Friday, June 2, 2023, of an ancient Maugean skate. This one was hatched from an egg in a lab but young ones are not being found in Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour - the only place they are now known to exist. (AAP Image/Supplied by University of Tasmania, David Moreno) Credit: DAVID MORENO/PR IMAGE/AAPIMAGE

The Maugean, a species of ray that has evolved to live only in Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast, near the small tourist town of Strahan, is threatened with extinction.

There are believed to be less than 1,000 rays of this species left which have gone through "remarkable adaptations that allow it to live in such a strange habitat", according to Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) researcher David Moreno.

However, rapid changes in the harbour are leading to a 50% decline in the species between 2014 and 2021, with rays struggling to survive.

Maugean skate rely on dissolved oxygen present in the deeper waters of the bay for their survival.