?Reckless? plan to search for oil and gas will put one of world?s healthiest reefs at risk, conservationists say

Conservationists say a plan to search for oil and gas near Rowley Shoals in north-west Australia is "reckless" and will put one of the world's healthiest reefs at risk.

The area is an isolated archipelago of reefs home to three atolls - Imperieuse, Clerke, and Mermaid - that lie 260km off the coast of the Kimberley in Western Australia.

A scientific study published in April recognised Rowley Shoals' status as a thriving marine ecosystem that has escaped the harm seen in other reef systems around the globe.

The area is a biodiversity hotspot, with 96 different protected marine species living or migrating through the area, including 25 species of whales and dolphins, six types of sea turtle, 10 different shark and ray species, and 31 species of fish - including the Western Australian sculpin, a deep sea blobfish considered the ugliest animal in the world.

Eighteen of the 96 species are classified as threatened or endangered.

Spaced about 30km apart, Mermaid Reef is protected as a marine park under federal law, while the southern Clerke and Imperieuse reefs fall under the protection of the states.

But now a Perth-based company, Seismic Searcher, has applied to conduct seismic testing to search for oil and gas across a 8,584km sq area on the doorstep of these protected areas.