Both desktop reviews and field surveys were undertaken to elaborate the biodiversity issues that may need to be considered during petroleum exploration and devlopment activites in permit area WA-271-P. This area is approximatley 35km north-northwest of the Cape. Two field surveys, in march 2001 and 2002 sampled seabed biota in depths bewteen 50-1000m, from the permit area shorewards towards the Murion Islands. The 2001 survey collected and lodged 778 voucher specimens with the WA Museum. The 2002 survey revisited the same area, but focussed on ground truthing a seabed hardness map produced by Fugro, to elucidate the complex spatial patterns of bottom hardness and variation in biota that were observed in the first survey. A total of 6 reports were lodged