Our Story

Humble Beginnings

Passion, chance and a hunch

A life-long love of the ocean, a chance meeting and a hunch lead Founding Director Daniel Kimberley to establish Monsoon Aquatics in Darwin in 2008.

Dan was born and raised in Manly, Sydney and grew up in and around the ocean. Starting out at Sydney Aquarium, moving to the Territory Wildlife Park and then on to the Aquaculture Department at Charles Darwin University, Dan already had broad experience in the industry when he realised that the Timor and Arafura Sea’s off the coast of the Northern Territory in Australia held untapped potential.

A chance meeting with an Aquarium Collection Licence Holder sparked the entrepreneur in him and left him determined to share the wonder and beauty of Northern Territory coral with the world.

Exploration

Northern exploration

Initially working on his own to explore the area in a small boat and running tanks from underneath his suburban home, he soon found the iconic Northern Territory corals such as branching hammer that Monsoon Aquatics would become known for. Starting off by supplying Australian retail aquarium stores, Monsoon Aquatics was the first to take Northern Territory coral to the export market in 2011.

Monsoon Aquatics is now synonymous with coral and fish from the Northern Territory. In 2017 we launched the ‘Croc Island’ scoly to market, a new type of button coral that we discovered in Northern waters, and it was named in Reefbuilders list of “Top 10 New Corals of 2017“. 

NEW FINDINgs

Finding two new species of fish

Skipper and now part-owner Tim Green is responsible for collecting the type specimens for two new species of wrasse – the Monsoon Fairy Wrasse Cirrhilabrus hygroxerus and the Sunset Fairy Wrasse Cirrhilabrus greeni , named in Tim’s honour.

Monsoon Aquatics worked closely with staff at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory to have these fish described, named and published in the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation.

In 2016 we set up our clam aquaculture farm and have been producing both Tridacna Squamosa and Tridacna Maxima clams since.

Expansion

Growth through knowledge and new locations

Not content to simply keep doing what we have always done, Monsoon Aquatics are driven towards continual improvement and innovation within our industry. Firmly underpinned by our core value of responsible practices, we actively seek opportunities to expand our knowledge, provide more value for our customers and more opportunities for our team. All while providing the most beautiful coral in the world.

This led us to Queensland. In 2017 we expanded to Cairns, allowing us to offer a broader range of coral species. Then in 2019 we established our flagship facility in Bundaberg, 1000m2 of temperature controlled environment, capable of supporting both wild caught collection activities and our further expansion into aquaculture.

LEADING the way

Leading through research and development

Monsoon Aquatics are a leader within industry. Daniel Kimberley holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science and is past Chair of the Northern Territory Seafood Council and current Board Member of the Pet Industry Association of Australia.

We regularly contribute to research, working with various organisations such as the Australian Institute of Marine Science, James Cook University, Darwin Aquaculture Centre and more.

We nurture the future of the industry, hosting students from Universities around Australia, accessing continual professional development for our team and attending tradeshows around the world.

What drives us?

Passion. Passion for the reef and passion for our customers.

What guides us is responsibility.

What gets us there is teamwork.

We believe in sharing the wonder and beauty of the reef with the world so it can be enjoyed, understood and valued.