Marine protected areas are ‘sites unseen’ and hence the human communities that live on and around them often struggle to accept their existence. This paper presents an account of a project that sought to establish what are the most effective modes of community engagement to raise awareness of the ecological integrity and values of, and social license to operate for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), especially those in remote and regional areas. Using a case study of offshore MPAs within the state of South Australia, we argue that conventional modes of community engagement and communication are enhanced by the deployment of virtual and visual modes of communication. Our analysis showed that the use of alternate and visually engaged processes, via the deployment of the ‘Fab Five’ marine species, enabled us to break the dominant discourse that MPAs are ‘us’ vs ‘them’, facilitated a reconciliation between State and Commonwealth MPAs, and created a unique space for cross cultural engagement which cumulatively offered opportunities to build the government’s social license for the existence of MPAs, and maintain their enduring benefit for marine conservation.
