The Great Southern Reef Foundation has partnered with Fremantle-based multidisciplinary artist Amok Island to create a stunning limited edition print, Iconic Species of the Great Southern Reef. This limited edition artwork showcases 18 unique species found along this extraordinary marine ecosystem.

Drawing inspiration from early naturalists’ scientific illustrations, Amok Island’s work balances precision with a minimalist approach, distilling his subjects into geometric forms complemented by a carefully curated colour palette. His deep passion for natural exploration and conservation shines through, driving his mission to highlight the beauty and importance of these species. 

Be one of just 200 people to own this exquisite celebration of the Great Southern Reef’s biodiversity. Each print is hand-signed by Amok Island and produced on high-quality, archival-grade paper, making it a timeless piece for art lovers and ocean enthusiasts alike. 

Don’t miss your chance to secure this unique piece—once they’re gone, they’re gone!

From his early fascination with seaweeds to pioneering restoration techniques like "green gravel," Great Southern Reef Research Partnership (GSRRP) member Professor Thomas Wernberg’s work highlights the vital ecological, economic, and cultural significance of the Great Southern Reef. His innovative research spans climate impacts and resilience, carbon sequestration and the strategies to revitalise degraded habitats.

In exciting new announcements, Wernberg has been awarded an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship and secured additional support through an ARC Discovery Project to study the kelp forests of the GSR.

Wernberg will lead a team to investigate how the GSR might change in the future as climate change and human activities alter the distribution and abundance of dominant species. The ARC Laureate is the most prestigious research fellowship in Australia, and this is the first time it has been awarded to a temperate marine ecologist. The award presents significant new opportunities to enhance our understanding of this unique ecosystem, foster collaborations within the GSRRP, and ensure the lasting legacy of the GSR for future generations. 

Yardiji, is Yerkala Mirning language for complete, pristine and beautiful.

As Senior Mirning Elders, Marbanu Bunna Lawrie and Yagalu Dorcas Miller hold duties and responsibilities to pass on something yardiji for future generations, in the same way as their ancestors have done for millennia. However, today this carries immeasurable challenges.

For years, Australians have called for greater protection of the Great Australian Bight—a place of immense cultural, ecological, and global significance. In partnership with the Mirning Council of Elders, the Wilderness Society has taken a critical step forward by drafting a consultation document on the case for World Heritage.

Negotiations are now underway with South Australian and Australian Government officials, as well as the IUCN World Heritage body. Achieving this status would ensure the Bight’s unique ecosystems and cultural heritage are safeguarded for generations to come.

You can make a difference by adding your voice to this movement. Sign the petition to show your support for World Heritage protection of the Great Australian Bight. 

Reef Life Survey (RLS) has welcomed new volunteer divers to NSW and Vic team after a training trip in Jervis Bay. Sites within the Jervis Bay Marine Park were first surveyed using RLS methods in 1996 by RLS cofounder Graham Edgar. To date, over 1,650 surveys have been conducted within the marine park and 2,100 in the general area.

Alongside training new divers, 15 surveys were completed across 5 sites. During the surveys 5,561 individual fish were recorded, totalling 71 species, and 1,973 macroinvertebrates were counted across 38 unique species. Some species highlights included Crosslandia viridis; a species of nudibranch which had not previously been documented in Jervis Bay, a goblinfish, a tiny eastern cleaner clingfish, and a humpback whale even snuck across the transect line.

RLS are keen to continue growing their network of volunteer divers, and will be putting the call out for new expressions of interest from experienced SCUBA divers toward the end of 2024, so keep your eyes peeled for updates on the RLS socials on Facebook, Insta, and LinkedIn. 

In Kingston South East new interpretive signage, a garden, and a meeting circle at Apex Park has been unveiled, transforming the site of a 1966 monument that once solely blamed the Tanganekald people for the Maria massacre, without providing further context.

The Telling the Whole Story project was a collaborative effort between Tanganekald, Meintangk, and Bungandidj Elder Professor Irene Watson and the National Trust of South Australia. This initiative sought to present a fuller, more balanced narrative of the events, addressing the limitations of the original memorial, which was one of the few monuments marking the rare massacres of Europeans by Aboriginal people.

Five researchers from the UWA Oceans Institute - Dr Sam Starko, Dr Karen Filbee-Dexter, Dr Nicki Mitchel, Professors Christophe Gaudin and Thomas Wernberg - attended the recent ‘GOP29’ climate meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Following 2023 and 2024, where ocean temperatures blew past previous records, extreme marine heatwaves and cyclones occurred across the world’s oceans, and the climate crisis cost trillions of dollars, a sense of urgency and bold agreements might have been expected at COP29. 

Among the hundreds of pavilions and thousands of delegates, the lack of attention to oceans stood out. Other than a single ‘Oceans pavilion’ anything marine was missing from most discussions, frameworks, examples and speeches, and only mentioned in a few side talks. Decarbonisation at COP29 was mostly about forests, food production, green cities and industries.

Oceans were mentioned mostly in the context of blue carbon as a promising and underused tool to address climate change. There was much talk about ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ (NDC’s), which are national climate plans for greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors which are due from all countries at COP30 in 2025. While most attention is paid to seagrass meadows and mangroves, seaweed forests are also in focus. 

This month, UWA and UTAS researchers from the GSR Research Partnership joined forces in Western Australia to conduct the long-term biodiversity surveys in Jurien Bay Marine Park. These surveys have been running for 25 years and provide a comprehensive assessment of fishes, invertebrates and seaweeds throughout the marine park.

Jurien Bay Marine Park is a critically important area within the Great Southern Reef due to its high diversity of seaweeds and the confluence of warm-water and cool-temperate species. Across the GSR, warming is causing an increase in warm-affiliated species and a decline in cool-temperate species - a phenomenon known as tropicalisation.

Scott Bennett, from the University of Tasmania, says this is particularly evident following marine heatwaves, like the one experienced in Jurien Bay in 2011. "The ongoing long-term monitoring data from Jurien Bay, is extremely valuable to be able to track how the reef responds and recovers from these disturbances", Bennett continues.

Across an 80km stretch of coastline, the team recorded almost 400 species of seaweed - which to put into context is almost as many as the number of hard coral species recorded across the entire Great Barrier Reef.

Each time we feature a new GSR species on our socials, a new page is born on our website, adding to our collection of iconic marine life articles. This month it is the Gloomy Octopus, prepared by intern Layla Moseby Read and featuring insights and imagery from photographer Mike Jones. 

One of the most extraordinary behaviours of the gloomy octopus is its ability to throw objects. Using a jet of water, they can hurl shells, silt and algae with surprising accuracy. This rare behaviour has been observed in various contexts: from discarding the remains of a meal, excavating or rearranging den materials. [read more]

Our latest feature creator, Andy Burnell, has a deep love for South Australia's coast, from its wild beaches to its sheltered bays. Despite the challenges of cold and murky winters, he cherishes those clear vis "diamond days" when the waters reveal their beauty.