September 2024 News
This month, we're offering a sneak peek into one of the Great Southern Reef’s most unique environments. Scroll down to see our new logo reveal and an exciting opportunity for teachers to trial some new school resources.
Bathurst Channel Virtual Underwater Tour
Nestled in Tasmania’s deep southwest, in the Port Davey marine park, tannin-stained freshwater layers obscure sunlight, creating dark, deep-sea-like conditions just beneath the surface. In these shadowy waters of the Bathurst Channel, a remarkable array of sponges, corals, and bryozoans—species more commonly found in the deep sea—flourish.
A new virtual tour on Seamap Australia takes you on a journey along the 14km stretch of Bathurst Channel, featuring eight location-specific videos. To give you a taste, we have put together a short video featuring renowned marine ecologist Neville Barrett from the University of Tasmania. With over three decades of experience studying temperate marine ecosystems, Neville has dedicated much of his career to understanding the unique environments of Tasmania’s coastal waters, including the enigmatic Bathurst Channel.
“It’s almost analogous to the deep ocean right there in just a few metres of water.”
Winter Crayweed Planting Surge
The Operation Crayweed team has been very busy this winter, making the most of the peak reproductive time to carry out as much restoration and outreach work as possible. Over the last month, they have organised three planting events in Sydney: at Maroubra, Dee Why and South Coogee, transplanting over 500 crayweeds to these sites over the last few weeks.
The latest event, organised in partnership with The Gemba Group on Wednesday 14th August, was attended by 12 elite athletes whose help onshore as citizen scientists was useful in collecting detailed crayweed data, and whose outreach will be significant to spread the word about the Operation Crayweed marine restoration efforts. Hopefully we will start seeing some cray-bies (crayweed recruits) in the next few months!
Image: Tom BurdTaking Care of Spikey Business
Podcast time! The fourth episode of Parks Victoria's “Closer to Nature” podcast features GSR Research Partnership member Dr. Michael Sams. Over the past few decades, sea urchin populations have exploded, leading to extensive barren areas on the bay’s reefs. But there’s good news—Michael and his dedicated team are taking action! They’ve successfully completed urchin control over 6 hectares of reef, culling over 150,000 urchins.
Thanks to their efforts, there’s growing optimism that these vital kelp forests will soon start to regenerate. Listen in to learn more about the challenges they face and the hope they have for the future of these marine ecosystems.
“I’ve got a lot of hope, because... we’ve seen rapid kelp recovery simply from removing urchins.”
Opportunity to Have Your Say
The Australian Government has been developing a Sustainable Ocean Plan for Australia. The Plan will chart a course for Australia to meet the increasingly complex challenges that face both our temperate and tropical waters and the $118.5 billion ‘blue economy’ that relies on it. We are thrilled to see the Great Southern Reef gets a mention up front on page one.
This is a valuable opportunity to have a say about the future of Australia's oceans and the Great Southern Reef. See the draft plan here then take the survey to submit your feedback by 5pm, 13 September 2024.
The main iconography signifies golden kelp that forms the backbone of the GSR and geographical range of the reef.
The flowing wave patterns encapsulate the essence of the GSR's extensive coastline, characterised by its rocky reefs and connected ocean currents. These waves also symbolise the natural contours of the reef, historic paleoshoreline and the deeper continental shelf.
The seamless integration of these elements in the logo represents the interconnectedness of all life within the GSRF from the smallest seaweed to the largest marine mammals.
The design also acknowledges the connection between land and Sea Country, honouring the traditional custodians of the coastlines and waters, and recognising the cultural significance that these environments hold.
New Logo Reveal
Noticed something a little different? We are thrilled to announce our new logo - a symbolic representation for the unique and diverse ecosystem that is the Great Southern Reef.
New School Resource Trial
In a special call out to our newsletter subscribers, we are looking for a few teachers with an exclusive opportunity to trial out a new lesson package centred around our film Reviving Giants. The interactive student-led lessons offer a unique chance to explore restoration efforts across the Great Southern Reef.
Comprehensive Teacher notes are available here.
If you’re interested in previewing these resources before their public launch, we would love to hear from you at info@greatsouthernreef.com.
New resources have been developed by Catia Freitas with thanks to support from Keep Tassie Wild and Australian Ethical Foundation.
Shark Slumber Party
Scientists on a return journey to Beagle Marine Park in central Bass Strait have made an extraordinary discovery in the deep mesophotic reefs of the Great Southern Reef. Thousands of sleepy Port Jackson sharks were found blanketing the seafloor, captured by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed from the SARDI research vessel MRV Ngerin.
This two-week survey, led by the University of Tasmania's IMAS, revisits the area to observe changes since their first survey six years ago.
In an interesting twist, researchers noted that the gathering appeared to be exclusively female. This raises intriguing questions about their behaviour and why this location is so significant for them. Could they be preparing for their journey north to lay eggs? The mystery deepens, but one thing is clear—this area is vital for their lifecycle.
This incredible find showcases the importance of continued research and exploration in our marine parks.
Aquasensoria
Living on the southern Victorian coast, German-born artist Vera Möller is deeply inspired by the GSR and much of her recent work is devoted to the colours, forms and patterns of underwater organisms.
Recalling the colours of sponge gardens in the GSR, Möller’s forms are bathed in red, orange and blue. At times she will add iridescent pigments to evoke the bioluminescence sometimes seen in the ocean at night.
“They [the artworks] look like abstract forms, but they are all full of creatures with sensory organs,” she explains. “A lot of my work relates to a fascination with corals, but also with sponge gardens."
Much of Möller’s research is conducted above the waves by snorkelling and working with scientists and researchers to scour 3D maps of the ocean floor produced by scientific vessels and image capturing robots. Vera's exhibition aquasensoria is currently on show at Brisbane's Philip Bacon Galleries until the 21st of September. [learn more]
“It’s the contemplation of these otherworldly spaces that is my point of departure conceptually.”
Feature Creator
Wide Angle or Macro? It’s the eternal dilemma for underwater photographers like our latest featured creator, Marcia Riederer. The fear of missing out on a delicate creature can be real!
Keep an eye out on our socials all this week for more of Marcia's engaging imagery.
Blue Devils
In the nooks and crannies inside caves among the rocky reefs of the Great Southern Reef, grumpy residents peer out from their dens. Over the years southern blue devils have been able to be identified and counted through their unique facial markings, which remain stable once they have reached their adult size. Through this research it was established that these fish are very “site attached” meaning they tend to only venture as far as 30 m.
Featured on our socials last month, we want to send out a special shout-out to our GSRF intern Thomas Lachlan Mayo for writing this fresh new article to help as we expand the marine life section of our website.
Image: Simon BryarsBig Fish Card Game
Big Fish is the table top game where you go fishing and also look after your fishing spot and favourite GSR fish species. In this game you choose whether to catch big fish, thereby accumulating lots of points or keep them in your fishing spot to spawn the next generation which will give you even more points later. Meanwhile natural events and other players all try to mess up your plans.
The non-profit campaign will launch on September 15, 2024. You can follow along on Kickstarter and be notified when it launches! There will also be a free workshop centred around this game at 9am on September 15 at the AMSA conference in Hobart.
See you at AMSA
The Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) conference is on this month in Hobart. The ‘Navigating Uncertainty for a Future Sustainable Ocean’ theme is aimed at bringing scientists and managers together to discuss the latest research that can guide society towards a future sustainable ocean.
The Great Southern Reef Foundation are proudly co-hosting the Poster Session with REDMAP Australia. If you see any of the team with a GSRF shirt on, please come up and say hi!
