In February this year thousands of people gathered on a Sydney beach to protest the Western Australian shark cull, while a few hundred metres behind them our own dirty secret lurked in the ocean. With all the media attention recently on the WA cull, it’s easy to forget that here on the east coast we have had systems in place [...]

An open letter to Barry O’Farrell, NSW Premier, and Katrina Hodgkinson, Primary Industries Minister for NSW We have been diving for over a decade in Australia and there is nothing quite like it. To slowly slip beneath the surface of our amazing blue planet and witness, first hand, the labyrinth of sea creatures in their complex ecosystems is pure privilege. To not [...]

A recent move by the Western Australian Government to introduce a shark cull program has invoked public outcry globally. Under the program, the government has allocated more than $20 million over the next four years to “address public safety and help mitigate the risk sharks pose to water users.” The plan includes setting baited drum lines to catch large sharks [...]

A favourite amongst  scuba divers around the world, sea turtles have been on Earth for more than 100 million years. But having survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago, they now face many modern, man-made pressures. So, how much do you know about these ancient sea creatures? 1. Turtle species and distribution There are seven living species [...]

Giant kelp forests are a temperate water divers heaven. They provide shelter through their towering, dense canopies and consequently, a much greater diversity of plant and animal species is found in kelp ecosystems than almost any other ocean community. Almost gravity defying, giant kelp is the largest marine plant in the world. The algae grows up to 45 metres tall [...]

Five commercially valuable shark species, manta rays & freshwater sawfish gain increased protection Bangkok, 14 March 2013. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) plenary today accepted Committee recommendations to list five species of highly traded sharks, the oceanic whitetip, porbeagle and three species of hammerheads (great, smooth & scalloped hammerhead) under the CITES Appendix II. Both types of manta [...]

In a matter of days, officials from countries around the world will have an historic opportunity to protect a record number of sharks and rays – including oceanic whitetip sharks, hammerhead sharks and manta rays – from the unsustainable international trade that threatens their survival. International trade in wild plants and animals is worth billions of dollars a year and [...]

Ever thought about donating yourself to science? Now you can! Diving enthusiasts are urgently needed to help monitor the world’s largest type of manta ray (manta birostris) in the Great Barrier Reef off Lady Elliot Island. Mantas are the gentle giants of the ocean, weighing as much as 1,400kg and with a disc width of up to seven metres. To [...]