The protected blue groper, Shack Bay, December, 2013
By Rod Webster
IF YOU go down to Shack Bay, between Cape Paterson and Inverloch, tomorrow, you might see the bobbing heads of more than a dozen snorkellers.
They’re taking part in the Great Victoria Fish Count, part of the Victorian National Parks Association’s Reefwatch program.
IF YOU go down to Shack Bay, between Cape Paterson and Inverloch, tomorrow, you might see the bobbing heads of more than a dozen snorkellers.
They’re taking part in the Great Victoria Fish Count, part of the Victorian National Parks Association’s Reefwatch program.
This is its ninth year in Victoria, but the first time it’s been held in the Bunurong Marine National Park.
The Shack Bay divers, ranging from teenager to seniors, will be identifying and counting 25 species of fish selected by scientists to give an indication of fish stocks and the health of the marine park.
While the anecdotal evidence from recreational divers is that fish species are more plentiful in marine protected areas, we simply don’t have a lot of data about it.
The fish count is part of a growing interest in "citizen science", where people of all ages and backgrounds can contribute to scientific knowledge, often by monitoring their local area.
Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin should be considered as the citizen scientists of their time!
We hope it will be the first of many monitoring activities along the Bunurong Coast as part of VNPA’s Reefwatch and Parks Victoria’s Sea Search, which monitors the intertidal area of marine parks four times a year.
Bunurong Coast Education, an arm of the South Gippsland Conservation Society, is organising the count, with support from Wonthaggi’s Parks Victoria crew.
Readers wanting to contribute to the collective knowledge about their area’s natural history can visit Bower Bird, a website to share and discuss Australia’s biodiversity and a great site for learning and contributing your knowledge.
If you have an interest in monitoring marine life, either underwater or on foot, call Rod Webster at the Bunurong Environment Centre on 5674 3738 or 0434 145 816.
The Shack Bay divers, ranging from teenager to seniors, will be identifying and counting 25 species of fish selected by scientists to give an indication of fish stocks and the health of the marine park.
While the anecdotal evidence from recreational divers is that fish species are more plentiful in marine protected areas, we simply don’t have a lot of data about it.
The fish count is part of a growing interest in "citizen science", where people of all ages and backgrounds can contribute to scientific knowledge, often by monitoring their local area.
Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin should be considered as the citizen scientists of their time!
We hope it will be the first of many monitoring activities along the Bunurong Coast as part of VNPA’s Reefwatch and Parks Victoria’s Sea Search, which monitors the intertidal area of marine parks four times a year.
Bunurong Coast Education, an arm of the South Gippsland Conservation Society, is organising the count, with support from Wonthaggi’s Parks Victoria crew.
Readers wanting to contribute to the collective knowledge about their area’s natural history can visit Bower Bird, a website to share and discuss Australia’s biodiversity and a great site for learning and contributing your knowledge.
If you have an interest in monitoring marine life, either underwater or on foot, call Rod Webster at the Bunurong Environment Centre on 5674 3738 or 0434 145 816.