Tertiary Catalogue

Warrnambool native and eco-activist, Colleen Hughson, first began her beach clean-up initiative after spending time walking along the Shelly Beach, a remote, rugged stretch of coastline near her hometown. During an illness she would frequent the beach taking time to unwind and relax but couldn’t help but noticing that day in, day out, the beach was dotted with white, plastic sticks. Show Less

Roger Swainston is a renowned artist known for his hyper-realistic paintings and illustrations of underwater species and reefscapes. His aim is to cultivate awareness and drive attention to the beauty and diversity of Australian marine life. Swainston’s passion for the underwater world began early on when his family would take fishing trips to the southern coast along the Great Southern Reef from his inland hometown in the western Australian outback. It was there, and during his time working on exploratory research vessels and fishing trawlers that he began to observe the immense diversity within the Australian waters. After studying zoology at the University of Western Australia and spending several years developing his artwork in France, he returned to Australia and began to focus on the integration of science and art. By intricately drawing and painting hundreds of marine and freshwater species in painstaking detail, Swainston gives the viewer the opportunity to see these complex environments and animals in a different way and, in turn, instigate the desire to protect and preserve their local marine environments. Show Less

The Great Southern Reef is dominated by a canopy forming seaweed species, Ecklonia radiata. This kelp, sometimes called common kelp or golden kelp is known as a foundation species as it provides food, shelter and habitat for hundreds of species. Seaweeds also play an important role in slowing climate change by taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Show Less

Whaledreamer, songman, storyteller. These are just a few ways in which Bunna Lawrie represents the Mirning Aboriginal tribe and tells the story of his country and fight for land and sea protection along the Great Southern Reef. Born and raised along the Nullarbor at the head of the Great Australian Bight, Lawrie adopted his community’s culture, laws and tradition at an early age growing up to be a Mirning senior elder and medicine man. Show Less

Aboriginal heritage is a central element in Aboriginal spirituality and is inseparable from the natural environment which is associated with dreaming stories and cultural learning that links Aboriginal people with who they are and where they belong. The Wadandi Saltwater) People of the South West corner of Australia have a long association with the natural resources linked to both land and sea country. Zac Webb is a Wadandi-Pibulmun cultural custodian from the Noongar nation, an Aboriginal region spanning southwestern Australia along the Great Southern Reef near Margaret River, and one of the last speakers of their native language. As custodians of their country, the Noongar people have a continuous cultural, physical and spiritual relationship with the land and sea. Having been taught by his family who have continuously lived on Wadandi Boodja for generations, he has a wealth of knowledge of his people’s culture. “if you look after the country, the country will look after you because we are part of the country and she is a part of us ”explained Wadandi custodian and Undalup Association chairperson Zac Webb. This concept is key to what the Great Southern Reef is all about. Caring for where we live, connecting to sea country and seeing ourselves as local stewards of a larger interconnected system. Webb encourages Aussies to “Get out, get amongst it. Learn about your local places, get a sense of pride and belonging. Ownership of that place knowing that you don’t need to be an indigenous person to feel a connection to a place. All people indigenous and non-indigenous feel a connection to country.” Show Less

Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) are an iconic canopy forming seaweed that can grow over 35 metres long and up to half a metre each day. Like trees in a forest, giant kelp modifies the environment and the resulting conditions favour a huge diversity of other species. Dr. Cayne Layton from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies explains his research on restoring Australia's giant kelp forests. Cayne and his team are examining selected individuals from a range of these remaining populations to examine how warm tolerant their offspring are of warmer water. Show Less

Leading Australia’s largest marine restoration initiative, The Nature Conservancy has committed to protect and restore 60 shellfish reefs right across the Great Southern Reef with the aim of recovering the critically endangered marine ecosystem. This includes the habitats in Port Phillip Bay where we were able to spend a day with these leading marine researchers looking for a new suitable shellfish restoration site within the bay. Show Less

“It’s all about the food, and about the reefs that provide that food,” Ocean Grown Abalone’s (OGA) Managing Director, Brad Adams, claims as he explains how the sustainable abalone reef system works. Adams grew up in remote western Australia along the Great Southern Reef, where he and his family have a deeply rooted relationship with aquaculture and the fishing industry. Show Less

Southern Bluefin Tuna are world renowned as one of the most sought after by fisheries for their delicate meat. An invaluable resource to Australia's economy, the fishery is a multimillion dollar industry. Back in the 1960s and 70s, the southern bluefin tuna was highly overfished and were a high volume low value fishery. In this video, tuna researcher Kirsten Rough explains how extensive research and strict regulations have helped develop the fishery which is now sustainable and maintains a low volume yet high value output. Show Less

Every year SARDI aquatic sciences send a team of scientists to Pt. Lowly SA, to assess the population of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish aggregation. Divers swim 50m transects counting the cuttlefish to calculate how many animals per square meter there are. On a single transect they can count hundreds of cuttlefish. In the late 90s the population estimate was around 180,000 and appeared stable. In 2005 the population decreased a little, but from about 2009 onwards the scientists started to see a concerning reduction in the population, dropping to just 13,000 animals in 2013 - less than 10% of earlier estimates. Many questions were raised about what was causing that decline. Was it pollution, disease, aquaculture, fishing? Because the area is highly utilised by many different people and organisations, there was a lot of speculation. Scientists tried to assess each potential driver, but did not find a clear link or relationship to any one driver in isolation. Show Less