Past Events

SURG, in conjunction with the Southern Cross University, National Marine Science Centre, will be holding their second Coffs Coast Sea Slug Census on the 10th to the 12th of January, 2020. (Note the survey has been extended to include Friday). The event, beginning at midnight on Thursday and finishing at midnight on Sunday, will include all the waters of the Solitary Islands Marine Park as well as coastal waters to Brooms Head in the north and Sawtell in the south.

Some sea slugs...

Christmas is nearly with us again and as usual SURG is celebrating its Christmas at the Boambee Researve.

The shelter has been booked for the whole day to give club members a chance to enjoy the swimming and kayaking. However, most people arrive in the late afternoon about 5pm to share the Christmas party.

Bring something to put on the barbeque and nibbles to share and don't forget some change the $5 entry and for the raffle.

After a green sea turtle laid a nest on Boambee beach in 2018 people started to ask, do sea turtles nest regularly in NSW? To answer that question the NSW Government Saving Our Species program funded a recent review of historical nesting records in NSW and found some interesting trends. Come learn about sea turtle nesting behaviour and the NSW TurtleWatch program and how you can get involved.

About Holly: Holly has been working with sea turtles around the world for over 10 years and...

"Earn & Return"

Has this initiative reduced marine pollution of urban mangroves and remote beaches of NSW? Does the analysis of 2 years of data collected by scientists, government agencies and local communities have a positive environmental story to tell re. reducing beverage containers in the marine environment? Bob's presentation will address these questions with an overview of the outcomes from the Container Deposit Scheme study on a state wide basis and a focus on what was...

SURG is looking for volunteers to carry out debris removal within the Coffs Harbour Marina on Sunday July 7th.

The group will be meeting at the Marina office at midday for a briefing and kitting up.

This clean up is part of an overall SURG project in conjunction with the Marina management. SURG has already conducted the BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Videos) surveys on the piers and a marine debris survey. Following this debris removal a fish survey will be conducted and an...

Come to the next social meeting to hear Elaine Kwee talk about how Coffs Harbour's export to Bali, Louise Hardman's Shruder, is making a difference to rural plastic waste management and plastic debris in the ocean. Also learn about the challenges facing small scale plastic recycling in rural communities.

Louise Hardman designed the Shruder to recycle used plastics. Its compact design makes it perfect for recycling in developing countries.

The Shruder being blessed...

Come and listen to our own Neil Vaughan talk about the Wedge-tailed Shearwaters on Muttonbird Island.

Peter Butcherine, a researcher with Southern Cross University is currently studying the effect the insecticide neonicotinoid (a systemic agricultural insecticide resembling nicotine) is having on the aquatic environment and more specifically the commercial shrimp species. Following is some more information from Peter on what the talk will include.

Don't forget to bring some money for the raffle and a mug for the tea, coffee and biscuits following the meeting.

This is a great...