SURG News

Solitary Islands Marine Park Sea Slug Census enters its second year

Posted: 2 days 21 min ago

The second Sea Slug Census was successfully held in the Solitary Islands Marine Park with groups going out from Arrawarra and Coffs Harbour. For the results of this Census come to the SURG meeting on the 12th February. It will be a fantastic night with awards and prizes for the best photograph, the most unusual sea slug etc.

Sea sluggers surveyed Split Solitary on the Friday in Neil Vaughan's boat, North West Solitary with seven divers on the Dive Quest boat and South Solitary with six divers on the Jetty Dive Boat.

Winds were strong during the weekend and visibility poor... Read more

A very happy Christmas for raffle winners

Posted: 1 month 2 weeks ago

The generous raffle prizes were the highlight of this year's SURG Christmas Party.

Daryl was the lucky winner of a double dive with Jetty Dive. Other prizes were gift vouchers from the Happy Frog and K-Pane and of course Neil's wooden carvings.

Many thanks to Mike and Debbie from Jetty Dive, Kirsty and Brett from K-Pane, the Happy Frog and Neil for the fabulous prizes and their ongoing support to SURG.

Interpretive panels installed

Posted: 3 months 6 days ago

The final phase of the Estuarine project is now complete with four interpretive panels installed adjacent to Corindi River, Moonee Creek, Coffs Creek and Boambee Creek. These panels help inform the general public on the threats unique to each of these 4 estuaries so the visitors, residents, fishers and boating enthusiasts are able understand the issues involved at each location as well as see pictured some of the unique fauna they may encounter.

These panels have been warmly received by residents and visitors to these areas. It has been a huge effort on behalf of SURG and in... Read more

Final Estuarine Resilience report now available

Posted: 6 months 3 weeks ago

The final report of the Community action blueprint to enhance estuarine habitat resilience is now available. This huge project involved:

mapping seagrass beds assessing fish diversity quantifying the impact of debris and mud crab trap conducting remediation work

All these activities contributed to the development of interpretive panels and fact sheets that highlight specific threats to specific northern NSW... Read more

Marina research

Posted: 8 months 2 weeks ago

SURG members are continuing their research in the Coffs Coast region, this time at the Coffs Harbour marina. The research and community engagement is by:

assessment of fish and other marine biodata identified through baited underwater remote videos (BRUV) on the marine pylons a marine debris survey roving fish surveys in which pairs of divers follow the marina walls and document and identify all marine life display stand showing the public the marina habitat

This is the same methodology used in the... Read more

Annual camping trip

Posted: 10 months 3 weeks ago

This year's camping trip was to Illaroo Campground near Minnie Water in the Yuraygir National Park. SURG members had a great time enjoying the wildlife, the peace and quiet of the park and the opportunity to socialise with club members. Two of the more active in the group made their way to the end of a rocky headland, immersed themselves in rock pools and found some interesting sea slug specimens.

Here are some photos of the wildlife (thanks to Ian Shaw) that we saw on this trip.

A rarely seen Beach Stone Curlew

Brush Turkey

Lace... Read more

Inaugural Coffs Coast Sea Slug Census

Posted: 1 year 2 weeks ago

The Inaugural Coffs Coast Sea Slug Census held from the 18th to 20th January 2019 was a great success despite the strong winds and cold 18 degrees water temperatures. The event kicked off on the Thursday evening prior to the Census with a Marine Discovery Series talk which provided both on shore and diving participants with the necessary skills to locate and identify the slugs. This followed with 27 participants recording 97 sea slug species over the next 3 days from Brooms Head to Sawtell.... Read more

Estuary Fact Sheets

Posted: 1 year 2 months ago

The estuarine habitat resilience project is nearing its close with a report soon to be published. As part of the project SURG has created fact sheets to educate the public in the health of our often overlooked estuaries.
Have a look at these fact sheets!

Red Rock Survey and Clean up

Posted: 1 year 3 months ago

Despite days of rain and a dreary forecast the rain cleared momentarily and the creek was clear enough for SURG members to go ahead with their planned survey and clean up at Red Rock over two October days.

On the 12th the creek was surveyed for debris. A team of 5 divers set out four 25m transects and found very little debris.

On the 13th a team of 7 divers cleaned the creek. The majority of the debris was found upstream from the surveyed site and included a fishing net and reels, sunglasses and surprisingly two shovels.

The sausage sizzle following the clean up was... Read more

SURG Annual General Meeting

Posted: 1 year 6 months ago

SURG AGM was held on the 18th July and a new committee was formed. The committee comprises of six members.

Committee bottom row, left to right: Mel Buhler (Sectretary), Nicola Fraser (President), top row, left to right: Susan Gibbs (Treasurer), Neil Vaughan (Social), Darryl Wong (Vice President), not in photo: Tom Mair (Expeditions officer)

Other SURG members contribute to the running of the club as can be seen by the turn-out at the AGM.

The AGM and Business Meetings cover a variety of topics from what's going to happen... Read more

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