SURG News

SURG Annual General Meeting

Posted: 2 months 1 week 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

Annual camping trip

Posted: 3 months 1 day ago

SURG isn't only about diving and research. SURG members also enjoy sharing other activities such as camping, hiking and kayaking.

In May this year SURG members and their families trekked south for what is becoming an annual event – the camping weekend at Hat Head. Arriving on the Friday, tents and camper trailers were erected and the fire wood gathered for the after dinner fire later in the evening. During the day the caravan park filled up, and on the Saturday morning the reason became clear, there was a vintage motor vehicle show in the adjacent park. This was a bit of a trip... Read more

Planting out remediation site on Corindi River

Posted: 5 months 1 week ago

SURG members and local Red Rock volunteers helped to plant 14 Casuarina glauca (Swamp She-oak) seedlings that were supplied by Jaliigirr Nursery and they also transplanted Juncus and other native grasses into the previously installed coir matting.

Previously planted lomandra longifolia seem to be faring well but some are struggling a bit which is possibly due to foot traffic.

The site was also topped up with more soil behind the coir logs where the soil had sunk following repeated wetting.

Ian Shaw, a Red Rock local, will keep an eye on these plants to see if they... Read more

Next stage of estuarine research

Posted: 6 months 3 days ago

SURG is in the next stage of the Estuarine project with the rehabilitation and protection of the foreshores of Corindi Creek.

With the help from several Red Rock locals and materials supplied by SURG and Reflections Holiday Parks, the group undertook the first stage of the Corindi River bank stabilisation work. Twenty, three metre long coir logs and coir netting were placed over the eroded bank near the viewing platform adjacent to Jew Fish Point Reserve Boardwalk.

It was a great effort by all involved, especially under sometimes wet conditions. With the... Read more

Sea anemone research surveys

Posted: 7 months 3 days ago

"Do you like sea anemones? If so, I would love to hear from you. My name is Nicola Fraser, I'm a PhD student at Southern Cross University in Australia, and I'm really keen to learn about sea anemones in the marine aquarium trade. As part of my project, I'm interested in which sea anemones you keep or sell, or would like to keep or sell. This important information will help us understand the marine aquarium trade as it relates to sea anemones because it will tell us which species are the most popular, and why. There is a short introductory video below. If you would like to... Read more

Critical habitat surveys at Red Rock

Posted: 1 year 1 month ago

A team of SURG members explored the lower reaches of Red Rock estuary last weekend, taking advantage of the clear water and perfect weather to better understand the areas ofcritical habitat. On Friday Tom Mair and Ian Shaw dived the high tide from the shop to the boat ramp, where they searched for threatened cod species, pipefish and seahorses. While there were two cod species sighted, both noted the absence of tropical species particularly the lack of butterfly fish, possibly due to the cool water temperature of 18 degrees. It was good to see large numbers of juvenile bream,... Read more

Cleaning the plinths on the underwater trail

Posted: 1 year 2 months ago

In 2002 SURG members constructed an underwater trail made up of interpretive plinths. These plinths describe the landform and animals that inhabit the area around each plinth.
The plinths quickly build up algae and coral and need to be cleaned every year. This year most were in good shape. All were readable and none had moved so it was possible to follow the direction of the trail arrows.

The boat was full with 8 divers who quickly cleaned the plinths with scrapers and brushes. After the cleaning the divers enjoyed a second recreational dive at Elbow Cave.... Read more

Manta rays still at Nth West Solitary Island

Posted: 1 year 4 months ago

Despite the cooler May water temperature Manta Rays can still be seen at North West Solitary Island. Two Mantas, which were approximately 2 metres across, circled the SURG research divers for half an hour. The photos of the undersides detailing their identifying marks have been sent to Project Manta for identification.

2016 Bleaching event causes permanent coral death

Posted: 1 year 4 months ago

SURG research has found a significant number of corals which suffered bleaching in 2016 never recovered.

In 2016 the significant bleaching event resulted in total loss of colour in branching corals located on South Solitary Island and South West Solitary Island.

Over the past year SURG has conducted research trips to monitor the effects of this bleaching event on individual corals and the coral communities. Using underwater photography... Read more

Community action blueprint to enhance estuarine habitat resilience - progress report

Posted: 1 year 5 months ago

The 2016 – 2017 progress report into estuarine habitat resilience has again shown the commitment of SURG and community members in identifying fish species in our estuaries, the health of our estuaries and seagrass habitats, hazards to our estuaries such as discarded fish traps and garbage and remediation and community education strategies.

Discarde d fish traps
Thirty discarded fish traps were found in Coffs and Boambee Creeks. GPS marks were recorded and given to NSW Fisheries who removed these traps.

Strandline clean-up
Strandline... Read more

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