Jervis Bay, 26-29th March

A huge crew of 15 from NSW piled onboard Ocean Trek for a super intense 3.5 day survey extravaganza!

Once again, RLS engaged the local expertise of Lyn Cleary and Mick Saliwon and their crew from the Jervis Bay based live aboard, Ocean Trek over the weekend of 26-29th March. The RLS group included: Andrew, Bill from down south; Kate, Tom, Margo and Ash from Nelson Bay; Isabelle from Forster; Steve and Dave from Laurieton; Jen and Kim from Canberra; and Andy, Jack, and newcomer Martin from Sydney.

Photo: Toni Cooper

Photo: Tom Davis

RLS set out with the goal of adding to an existing long term data set established by Dr Graham Edgar and Dr Neville Barrett. They have been annually surveying 30 sites in the bay for the last 8 years. It was a huge target and one which we knew was impossible to complete in the given time frame, but the team was keen and super-hard working and exceeded everyone’s expectations by surveying 26 of the 30 sites, and collecting 116 surveys worth of data!! A mammoth effort as you can imagine, and an achievement which all involved should feel rather chuffed about!!

The weekend saw 169 fish species recorded and 104 invertebrates/cryptic fish. Grey Nurses (Carcharias taurus) were spotted at Longnose Point and South Bowen Island, and Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) also made an appearance at Longnose Point and Green Point. Pelagics such as Kingfish (Seriola lalandi) and Samsonfish (Seriola hippos) hung around on most sites too. A couple of black cod (Epinephelus daemelii) and a goblinfish (Glyptauchen panduratus) kept the invert/cryptic fish searches entertaining. By the end of the 3 ½ days everyone was well and truly worn out, but still smiling! Poor Martin was thrown in the deep end, having to keep up with extra data entry and extra long days, but it wasn’t enough to put him off, he has already submitted 4 surveys since the trip!

Photo: Toni Cooper

Photo: Martin Mueller

The weekend would not have been possible without the help of Lyn, Mick, Bob, Waz, and Ozzie! Mick and Lyn went out of their way to accommodate our surveying needs, ferrying groups around left, right and centre, and Ozzie’s local knowledge of the sites was a huge help! Waz kept everyone on their toes with his pranks and Bob made sure our bellies were never empty, so a massive thank you to the Ocean Trek crew!

Again, huge thanks must go to the cracking team of RLS divers for all their efforts over the weekend! Their hard work and long hours never go unnoticed or unappreciated!

Photo: Tom Davis

Photo: Martin Mueller