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In April and May 2025, RLS divers returned to One Tree Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef for our fourth round of surveys. In 2023, a team from the University of Sydney established 26 new sites in this remote, science-only, protected lagoon system, focusing on patch reefs throughout the lagoons and sheltered reef slope. The team's goal was to understand how marine communities are influenced by environmental factors, and the Reef Life Survey methods provide a rich mix of data on fish, mobile invertebrates, corals, and other sessile organisms which underpins their research.

In a stunning two-week surveying expedition, a small but mighty team of RLS divers returned to Norfolk island in January 2025 to complete 66 surveys across 21 sites. Norfolk and its surrounding marine park harbour a wealth of life, with diversity and abundance off the charts!

Reef Life Survey and the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation team up to standardise fish and coral surveys in and around Siquijor Island's marine sanctuaries. Although RLS have surveyed locations within the Coral Triangle in the past, these mark our first ever surveys in the Philippines and fill an important geographical gap in our global database.

What do you get when the University of Tasmania, Reef Life Survey, and Antarctic tour operator Aurora Expeditions join forces? An expedition of epic proportions, bringing Reef Life Survey cofounders Rick and Graham to the bottom of the planet to conduct our coolest surveys yet.

Wadjemup (Rottnest Island), was not always an island; instead, it was connected to mainland Australia up until ~6,500 years ago. As sea levels rose, the island became isolated, providing providing refuge for the shallow, stunning reefs we know and love today. The island holds deep cultural significance for the Whadjuk Noongar people, who have a long-standing connection to this beautiful place.

RLS has been surveying Wadjemup nearly every year since 2008,  with 2025 marking our 16th year (excluding 2024). Despite only 300 permanent residents, the island attracts 700,000–800,000 visitors each year. People flock to Wadjemup to experience its sparkling waters, white sandy beaches, salt lakes, wetlands—and of course, its most famous residents, the smiling quokkas (thank you, Roger Federer, for that selfie in 2018!).