Unseasonably warm waters made for some almost tropical diving during our last round of surveys in Sydney and Jervis Bay. Spanning from January to June 2025, RLS volunteers completed an impressive 76 surveys across 29 sites, recording a total of 157 different species in Sydney, and a further and 198 species in Jervis Bay.
An impromptu survey opportunity revealed surprising diversity in the cool, calm waters outside of Reykjavik. With a transect reel, a few datasheets, and some gift shop clipboards, a few travellers were able to complete Iceland’s first Reef Life Survey.
Eviota guttata observations in the Reef Life Survey database have had a makeover, reflecting recently described species within what we now know to be the E. guttata complex. So, how complex is the process of telling these pygmygobies apart?
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!
