The 2023 Cod Grounds trip was four years in the making. We battled bushfires, a global pandemic and three years of La Nina floods, but finally in June this year, the curse of the Cod Grounds was lifted! Everything about this trip was epic. It can best be described as one of those 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzles that can only be solved if all the pieces line up perfectly, and boy did they line up for us this year!
This year’s Sydney surveys have been a true labour of love, with 43 surveys across 21 sites completed over the last six months thus far, and more to come! The team has been busy, spotting some tropical visitors on transect, as well as observing local changes to urchin abundances and kelp coverage following recent heavy rainfall.
In May 2023, RLS Cofounder Rick Stuart-Smith ventured back to the Seychelles for the first time in over a decade to resurvey twelve sites. A lot had changed since his last visit, having recorded some species that weren't spotted the last time around, as well as noting some visible changes to the coral reefs.
In late April, 2023, the West Australian RLS team hopped on the ferry over to Rottnest Island to conduct surveys amid sunny and calm conditions. This trip proved to be a jackpot for nudibranch lovers, and the team also enjoyed a rainbow procession of tropical wrasses and parrotfishes.
In early April, 2023, RLS divers returned to Geographe Bay Marine Park to complete 12 surveys in total across 6 sites. Some of the RLS sites lie within the Geographe Marine Park, managed by Parks Australia. Located in the south-west corner of Western Australia, Geographe Bay is home to a range of rarely-seen species, including the western blue devil and yellowspotted boarfish.
