While the world panics about the Great Barrier Reef, an even larger and more valuable habitat is collapsing under our noses, says The Atlantic. Read how marine heat waves are devastating kelp forests in Australia's Great Southern Reef, including an interview with Redmap founder Gretta Pecl!
Which fish and marine critters made Redmap's Top 3 sightings list in each state? Find out in the Winter 2016 Redmap newsletter. Also in this edition: read about a Redmap scientist, a seaslug lover, and Redmap's most southern sighting!
The redthroat emperor, eastern rock lobster and western blue groper all made it onto Redmap's Top 3 lists. Here is a snapshot of Redmap's community data.
Obsessed diver, sea slug guru, unlucky fisherman (of mainly toadfish): meet marine biologist Dr David Harasti. He verifies many of the community sightings logged on Redmap in NSW. How did this landlubber from Canberra – who spent his youth fishing for carp in lakes – become a marine biologist and underwater photographer?
Check out this beautiful sighting of Pomacanthus semicirculatus (blue angelfish) spotted south of Perth, WA, by diver Alexandra Hoschke. The fish was found much further south than its usual home range.
Sea slug lover, octopus wrestler and shark-shield convert: Naomi Arrowsmith is one interesting diver! And she's recorded some amazing photos on Redmap.org.au
Year 10 student Georgia Poyner from Narooma, NSW, donned a lab coat and wet weather gear for an action-packed week of field and lab experience at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) in Hobart recently. She measured rock lobsters, cut out fish ears and discovered what whale poop looks like.
Say what? Let me translate: how well do scientists communicate their research to the public? Now you can let us know and vote for videos entered in the Australian Society for Fish Biology's Student Science Communication Awards, including three PhD students from IMAS!
THE Great Barrier Reef’s most popular tourist sites show just two per cent of coral has died off, with the rest in “positive” signs of recovery, despite the world’s biggest mass coral bleaching event on record. New research found about 68 per cent of reefs from Cairns to Lizard Island had varying levels of coral bleaching, but most of it likened to sunburn on a human body where the coral glows …
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is asking fishers and spearfishers to help spread the word and consider leaving plant-eating fish on the Great Barrier Reef to help build new coral colonies following the mass coral bleaching event.
