Short film: Sunshine Coast’s first marine biodiversity assessment

We were thrilled to be invited by the folks at the Noosa Integrated Catchment Association (NICA) to participate in the first marine biodiversity assessment of the Sunshine Coast’s near shore reefs—our local waters. We filmed the survey, provided some extra species records, and made a video presentation at the public forum that followed the study. It was a great experience to work with these scientists. Here’s the short documentary we produced…

The scientists—lead by Lyndon DeVantier (the coral guy) and David Williamson (the fish guy)—performed 45-minute swims and recorded every species they saw. They logged the size and numbers of commercial species. They also noted a variety of coral health stats such as percentage cover, live coral versus dead coral, and any presence of predators or disease. Dave towed a surface GPS (strapped to a floating boogie board); it recorded the route and distance covered so that the survey can be repeated at a later date, and any changes can be accurately compared.

—Josh

You may also be interested in:

• The project’s summary of findings
• The Coolum News article “Marine scientists find new mollusc“
• The Brisbane Times article “Diamonds in the rough: Coast coral reefs get clean bill of health“; this story also appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, and in Melbourne’s The Age
• Josh on the telly: The local TV news did a story on the research
• Our ongoing Noosa Underwater Biodiversity Assessment (NUBA) project