To celebrate world ocean day 2026 we are hosting free snorkelling session on Monday 8th of June. This free community event (click ‘book now’) is a chance to come and appreciate the part of the ocean that lies on our doorstep. Locally we are fortunate to have the Jervis Bay Marine Park and Booderee Marine National Park. These marine protected areas (MPA’s) both provide varying levels of protection for habitat and marine life and have positive spill over effects.
Overall, the protection of habitat and marine organisms through the administration of marine protected areas stands to be one of the most effective methods for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Marine protected areas are a great demonstration of how resilient the ocean can be when we allow natural processes to take place with little or no human intervention.
This years action theme for world oceans day is ‘strong marine protected areas for our blue planet’. This theme aims to sustain pressure on global leaders to deliver their promise of 30% of land, waters and oceans getting protection by the year 2030. The ocean is vital to our climate, livelihoods, biodiversity and remains mostly unexplored. Ensuring this commitment is upheld is just one step in facilitating a better future for our blue planet.
In Australia, we have a extensive coastline that is home to a vast majority of our population. The Australian federal government has established over 60 marine protected areas covering over 3.8 million square kilometres of Australian waters. There are also many marine parks that have been established and are managed by state and territory departments such as the Jervis Bay Marine Park. Together, these marine protected areas cover a significant part of our waters.
Federally managed Marine Protected Areas.
Even with these MPA’s in place we are still yet to achieve a cohesive network along the entire coastline. For instance, there are no MPA’s between Montague Island (east of Narooma) to beyond the Victorian boarder. ‘Filling in’ such gaps in the network would be a hugely beneficial for preserving habitats and biodiversity nationally. In doing so, we would be protecting our own way of life into the future.
Our free snorkelling session will be followed by a voluntary beach clean up at the chosen site. To secure your place use the link below (click book now). If you require equipment you can hire from us for a cost of $20. Part of this hire fee will go to the Great Southern Reef Foundation who we actively support. We will continue running these free events throughout the year. Keep an eye on our socials if you miss out on this occasion.