SeaWeek 2022

SeaWeek is a campaign to focus community awareness, provide information and encourage an appreciation of the sea. The dates are on 5 – 13 March 2022 and this years theme is Our SEArch – what will you discover?. The theme is based on the Ocean Literacy Principle that the Ocean is largely unexplored.

Composite image of the key marine environments; ocean, coral reef and mangroves
Key marine environments; ocean, coral reef and mangroves

I relate to this years theme as I love exploring the coastline and below the oceans waves. There is always so much to discover if you look. I have a range of resources to learn more about our marine world and for your to discover something new this SeaWeek.

FREE On Demand session

My Journey Beneath the Waves takes you and your students on an exploration of the marine environment. The temperate waters around Sydney are home to a variety of habitats including kelp beds and sponge gardens. These are wonderful place to dive and discover the diversity of animals that live there.

I talk about my experiences SCUBA diving and take you on a journey beneath the waves to explore this wonderful world.

Education Resources

Oceans contain the greatest diversity of life on Earth. Habitats range from the freezing polar regions to the warm waters of the coral reefs, deep sea hydrothermal vents to shallow seagrass beds and beautiful sponge gardens to giant kelp forests, marine organisms are found everywhere.

Caring for our Coasts

Australia is home to the over 10,000 beaches and no part of Australia is more than 1,000km from the ocean. Our coasts are impacted by our actions on land. Rubbish and microplastics can be found washed up on almost every Australian beach.

Pollution and rubbish get washed into our rivers and waterways with stormwater runoff and end up on our coasts and oceans. Over 75% of this rubbish is plastic. Plastics in the environment can take hundreds of years to break down, thereby impacting marine species for generations.

The Beach Survey provides a starting point to understand the types of rubbish in the marine environment.

The Beach Clean up can help you work together as a team and community to remove this of rubbish.

I have also create a collection of On Demand videos looking at marine environments and caring for the coast.

SeaWeek gives us a fantastic opportunity to promote educational issues of relevance to the marine environment.

Australian Environmental Education logo with dragonfly

My Sister the Octopus Whisperer

We just finished a lovely SCUBA dive in Chowder Bay in Sydney Harbour and my sister will now forever be known as the Octopus Whisperer. She has always had a great eye for detail when we dive together. However on this dive, even in the murky water she was incredible.

She lead the way on this adventure while I was testing out my new underwater camera. While I was focused on the camera, she was spotting octopus, moray eels, seahorses and more. She found 4 Common Sydney Octopus, Octopus tetricus hiding under rocks in the sand and even one using shells to camouflage.

The Common Sydney Octopus can grow up to 80cms in size, they are big, but very good at hiding. She was definitely the Octopus Whisperer on this dive and I can’t wait to see what she finds on the next dive!

Michelle has been my dive buddy for the last 25 years and we have had some amazing adventures together, I literally trust her with my life! Check out the video of our adventure. The new camera is great and hopefully my camera skills will improve too.

Australian Environmental Education logo with dragonfly