Dear Friend of RCA - 

With Winter now in full swing, and restrictions gradually beginning to reduce, we are starting to see more people out and able to enjoy our beautiful natural habitats, and that includes the oceans. Our volunteers have been busy online, and out surveying the nearby reefs to keep us all updated.

Here's what is coming up in this months edition of 'Around the Reef'.

• Action of the Month: Donating to Reef Check Australia
• Telling the stories of Reef Check Australia
• My Giving Circle
• National Volunteer Week
• Getting to know our volunteers
• News from the Field
• Current Coral Affairs
• Get With the Program

Reef Check Australia really appreciates all the donations of both time and money to support our team and the work we do. With only a few more weeks left till the end of the financial year your support is more important then ever. If you would like to donate, please use the link below to go to our secure website. Remember all donations over $2 are tax-deductible, and you can choose to donate as a once-off amount or through regular monthly donations.

Are you collecting bottles and cans around your house ready to be recycled? Well another way to help is to have the refund donated to Reef Check Australia. All you need to do is scan the below barcode at the machine at your local TOMRA recycling centre.

Find my local TOMRA Recycling Centre

Telling the Stories of Reef Check Australia

Over the past couple of months, RCA has been working with students from ANU in Canberra, to help showcase the amazing array of volunteers that make up our organisation. We will be sharing these videos and stories with you in the coming weeks, but we also wanted to share the story of the students that put them together. It's going to take all hands on deck to change the world, and we want to celebrate everyone.

Paris, from ANU Canberra shared her experience with us here...

'As part of a science communication course at ANU in Canberra, we were given the opportunity to work with an incredible citizen science organisation – Reef Check Australia (RCA). We were tasked with developing social media content (short videos, photos and blogs) in celebration of the citizen scientists and volunteers that work for RCA. We wanted to showcase the diversity in the academic and professional backgrounds of the volunteers, as well as their ability to help protect the reef from locations around Australia (and the world!). The whole experience for us was invaluable, and we hope that the content we produced will encourage others that they have the power to get involved and make a difference. Thank you again for this opportunity, we hope to see you out on the reefs one day!'

You can take a look at one of the videos here...

We Need Your Vote! My Giving Circle

Thank you to all who have already voted and shared. We still need your votes. You can go online and vote once a week till June 30.

Reef Check Australia are one of the thousands of charities around the world that are registered for My Giving Circle for 2020. If we get enough votes between now and June 30, we are able to share in $200,000 worth of grant money.

Keen to see us win? All you need to do is vote for Reef check Australia #1 once a week, between now and June 30. Want to do even more to get across the line? Donate to Reef Check Australia through the My Giving Circle link and we will get even more votes, increasing our chances of winning!

Celebrating our Volunteers : National Volunteer Week 2020 (& Every Week!)

In May we celebrated National Volunteer Week. We LOVE our volunteers, and although we couldn't all get together, we thought it might be a nice time to celebrate just what being a volunteer means. Our volunteers come from all over the world and are involved in everything both above and below the water. Because it's going to take all hands on deck to protect our reefs and oceans. This video shows just some of the diverse range of volunteers we have at RCA, take a look...

Getting to Know our Volunteers at Reef Check Australia

Here at RCA we are all about our volunteers as they are the backbone to what we are all about. So we wanted to introduce you to some of these wonderful humans and find out what makes them tick, by asking a few questions.

This month we have been chatting to Olga, who has been actively out and about in her neighborhood collecting recyclable cans and bottles to be donated to RCA.

''Moin Leute! (Hi guys, in German)

My name is Olga, an international student from Germany. I joined RCA at the beginning of my stay here in Australia because I love the idea of citizen science and saving the reef. You can help keep the oceans and reef clean even if you think you don't have any direct impact. Recycling is one of these things you can do easily, and make a difference to the reef, and to Reef Check Australia.

You can join us in 'Recycling for the Reef'. Simply use the bar code below, and take your cans and bottles to your local TOMRA recycling centre, and the refunds will be donated to Reef Check Australia. Easy!''

We also asked Olga a few interesting questions.....

1. Name: Olga
2. Where are you from?: Germany
3. What is the project you are working on/ hope to start for RCA? 'Recycling for the Reef' and 'Plasticfree Markets'
4. What animal do you think best represents you? Cat
5. Are you a night owl, or an early bird? Night Owl
6. Would your superpower be Flying or invisibility? Flying
7. What is your favorite food? Chili cheese fries
8. What is you favorite marine animal? Crabs

Thanks Olga for being an important part of Reef Check Australia.

Moreton Bay

After weeks of bad weather and COVID considerations, we were finally blessed with crystal clear waters, blue skies and written confirmation from the Queensland Government that we were allowed to get back in the water to continue our vital Reef Health Monitoring.

Mud Island is an interesting site. With large areas accumulating silt, most wouldn't think twice of avoiding this small island area. However, it was a beautiful example of how diverse the coral populations can be, in such close proximity to a bustling city. There was so much coral, it was beautiful to see. The water was a little cold, but such a lovely way to kick off surveys in the region.

This Reef Check Australia project is proudly supported by the Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd

North Queensland

Fitzroy Island Showing Signs of Continued Reef Health.

The Reef Check Australia team headed to Fitzroy Island and found time to complete a reef health survey at one of the sites on the north western side of the island. The site has been surveyed 3 times over the past 13 months and continues to show strong signs of continued health. Hard coral cover has increased from 31% to 49% in that time highlighting reef growth since substantial declines were recorded after the 2017 bleaching. Bleaching this year was evident, but most of the coral the team saw during our survey was healthy. Where bleaching was still evident, the corals were in recovery and look like they will continue that way throughout 2020. Other notable observations included low levels of algal growth and no recently dead coral. We were also lucky to spot a turtle relaxing amongst the corals toward the end of our survey.

Low Isles in the Port Douglas region of the Great Barrier Reef is truly spectacular. On a cool winters day in the shadow of Covid19 the scene was quiet, however the reefs are looking spectacular demonstrating strong recovery from the bleaching that severely affected it three years ago. There were minimal signs of bleaching impacts in 2020 however. Thank you to Wavelength Reef Cruises for hosting us out on the reef and assisting us in completing our work.

Reef Check Australia were on site as part of the Tangaroa Blue ReefClean event. We conducted an underwater clean up at the site and thankfully found very little rubbish. A few masks and snorkels under where the tourist boats would normally park but generally pretty clean. I can’t help but wonder if the lack of tourists currently on site had an affect on the low level of rubbish we found.

The Reefclean project is funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust, and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation, and a number of partner organisations

including Reef Check Australia

Want to see what we get up to on our Reef Surveys?

A few of our Reef Check Australia Surveyors have put together a video of what they actually get up to on a typical survey. Take a look....

Watch an inspirational take on the state of our oceans and an effective way to get the message across by Johannes Stoetter.

Read More

Scientists push to raise awareness of the Great Southern Reef. Finding a way to protect this 'biodiversity hotspot'.

Read More

 Woolworth's to add a paper bag option at checkout. Will this be an effective way to reduce the ever increasing problem of plastic waste?

Read More

• Tuesday, 9 June 2020: Coast to Coral: Light Pollution and the Environment   
• June 2020, date TBC: We have another Tangaroa Blue Reef Cleanup happening at Magnetic Island. We have not set a date yet for this event but are currently watching the weather so that we can make the most of it. If you would like to join us, please get in touch with [email protected] or [email protected] so we can keep you in the loop!
• Tuesday, 14 July 2020: Coast to Coral: The Wonderful World of Crabs and their Diversity

Thanks for reading! If you want to help our work to empower more people to protect Australian reefs, please consider making a monthly tax-deductible donation. 

Copyright © 2020 Reef Check Australia, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:

Reef Check Australia
1/377 Montague Rd
West End, QLD 4101
Australia