The Gold Coast is famous for being an ocean loving community, but many locals may be unaware of the amazing underwater world lurking off their coastline.
Gold Coast reefs represent a transition between tropical and temperate waters. Sites vary from artificial reefs with a wide variety of fish life to extensive rocky reefs with high numbers of benthic invertebrates.
Our waterways are under growing pressure from a rapidly increasing human presence. Reef face increasing consequences from stressors such as overfishing, marine debris and climate change. And the Gold Coast is a tourist hot spot - meaning human impacts from coastal development and other factors are substantial.
As such, long-term monitoring of these habitats is critical - as is sharing our data and other information with the local community and involving them in coral reef conservation, reef monitoring and management.
