Sydney Coast - home of Underwater Earth

For over 15 years Underwater Earth has been revealing the magic of the world’s ocean to millions of people globally placing our 360-degree immersive content in such platforms as Google Street View, but many may not appreciate all our work started back in 2010 in our home coastal waters of Sydney where early prototype SV camera system testing and, later, Sydney coastal and harbour surveys took place. Since then our Sydney work has extended to partnering with the Ocean Lovers Festival and Mission Blue teams, helping to secure Sydney Coast as a Hope Spot and supporting the Ocean Lovers Festival as Charity Partner. More detail lies beneath.

Sydney Coast Marine Bioblitz - 2025

March 1 - 31, 2025 within the Sydney Coast Hope Spot

Taking place over the month of March, the Sydney Coast Hope Spot Marine Bioblitz is an exciting new community event brought to you by Sydney Coast Hope Spot Champions from the Ocean Lovers Festival and Underwater Earth.​

​This annual event is designed to celebrate the marine biodiversity of the Sydney Coast Hope Spot region whilst supporting marine education and science initiatives. 

Whether you're a seasoned marine biologist or just a curious citizen scientist, we need as many ocean lovers as possible, during the month of March 2025, to participate in this initiative, observing and collecting important biodiversity data of local marine species above, on and below the water.

​It is a month-long period of biological surveying that aims to record as many living species observations as possible within the region.​ Find and photograph marine animal and plant species in the area of your choice, from inter-tidal zones, rock pools, estuaries and open ocean and then upload them to iNaturalist.  It's as simple as that. Happy snapping!

Where should I take my marine bioblitz photos?

The Marine Bioblitz is taking place within the Sydney Coast Hope Spot, (see map here) which is the coastal region from Newcastle south to Wollongong, including Sydney Harbour, also known as the Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion.

Your biological survey can be done anywhere in the region, at any time, as often or as as little as you like. Obviously we would prefer lots! The survey location is your choice; above, on and/or below the water, along beaches in the inter-tidal zones, rock pools, estuaries, near shore and open ocean. Simply photo​photograph as many different animal and plant marine species as possible and record them onto the designated iNaturalist project page.

SETTING YOURSELF UP

SIMPLE STEPS TO FOLLOW:

1. Download the iNaturalist app or access via your laptop

2. Create your account

3. Join the Sydney Coast Hope Spot Marine BioBlitz iNaturalist Project page (join button is top right)

4. Decide if you want to do your surveying alone, with your family or friends, your school class or if you want to create your own local Marine Bioblitz group, making your data open-source so it feeds into ours.

5. Find animals and plants in marine and coastal habitats, take photos of your sightings and upload to iNaturalist.

Every observation you supply can contribute to biodiversity science.  iNaturalist shares your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe and record.​

Post the event, with the support of scientists, we will produce and publish a summary of the Marine Bioblitz - and in 2026, and annually thereafter, repeat the Marine Bioblitz so we are continually adding to our data set.

Many thanks for the Sydney Coast Hope Spot photographic contributors whose images are showcased above: Christophe Bailhache, Leonard Clifford, Vanessa Torres Macho, Grumpy Turtle, Talia Greis, Brett Lowein, Gergo Rugli, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer and Matty Smith.

Ocean Lovers Festival - 2019-2025

Underwater Earth has been the Charity Partner of the Ocean Lovers Festival since it’s inception in 2019.

The Festival is Australia’s LARGEST cultural and science celebration for the OCEAN, born in Bondi and expanding to a Sydney-wide Festival across March in 2025.

The Festival is an annual celebration of Ideas, Art+Music and Actions, showcasing some of the latest innovations, science, state-of-the-art technology and cool ideas for helping the ocean. Visitors are inspired and entertained with art, music, food, talks, stalls, workshops allowing them to take a deeper dive of discovery into their blue backyard to immerse, and explore Sydney’s wonderous blue harbour heart, waterways and coast.

The iconic Bondi Festival sits at the heart of Ocean Lovers Sydney and will be held on March 22 & 23 in 2025.​

Sydney Coast - a Mission Blue Hope Spot - 2019

In April 2019, to align with the inaugural Ocean Lovers Festival at Bondi Beach, Sydney Coast was declared a new Mission Blue Hope Spot.

Championed by Anita Kolni and Carolyn Grant (founders of the Ocean Lovers Festival) and Lorna Parry (co-founder of Underwater Earth), this recognition firmly puts Sydney’s cherished coastline onto the international stage.

The Hope Spot announcement was held at the iconic Icebergs Club, Australia's oldest swimming club and the Icebergs tidal pool featured a crayweed installation in recognition of the Operation Crayweed restoration project underway at the Hope Spot.

Operation Crayweed goes Virtual - 2019

Crayweed is a seaweed that was once dominant in the waters off the coast of Sydney that form dense underwater forests that support the area’s diverse marine ecosystem. Mission Blue founder Dr. Sylvia Earle believes that understanding plants is the first step to understanding any ecosystem – she has conducted considerable research in marine botany, and completed her dissertation Phaeophyta of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico in 1969 in which she collected and studied more than 20,000 samples of algae. Dr. Earle’s mission is to ignite public support in protecting the Earth’s waters through a network of marine protected areas, also called Hope Spots, with the idea that when the life in the ocean is healthy, it ensures that the life on land can enjoy a healthy existence, as well.

SIMS Collaboration - 2014

In March 2014, as part of our XL Catlin Seaview Survey global initiative, we partnered with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science to carry out a temperate scientific survey of the world-famous Sydney harbour and surrounding coastline, creating a scientific baseline record of the marine environment that can be used to accurately monitor change over time.

Why is the Sydney Coast so special?

A dive into Sydney's striking blue waters will reveal more than 600 species of vibrantly coloured fish including the weedy seadragon and the Eastern blue devilfish – magnificent species found nowhere else in the world. Sydney is also on the humpback and Southern right whale migration routes with historic Southern right whale calving grounds in Sydney Harbour. The Sydney Harbour is also home to the last mainland colony of little penguins on the New South Wales coast, who only grow to 33cm and are the smallest penguins on Earth!

Unfortunately, the area has suffered under mounting pressure from pollution, overdevelopment on the coast, the increasing human population and negative effects of climate change including rising sea temperatures. Plastic pollution is choking the waterways and harming the wildlife. In 2017, coral bleaching reached Sydney Harbour for the first time. With so much at stake and less than 1% of Sydney’s blue backyard currently protected, it is our privilege and duty to protect the coast for both the marine life and future generations who reside here. The Sydney Coast Hope Spot is an investment into the future that can ensure we pass a healthy legacy on to the next generation. The solution includes reducing our carbon footprint, rejecting single use plastic and promoting responsible development policy in Sydney.

Sydney’s coastal waters are the pride and joy of the region and perhaps one of the continent’s greatest assets with more than 13 million visitors flocking to its beaches every year to enjoy its glowing sun and inspiring marine life. The treasures of the Sydney coast need to be preserved, and with the public’s involvement and support we can ensure a healthy future for Sydney’s marine ecosystem and of the rest of the world’s oceans, as well.

Image attribution from top left to bottom right: Brett Lobwein, Gergo Rugli, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Leonard Clifford, Talia Greis, Vanessa Torres Macho, Brett Lobwein, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Talia Greis, Talia Greis, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Vanessa Torres Macho, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Vanessa Torres Macho, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer.

“I have a particular fondness of the waters around the Sydney coast. The waters around Australia have treasures that are special, but they’re at risk. Not because people are trying to lose them or trying to harm them, but because of the pressure that comes from our activities that are spilling over into the ocean – what we’re putting into the sea and taking out of it. Going back to the time of the 1970s when we really didn’t know that it mattered; we had an idea that the ocean would always recover no matter what. But now we know and we have the evidence. Now you have a special role. You know why the ocean matters and you know that you have the power to do something to protect what remains and to restore what we can of what has been damaged.” Her Deepness, Dr Sylvia Earle.

For further information regarding the Sydney Coast region, look to our multiple resources including the Sydney Coast Hope Spot website, Underwater Sydney website and Underwater Sydney Facebook Page.