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Dear Ocean Guardians and the Social Justice Advocates,

We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for your generous support of the Reef Life Survey (RLS) program on the Sapphire Coast. Your contributions — totalling approximately $6,000 to date — have made an extraordinary difference to our ability to train new divers, build local capacity, and strengthen long‑term monitoring of our region’s marine ecosystems.

Thanks to your funding, we are delighted to confirm that the Sapphire Coast RLS training course ran from Friday 21st to Monday 24th November 2025. This opportunity simply would not exist without your commitment to community‑driven environmental stewardship. Your support has also ensured that there are funds available to run an additional Reef Life Survey Training course, and we are excited by the possibility of offering training in April 2026 for more local divers who are eager to join the program.

Over the past few months, our volunteer group has been steadily building their fish‑identification skills through regular weekly meet‑ups, where they worked through online quizzes together and shared their growing underwater knowledge. Several participants also took part in a trial dive at Merimbula Wharf, offering newcomers a firsthand look at RLS survey methods and helping them decide whether the program was the right fit.

Because trainee spaces for this course were limited, the final selection was based on availability and relative experience. Those who joined the training committed fully — completing two dives per day, each averaging around an hour underwater, followed by several hours of data logging and review. The team pushed through challenging weather, long days, and a steep learning curve, and the experience has been incredibly rewarding for everyone involved. The effort paid off in remarkable ways: over all surveys, one diver recorded more than 3,800 bony fishes and elasmobranchs, along with an additional 1,600 invertebrates, representing 77 species. With the most common species being Silver Sweep (Scorpis lineolata, 875 individuals), Tent Shells (Astralium tentoriiforme, 868 individuals), Long Spine Urchins (Centrostephanus rodgersii, 583 individuals), and Eastern Hula Fish (Trachinops taeniatus, 538 individuals). At the other end of the spectrum, 50 species were recorded three times or fewer — a reminder of both the diversity and the subtlety of our local reef communities. Similar numbers were estimated across the group, highlighting both the richness of our local reefs and the dedication of the divers collecting this data.

The enthusiasm, resilience, and commitment shown throughout this process are a direct reflection of the opportunities your funding has made possible. Now that their training is complete, the participants are thrilled to be joining the Reef Life Survey volunteer network and contributing to this important work.

As you know, Reef Life Survey is a global citizen‑science initiative that relies on trained volunteer divers to collect high‑quality ecological data. The techniques we use are based on more than 30 years of research into shallow‑reef biodiversity. During surveys, divers swim along standardised 50‑metre transects, recording all fish and invertebrate species encountered using waterproof slates and pencils. Photographs are also taken to document the cover of seaweeds, corals, and other benthic organisms. Because these methods are applied consistently across all RLS sites worldwide, the data collected here on the Sapphire Coast can be directly compared with reefs across Australia and internationally — providing a powerful tool for understanding change in our oceans.

Your support has enabled us not only to train new divers in these techniques, but also to begin building a robust Sapphire Coast dataset that will contribute to national and global reef monitoring efforts. This is an achievement we are deeply proud of, and one that would not have been possible without your belief in the value of community‑led science.

On behalf of the participants — Jayde, William, Matthew, Jen and Todd — and the volunteer trainers — Toni, Nick, Cayne and Sham — we want to thank you sincerely for investing in this work. Your generosity has strengthened our community, empowered local divers, and helped ensure that the health of our reefs is documented and protected for years to come.

We look forward to sharing future progress with you and to continuing this important partnership.

With gratitude, The Sapphire Coast Reef Life Survey Training Team

Image 1: Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus). Three were recorded during the survey dives. Image: Jayde Rankin

Image 2: Long Spine Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) barrens featured at many of the survey sites, but thankfully not all.

Image 3: Reef Life Survey Volunteers on a rainy training day – Matthew Durban, William Marshall-Grey, Todd Sowers, Nick Yee, Toni Cooper, Jen Thompson, Jayde Rankin (not pictured, Cayne Layton, Shamaram Eichmann).