Save Our Sanctuaries

In June our marine parks team celebrated Sydney Sanctuaries.

AMCS co-hosted a Celebration for Sanctuaries with Friends of Bongin Bongin at Mona Vale, Sydney, in recognition of the group’s work to muster support for a local marine sanctuary
proposal.

Bongin Bongin is a much loved area for swimmers and surfers who highly value its rich marine life, including blue gropers, dolphins, sharks, octopus, cuttlefish and the occasional sea turtle and penguin.

The event was addressed by ocean legend Valerie Taylor, who shared her story as a former spearfisher and diver who has witnessed the plummeting of fish stocks along the NSW coastline.

The event celebrated the group’s efforts, as it only formed in February, with swimmer groups coming together to protect their precious blue backyard. Extraordinarily, in just 16 weeks, a petition for protecting Bongin Bongin amassed over 6,000 signatures!

The value of small, well protected marine sanctuaries is critical, as seen from recent scientific research on the long established Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic reserve just down the coast. Bongin Bongin is an excellent candidate for sanctuary protection and would form part of an essential connected string of sanctuaries along the region’s coastline.