CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH MARINE CONSERVATION
PROTECTING VICTORIA'S MARINE BIODIVERSITY
Project: SEA-SENSE
CONSERVATION SURVEY LEADERS
Project Sea-Sense builds the people, skills and baseline data needed for smarter marine conservation.
Through a structured Survey Leader program, Aquaholics trains community members to plan and lead repeatable biodiversity surveys at under-monitored nearshore and pier-adjacent sites in Port Phillip Bay & Westernport.
These low-impact surveys help document local marine life, habitat condition and ecological change over time, creating evidence that can inform future restoration, debris reduction, pest management and stewardship projects.
This project is currently unfunded, though grant applications have been submitted. We welcome recommendations or expressions of interest for funding to help keep it going & growing!
Partnerships for the project include:
Aquatic Adventures, who provide the Instructors who train our members, plus dive professionals for safety management of these activities, as well as emergency response equipment.
Why it matters
Healthy marine ecosystems cannot be protected effectively if we do not know what is present, what is changing, or which sites need attention. Many nearshore environments are visited often by divers and snorkellers, but their observations are not always captured in a consistent or useful way.
Project Sea-Sense matters because it builds the skills, systems and volunteer base needed for repeatable biodiversity monitoring. By training people to observe, photograph and record marine life more consistently, Aquaholics helps create practical field knowledge that can support conservation planning, citizen science and community awareness.
Who is it for?
-
Scuba Divers
-
Freedivers
-
Snorkellers
-
Photographers
-
Citizen Scientists
Survey Outputs:
-
Species records
-
Habitat observations
-
Photo monitoring
-
Site repeatability
Survey Leaders
Survey Leaders are trained Aquaholics volunteers who help guide biodiversity monitoring activities and support consistent citizen science data collection. They assist divers and snorkellers to observe with purpose, record useful information, photograph marine life responsibly and contribute observations that help build a clearer picture of Victoria’s underwater environments.
Where does the data go?
Data collected through Project Sea-Sense is directed to the most appropriate reporting pathway for the type of observation. General species records and photographs may be submitted to citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist, while structured survey information may be retained by Aquaholics for project reporting, site comparison and long-term monitoring.
Where relevant, observations may also be shared through specialist programs such as ReefWatch, SeadragonSearch, BioCollect, Redmap or official marine pest reporting channels. This helps ensure that the information collected by volunteers is not only useful to Aquaholics, but can also contribute to broader biodiversity knowledge, conservation planning and community science.