@marineconservation.org.au
Bringing the blue to Bluesky 🌊 We are Australia’s leading national charity dedicated solely to protecting our precious ocean wildlife. 🪸 marineconservation.org.au IG: @marineconservation.au TT: @australianmarinecons
And still @Coles and @Woolies continue to sell farmed Atlantic salmon from Macquarie Harbour.
Skip the salmon, save the skate, and add your name to tell Coles and Woolies extinction is bad for business. www.marineconservation.org.au/actions/maug...
A renewed endangered listing found nothing had changed - not the ‘very high’ risk of extinction, not the catastrophic problem of salmon farming, nor the solution of removing salmon.
Macquarie Harbour became a globally ‘Important Shark and Ray Area’ — global scientific assessment identified it as a critical habitat needing protection.
In the last 3 weeks:
Documents released under Freedom of Information revealed that the federal government ignored scientific evidence, & Australian nature laws were weakened to allow salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour to continue.
Our new video on the harbour:
youtu.be/e_xHl_gYV9I?...
Add your name to tell Coles and Woolies time is up on extinction salmon. www.marineconservation.org.au/actions/maug...
The Australian Government ignored the science, will Coles and Woolies keep their heads in the sand and continue selling farmed Atlantic salmon from Macquarie Harbour?
A coalition of 80+ environmental organisations spent years fighting efforts to gut Australia's national nature laws.
Alexia Wellbelove of @marineconservation.org.au narrates how their sustained, united advocacy achieved historic reforms in this new blog ⤵️
🐨⚖️ Corporate lobbying almost killed reform of Australia's nature laws at the last minute.
Alexia Wellbelove of @marineconservation.org.au discusses how post-election political realignment and sharp teamwork brought it back from the brink ⤵️
It's Clean Up Australia Day!
Our teams in Brisbane & Melbourne have been out on clean ups. We collected thousands of pieces of litter. Most items were plastic, including cigarette butts, balloons, bottles, disposable coffee cups, takeaway food containers, and lots of small fragments.
That's an area more than three times the size of Sydney Harbour!
The NT government is expanding Limmen Bight Marine Park by 185km2, including seagrass meadows where dugongs feed and fish breed. Now they need to hear from you. Please show your support by sharing this post! 🌊🌊
📷 (A)manda Parkinson
NOAA’s satellite data shows parts of Northern GBR experiencing above average sea surface temps and are now on Alert Level 1, which means coral bleaching is expected. Central and southern regions are at lower warning levels but still experiencing low and accumulating heat stress.
Deadly H5N1 bird flu has been detected in gentoo penguins on the remote Australian territory. 💔🐧
🌏 Aus is the last continent that the strain hasn't reached...yet. Concerningly, Heard Island has species that could migrate and spread the virus to mainland Aus.
Take action: https://bit.ly/4amwIWO 👈📝
There is still so much we don’t know about all 331 shark and ray species in Australia. The mapping of these key habitats in Australian waters enables State, Territory and Federal governments to better protect threatened and endangered species before they disappear.
ISRA designations are a global scientific assessment aimed at identifying habitats that are essential for feeding, breeding, migration and nursery grounds for threatened species of sharks and rays.
Australia is a global ‘lifeboat’ for sharks and rays. More than a third of the world’s shark and ray species face extinction, with many having or capable of having healthy numbers in our waters.
Good news thread:
Important shark and ray areas (ISRA’s) have now been identified in Australian waters, amounting to a total area slightly larger than Iceland or 15 million soccer fields!*
*excludes overlapping ‘movement’ ISRAs
The Aus Govt introduced legislation into parliament yesterday that, if passed, will ratify the High Seas Treaty. 🥳🎉
🌊We urge all federal Senators and MPs to support ratification to protect marine life in international waters, including Aus marine life that travels back and forth across our borders.
A new AUSMAP report found average microplastic levels in Sydney waterways have jumped to 1,004 microplastics/m2.
The NSW Govt recently released plans to phase out many single-use plastics and begin supporting some reuse programs. The new results show how much work there still is to do.
The more plastic that gets produced, the more plastic ends up polluting our environment.
🌊 To keep our ocean and beaches healthy, Australian state and federal governments must progress bans on single-use plastics and invest in reuse programs.
The high seas cover international waters beyond any country’s borders.
🗓️The treaty reached 60 ratifying countries last Sept, triggering a 120 day count down to it taking effect. That date was 17 January 2026, meaning the High Seas Treaty is now in force! Australia has signed but not yet ratified.🌏
Artwork: Freeda Roberts, Saltwater Dunghutti artist from South West Rocks.
Our condolences go out to those affected by the recent shark bites in NSW.
Happy holidays from our team 💙
The underwater mountain is about 3,000km tall – that's taller than Mt Kosciuszko! 🌊🗻
The top of the 'collapsed crème caramel' pinnacle is reportedly around 30 metres under the surface. It supports a mesophotic coral reef that was only discovered by CSIRO scientists recently.
📷CSIRO.
🪸🌊🗻 The new reef sits on the pinnacle of an underwater mountain about 930km from the Aus mainland.
The area is in the Coral Sea Marine Park. Add your name to support increased marine sanctuary protection during the upcoming review of Australia's marine park network: https://bit.ly/4qns6VD
📷CSIRO
#BREAKING: The Aus Govt has finally announced an extension to the Ghost Nets Initiative!
The project, run by Parks Australia, supports Indigenous Rangers and supporting organisations to detect and remove ghost nets and other plastic pollution from remote coastlines in north Aus.
📷 by Emily Vines
This is what a normal day looks like in parts Northeast Arnhem Land 💔
⚠️ Yet, Indigenous Rangers across the top end are still left in the lurch about whether or not their clean-up efforts will be funded! The Aust Govt must urgently commit to funding the Ghost Nets Initiative in full.
This week, we joined over 160 civil society organisations calling for strong leadership for the next phase of Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.
Read the full letter: https://www.plasticstreaty.org/inc-chair-cso-letter/ ✉️
Last month, SA announced the marine sanctuary at Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, will now be 20 sq km bigger, protecting breeding & feeding grounds for endangered Aus sea lions. 🦭
Thanks to all the AMCS and TWiS supporters who took action earlier this year to support strong marine sanctuary expansions.
A new report finds global plastic pollution will DOUBLE by 2040 without urgent, transformational action.
But if govts & companies act immediately, plastic pollution can be cut by 83% by 2040. The Aus Govt must deliver promised packaging reform & continue pushing for a strong Global Plastics Treaty.