Are you interested in sea slugs, macro photography and/or citizen science? Participate in the Gold Coast Sea Slug Census!

"The Gold Coast Sea Slug Census is a photographic contest with a touch of science along the way. Divers in buddy pairs are asked to take a photo of every sea slug found on their dive and to note the approximate size, depth and site information. All divers who provide photos and notes are then eligible for prizes." 

The plan

Weather permitting, the plan is to do a double-dive at Cook Island to look for sea slugs and take the Team Challenge: "Each dive team (diving together at all times) should send in one photo for each species of sea slug they encounter on the Census dates."

The cost will be around $120-$130. The dive day will start around 8.30 am at the Unidive shed to drive to Tweed Seasport dive shop and dive from 11.30 am (time TBC closer to the date).

We will meet at the shed on Thu 4th October at 6.15pm for a trip briefing. 

We will be a group of 8 Unidive divers.

If you miss out, don't worry: just find a willing boat handler or a charter boat and organise a trip to go another day! 

Important points

• If you plan to look for the friendly turtles that make Cook Island famous and explore a large part of this reef, this is not the trip for you. This trip is all about finding sea slugs, which often means a slow dive scanning a small area to spot them.
• We will be diving from 5m to max 18m deep, so the trip is technically open for Open Water divers. However, we need confident divers with experience as a good buoyancy control is necessary to spot and photograph sea slugs without damaging the environment.
• You can join the trip even if you don't have a camera, but you will need good eyes to spot the sea slugs so your buddy can photograph them! It's not easy: sea slugs can be just a few millimetres in length and can be found in a variety of colours and shapes. This website shows photos of many species of nudibranchs found in the Gold Coast area. And if we're lucky, we may even find a new one! 
• This trip is organised by volunteers, and each team member is expected to assist with the day's operation.  

• Gear hire is the responsibility of each individual diver;  except for weights and tanks which will be provided by the charter boat.

• All divers must sign a form to enter the Sea Slug Census event - the form will be provided by email and must be returned to the trip organiser by the 3rd October

• All divers must sign the waiver from the charter boat - the form will be provided by email and must be returned to the trip organiser at the trip meeting

If you have any questions regarding this trip, please email Eloise at mii.eloise@gmail.com

Why sea slugs?

"The short life cycles of the sea slugs (up to a year) makes them ideal to track changing environmental conditions and to monitor human-induced changes – including climate change."

Plus, with their vivid colours, intriguing patterns and slow movement, nudibranchs are fun to photograph!