Seaweek 2017

It's Seaweek again! Seaweek is an entire week (4-10 September 2017) that promotes awareness about the sea and encourages appreciation of the marine environment. This year’s theme is ‘the ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of the earth’.

This year we are focusing on the Eyre Peninsula’s marine environment. Get to know Eyre Peninsula’s ocean by visiting the pop-up Marine Discovery Centre at the Port Lincoln library.

Six other things to do on Eyre Peninsula during Seaweek:

• Go whale watching at Head of Bight with about 80 pairs of mums and babies this year!

• Swim with sea lions.

• Comb the beach for interesting plants and animals in our marine parks with our beachcombing guide.

• Experience shark cage diving or book a spot for your next trip.

• Try the 10 best seafood experiences on Eyre Peninsula.

• Post your favourite coast or marine photo from Eyre Peninsula on social media with the hashtags #seaweek2017, #samarineparks, and #EyrePeninsula.

Fast-facts about Eyre Peninsula’s marine environment:

• The Eyre Peninsula has six marine parks. These include Thorny Passage, West Coast Bays, Investigator, Sir Joseph Banks Group, Neptune Islands Group and Gambier Islands Group.

• Thorny Passage Marine Park is in an area known for having some of the strongest currents in SA (sometimes known as tidal races), which is perhaps why the passage is called ‘Thorny’.

• Neptune Islands Group (Ron and Valerie Taylor) Marine Park is the only place in Australia where you can go shark cage diving.

• Pearson Island in Investigator Marine Park is considered a ‘jewel in the crown’ in the marine parks network. It has been compared many times to the Galapagos Islands.

• One of our favourite animals is the western blue groper, found in reef areas around the West Coast. A great favourite with divers, it can reach 1.7m and weigh up to 40kg and will live in the same small area for many years.

More information:

• Information on Seaweek from the Australian Association for Environmental Education.
• The marine parks science team is monitoring our parks through diving, underwater videos and mapping. View the Marine Parks Progress Summary 2012-2016 for more information.
• Learn more about how the ocean is the defining feature of our planet.