Sea Slug Census: March/April 2022
Welcome to our 6th Sea Slug Census which will run from March 26th to April 30th, from Green Cape to Kiama
During March and April we encourage everyone to get down to the coast and hunt for sea slugs. It’s a great time of year when the waters are warm and the most Sea Slugs are to be seen (weather permitting). Any images and sightings you make will contribute to our efforts to record as much of our coastal biodiversity as we can.
There are many places you can hunt for sea slugs – in shallow estuaries, lagoons, rock pools and in the sea from very close to the surface down to many metres. The Sea Slug Census is for coastal walkers, snorkelers and divers and we want you to share all your sightings with us to help build our database.
On our Atlas of Life website in the Sea Slug Census section you can see the pictures of the species of Sea Slugs that we found last year. You can also look at all the sightings we have recorded so far on and where they were found. You can see all the Sea Slugs we have found in our region in our database - here is our Nudibranch page in iNaturalist to help you identify what you find. Register and add your sightings to iNaturalist, or send your images to us and we will add them for you.
You can help with the Sea Slug hunt. Here is the calendar with lots of guided activities during along the coast in March and April. Watch out for details of different activities, details, what you need to know and how to book your places. We hope you will also explore the coast yourselves and at the end of the informationis a list of some good places to search, which you can add to.
Contact us if you have any questions, need any help recording what you see or if you have any suggestions. Good hunting!
Libby Hepburn, 0458 798 990, libby@atlasoflife.org.au
South Coast Sea Slug Census – guided activities
Where to look
Possible locations and activities for your individual Sea Slug Census searches
Please let us know if you know of any good sites for Sea Slugs
|
Possible location |
Activity |
|
Spencer park to Bar Beach |
estuary walk |
|
Merimbula Wharf |
snorkel/dive |
|
Bar Beach (Merimbula) |
snorkel/dive |
|
Merimbula Lake entrance |
snorkel |
|
Short Point (Tura Beach) |
snorkel/dive |
|
Turingal Head (near Wallagoot Lake) |
snorkel/dive |
|
Lagoons/Lakes - Bournda, Wallagoot, Tanja, |
walk/snorkel |
|
Eden Shelly Beach and Cannery |
rock pools/snorkel/dive |
|
Edrom (from the Navy wharf to Fisheries Beach) |
snorkel/dive |
|
Quarantine Bay (Twofold Bay) |
rocky shore ramble/snorkel |
|
Lennards Island (on the way to Eden from Pambula) |
rocky shore ramble/snorkel/dive |
|
Bermagui Blue Pool |
snorkel/swim |
|
Camel Rocks (near Bermagui) |
rocky shore ramble |
|
Narooma Wharf |
walk/snorkel? Careful of strong tide flow all round Narooma sites |
|
Narooma Australia Rock |
Rocky shore ramble |
|
Mill Bay Boardwalk |
Rocky shore ramble/snorkel |
For useful information see these pages from the Nature Coast Marine Group website: NCMG Snorkeling Guide and Snorkelling the Batemans Marine Park
If you are an estuary or rocky shore searcher, you will want to time your search around low tides to see the maximum. Here is a link to tide tables along our coast: Tide times South Coast: https://tides.willyweather.com.au/nsw/south-coast.html
Whatever you do, please take care, and observe all usual safety precautions and be aware of the tides and wave conditions if you are searching in rockpools or snorkelling or diving.
Photos in iNaturalist database by: blackwaratah, Brieze, Nickoshaw, MicRo, alphaj16. Thanks for sharing.
We are especially keen to see sightings from around the Wharves this year as the Atlas and friends have two projects underway at Tathra and Merimbula Wharf. Be very careful when snorkelling or diving around wharves and make sure to keep well out of the way of boats and ropes.
