Clifton Gardens / Chowder Bay, Sydney
5 February, 2021
- Team Leader
- Brigit Jager
- Number of Participants
- 8
- Total Debris Collected
- 2.5 kgs (measured)
-33.839584, 151.253121
Survey Information
- Location Name
- Clifton Gardens / Chowder Bay, Sydney
- Organization/Dive Centre
- Women of Water - Diving & Marine Conservation in Sydney
- City
- Sydney
- Country
- Australia
- Date
- 5 February, 2021
- Survey Duration
- 65 Minutes
- GPS Coordinates
- Latitude: -33.839584
Longitude: 151.253121
- Weather Conditions
-
Fine, windy
- Survey Depth Range
- 3–8 meters
- Area Surveyed
- 250 m2
- Dominant Substrate
- seagrass
- Ecosystem
- seagrass
- Wave Conditions
- Smooth (wavelets) for waves 0.1 - 0.5 meter high
Survey Photos
Debris Items Collected
| plastic materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Bags: Trash (plastic) | 15 |
| Bait Containers, Packaging | 5 |
| Beverage Bottles: Less Than 2 Litres (plastic) | 1 |
| Cigarette Lighters | 1 |
| Containers: Fast Food, Lunch Boxes & Similar | 1 |
| Fishing: Line | 80 |
| Fishing: Lures, Rods/poles | 9 |
| Food Wrappers (plastic) | 12 |
| Gloves (latex) | 1 |
| Plastic Fragments | 15 |
| Cigarette Filters | 1 |
| Strapping Bands (plastic) | 5 |
| metal materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Beverage Cans (aluminium) | 2 |
| Caps & Lids (metal) | 2 |
| Pull Tabs-beverages | 1 |
| Metal Fragments | 2 |
| Fishing: Sinkers, Lures, Hooks | 168 |
| rubber materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Rubber Bands | 7 |
| Rubber Fragments | 5 |
| wood materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Wood Fragments | 2 |
| cloth materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Rope And String (cloth) | 3 |
| Towels/rags | 3 |
| Cloth Fragments | 2 |
| mixed materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Clothing | 3 |
| Toys | 1 |
| other materials collected | |
|---|---|
| Covid-19 face mask | 1 |
Additional Information
Australia Day public holiday on 26 Jan (see linked article) saw huge crowds of fishermen and families: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9186509/Thousands-flock-PACKED-beaches-Sydney-Australia-Day-celebrations-sun.html
fishing burley traps
fishing lines
fishing lures, hooks & traps
plastic bait bags
Comments and Feedback
This dive focused on recovery of fishing debris that threatens delicate marine life on and around the jetty pylons, incl. endangered white and pot belly sea horses unique to Sydney waters. Mission accomplished! The # of reported fishing lines (80) is estimated; there were countless metres of them, long lines and pieces (total weighed about 0.5kg), many so entangled that it was too hard to count individual lines or measure the total length. Quick breakdown of the metal fishing items: 2 large lures w/hooks, 2 squid jigs, 47 sinkers, 68 hooks, 51 swivels. Plus 8 plastic lures and 1 plastic floater. With thanks to the organisers of this pilot event: Sue Liu (initiator & campaign lead), Sylvi Soe (videographer), Jayne Jenkins (photographer, credit for u/w images enclosed), Deborah Dickson-Smith (writer, credit for article linked below) and Brigit Jager (AWARE Dive Against Debris team leader) and all participating members of the group 'Women of Water - Diving and Marine Conservation in Sydney'.
We formed a new FB group @FriendsofChowderBay - join us to see posts. We intend to adopt this dive site to help protect its unique delicate marine life - ref. this article: https://www.scubadivermag.com.au/chowder-bay-conservation-initiative/
