Understanding the Reef and waters of Lady Elliot Island
Bioblitz
The team took photos of a variety of marine species to catalogue all the vertebrate biodiversity found in these waters.
This will provide us with a baseline dataset to understand what species are currently found around the island and monitor any shifts that may occur under a changing climate.
Turtle health
To understand the region's turtle population, the team caught and tagged 20 juvenile green turtles and three hawksbills turtles. They took genetic samples from each and carried out health assessments.
Manta rays
Project Manta east coast database and has been seen over 50 times in these waters since his first sighting in 1982. He was already a mature male then, so he is probably at least 50 years old now - making him the oldest recorded manta ray in the world.
