Ferries shuttling commuters from Harbour-side suburbs, white sails and multi-coloured spinnakers of week-end yachts, container vessels and ship of war are a familiar sight to all. However, within Sydney Harbour and along it’s adjacent shores there is an abundance of life and activity below the surface of which most are unaware. Forest of kelp wave their golden fronds, a seahorse clings by its tail to sea grass and dense shoals of fish shimmer in the dancing light rays of the sun.

Groper

BLUE GROPER (Achoerodus viridis)

Sydney Harbour is regarded as one of the most beautiful waterways in the world. It is used for recreation, transport and also unfortunately as a garbage dump.
A meeting point for the tropical currents sweeping south from the Coral Sea with the cooler waters of Southern Australia, the Sydney area is a mix of subtropical and temperate marine species. During the summer months the larvae and juveniles of certain tropical organisms settle here, and by April it is not unusual to come across colourful butterflyfish or even a banded coral shrimp living amoungst the kelp or around pier pylons. Few of these tropical visitors survive the cooler winter seawater temperatures.
As the nightlights of Sydney Harbour reflect upon the water’s surface, life stirs below. Octopus, cuttlefish and squid. Alien creatures with green blood, three hearts, tentacles and the ability to change colour in the blink of an eye, move through the darkness in search of food.
In the last fifty years there has been a marked decline in the diversity of our local marine environment. For example, every year millions of litres of oil pour into Sydney’s waterways, not the result of some massive oil spill but rather people pouring domestic oils down sinks and drains. The future is up to us. If we are to maintain and restore the diversity and beauty of Sydney’s underwater realm we must reduce the litter, sewage overflow and contaminants in the stormwater pollution entering our waterways.