Sydney Coast - home of Underwater Earth

For over 15 years Underwater Earth has been revealing the magic of the world’s ocean to millions of people globally - through film and video, by integrating our 360-degree immersive content in platforms as Google Street View, and extending our education and storytelling to schools, events and other online platforms.

Many may not appreciate all our work started back in 2010 in our home coastal waters of Sydney where early prototype SV camera system testing and, later, Sydney coastal and harbour surveys took place, partnering with Sydney Institute of Marine Science.

Since then, our Sydney work has extended to partnering with the Ocean Lovers Festival and Mission Blue teams, helping to secure Sydney Coast as a Hope Spot, supporting the 30×30 goal to protect NSW’s marine environment by partnering with the NSW Marine Sanctuary Alliance, and delivering the Sydney Coast Marine Bioblitz, an annual community event aligning to the Ocean Lovers Sydney month of March. More detail lies beneath.

Increasing Marine Sanctuary Protection

Underwater Earth’s active involvement with the NSW Marine Sanctuary Alliance

The Sydney Coast (Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion) is a major gap in NSW’s network of marine protected areas. Whilst the bioregion does contain ten small Aquatic Reserves that were established to protect biodiversity, seven of these do not have adequate protection to meet their objectives and the other three, listed below, contribute less than 1,500ha of marine sanctuary.

Marine sanctuaries have been established at: 

• Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve | 18ha | 100% sanctuary

• Towra Point Aquatic Reserve | 1,448ha | 38% sanctuary

• Shiprock Aquatic Reserve | 2ha | 100% sanctuary

The NSW Marine Sanctuary Alliance is a united voice for NSW’s treasured marine environment. The Alliance represents community groups, marine scientists, tour operators, divers, swimmers, snorkelers, fishers and leading NGOs who share a love for the ocean and its inhabitants. It has been formed to lead the way in reversing this worrying trend of cuts to marine protection and to advocate for the increase and expansion of sanctuary zones and aquatic reserves across all bioregions of the NSW marine environment, including Sydney Coast (Hawkesbury Shelf Marine Bioregion).

(All data sourced from here: NSW Marine Sanctuary Alliance)

Sydney Coast Marine Bioblitz

Inaugural event - March 1 - 31, 2025 within the Sydney Coast Hope Spot

Taking place over the month of March each year starting in 2025, the Sydney Coast Hope Spot Marine Bioblitz is an exciting new community event brought to you by Sydney Coast Hope Spot Champions from the Ocean Lovers Festival and Underwater Earth.​ This annual biological surveying event is designed to celebrate the marine biodiversity of the Sydney Coast Hope Spot region whilst supporting marine education and science initiatives. Seasoned marine biologists, ocean lovers and curious citizen scientists are invited to participate, observing and identifying important biodiversity data of local marine species above, on and below the water, using the iNaturalist app.

The 2025 Outcomes Report is now complete. A snapshot (as of 8 April 2025) of the still-growing outputs reveals a terrific benchmark of success reported for the inaugural event.

* 404 ocean lovers participated * 5,802 observations made * 821 marine species found * 343 people identified species

Keen to participate in 2026? It’s simple!

1. Create your own iNaturalist account using the link below

2. Join the Sydney Coast iNaturalist project to receive updates

3. Set your diary for 1 March, 2026 to begin uploading your observations/identifying observations made by others.

Many thanks for the Sydney Coast Hope Spot photographic contributors whose images are showcased above: Christophe Bailhache, Leonard Clifford, Vanessa Torres Macho, Grumpy Turtle, Talia Greis, Brett Lowein, Gergo Rugli, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer and Matty Smith.

Ocean Lovers Festival - 2019-2025 and onwards

Underwater Earth has been the Charity Partner of the Ocean Lovers Festival since it’s inception in 2019.

The Festival is Australia’s LARGEST cultural and science celebration for the OCEAN, born in Bondi and expanding to a Sydney-wide Festival across March in 2025.

The Festival is an annual celebration of Ideas, Art+Music and Actions, showcasing some of the latest innovations, science, state-of-the-art technology and cool ideas for helping the ocean. Visitors are inspired and entertained with art, music, food, talks, stalls, workshops allowing them to take a deeper dive of discovery into their blue backyard to immerse, and explore Sydney’s wonderous blue harbour heart, waterways and coast.

The iconic Bondi Festival sits at the heart of Ocean Lovers Sydney and was held on March 22 & 23 in 2025.​

For the last three years Lorna Parry from the Underwater Earth team has curated the Ocean Lovers Talks Series, a key program of the Ocean Lovers Festival. The 2025 program can be seen here.

Sydney Coast - a Mission Blue Hope Spot - 2019

In April 2019, to align with the inaugural Ocean Lovers Festival at Bondi Beach, Sydney Coast was declared a new Mission Blue Hope Spot.

Championed by Anita Kolni and Carolyn Grant (founders of the Ocean Lovers Festival) and Lorna Parry (co-founder of Underwater Earth), this recognition firmly puts Sydney’s cherished coastline onto the international stage.

The Hope Spot announcement was held at the iconic Icebergs Club, Australia's oldest swimming club and the Icebergs tidal pool featured a crayweed installation in recognition of the Operation Crayweed restoration project underway at the Hope Spot.

Operation Crayweed goes Virtual - 2019

Crayweed is a seaweed that was once dominant in the waters off the coast of Sydney that form dense underwater forests that support the area’s diverse marine ecosystem. Mission Blue founder Dr. Sylvia Earle believes that understanding plants is the first step to understanding any ecosystem – she has conducted considerable research in marine botany, and completed her dissertation Phaeophyta of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico in 1969 in which she collected and studied more than 20,000 samples of algae. Dr. Earle’s mission is to ignite public support in protecting the Earth’s waters through a network of marine protected areas, also called Hope Spots, with the idea that when the life in the ocean is healthy, it ensures that the life on land can enjoy a healthy existence, as well.

SIMS Collaboration - 2014

In March 2014, as part of our XL Catlin Seaview Survey global initiative, we partnered with the Sydney Institute of Marine Science to carry out a temperate scientific survey of the world-famous Sydney harbour and surrounding coastline, creating a scientific baseline record of the marine environment that can be used to accurately monitor change over time.

Why is the Sydney Coast so special?

A dive into Sydney's striking blue waters will reveal more than 600 species of vibrantly coloured fish including the weedy seadragon and the Eastern blue devilfish – magnificent species found nowhere else in the world. Sydney is also on the humpback and Southern right whale migration routes with historic Southern right whale calving grounds in Sydney Harbour. The Sydney Harbour is also home to the last mainland colony of little penguins on the New South Wales coast, who only grow to 33cm and are the smallest penguins on Earth!

Unfortunately, the area has suffered under mounting pressure from pollution, overdevelopment on the coast, the increasing human population and negative effects of climate change including rising sea temperatures. Plastic pollution is choking the waterways and harming the wildlife. In 2017, coral bleaching reached Sydney Harbour for the first time. With so much at stake and less than 1% of Sydney’s blue backyard currently protected, it is our privilege and duty to protect the coast for both the marine life and future generations who reside here. The Sydney Coast Hope Spot is an investment into the future that can ensure we pass a healthy legacy on to the next generation. The solution includes reducing our carbon footprint, rejecting single use plastic and promoting responsible development policy in Sydney.

Sydney’s coastal waters are the pride and joy of the region and perhaps one of the continent’s greatest assets with more than 13 million visitors flocking to its beaches every year to enjoy its glowing sun and inspiring marine life. The treasures of the Sydney coast need to be preserved, and with the public’s involvement and support we can ensure a healthy future for Sydney’s marine ecosystem and of the rest of the world’s oceans, as well.

Image attribution from top left to bottom right: Brett Lobwein, Gergo Rugli, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Leonard Clifford, Talia Greis, Vanessa Torres Macho, Brett Lobwein, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Talia Greis, Talia Greis, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Vanessa Torres Macho, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer, Vanessa Torres Macho, John Turnbull/Marine Explorer.

“I have a particular fondness of the waters around the Sydney coast. The waters around Australia have treasures that are special, but they’re at risk. Not because people are trying to lose them or trying to harm them, but because of the pressure that comes from our activities that are spilling over into the ocean – what we’re putting into the sea and taking out of it. Going back to the time of the 1970s when we really didn’t know that it mattered; we had an idea that the ocean would always recover no matter what. But now we know and we have the evidence. Now you have a special role. You know why the ocean matters and you know that you have the power to do something to protect what remains and to restore what we can of what has been damaged.” Her Deepness, Dr Sylvia Earle.

For further information regarding the Sydney Coast region, look to our multiple resources including the Sydney Coast Hope Spot website, Underwater Sydney website and Underwater Sydney Facebook Page.