Earlier this month, a project team made up of representatives from CSIRO, Traditional Owner groups, and the Reef Authority ventured out to the Reef to retrieve data from submerged hydrophones.  



Hydrophones are underwater microphones that record vessel noise in specific locations.  The results of this multi-year project will contribute to a better understanding of vessels used in Woppaburra and Darumbal TUMRA, which will help inform management decisions regarding compliance, planning, and co-management arrangements.



Malachi Johnson, the TUMRA Coordinator for Darumbal, explains the importance of these compliance management tools being used, “This is one management tool to able to create the sustainability and preserve our cultural heritage and cultural values in Darumbal Sea Country.



The benefit for us is to create that management plan to help protect those stories, those cultural connections and the cultural sensitivity that lays within the tidal flows of our Sea Country.”