Sydney Institute of Marine Science

🌊 Congratulations, Professor Iain Suthers! 🎉 We’re incredibly proud to celebrate Professor Iain Suthers, who was recently awarded the K. Radway Allen Award—the highest honour from the Australian Society for Fish Biology (ASFB). This prestigious award recognizes Iain’s monumental contributions to fish and fisheries research, as well as his leadership, mentorship, and innovation in the field. Based here at SIMS, Iain’s work spans from monitoring larval fish and plankton to groundbreaking projects like offshore artificial reefs and the development of the novel “Tube Fishway” to improve river connectivity. His dedication to advancing marine science inspires us all, and we’re so grateful to have him as part of our community. Congratulations again, Iain, on this well-deserved recognition! 🐟👏 #MarineScience #FishBiology #OceanResearch #SIMS #ASFB #ScienceLeadership

As the year comes to a close, we reflect on the incredible strides we’ve made in restoring Sydney’s marine environments and protecting the unique ecosystems that call our waterways home. From seagrass meadows to seahorses, every project we tackle at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science is driven by a mission to create a thriving future for marine life—and for us all. This work isn’t possible without the generosity of our community. Your support helps us continue groundbreaking research, restore habitats, and empower the next generation of marine scientists. If our work has inspired you this year, we invite you to make a contribution to SIMS. Every donation, no matter the size, makes an impact and brings us closer to a healthier ocean for future generations. 👉 Visit this link to donate and make a difference today. https://lnkd.in/gzEfC_9h Together, we can create a brighter future for Sydney Harbour and beyond. 🌏💙 #SupportScience #MarineConservation #SydneyHarbour #SIMS #OceanConservation #EndOfYearGiving

🌊 2024: A Year of Progress and Impact at SIMS 🌱 At the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, we’ve had a standout year delivering real results for marine ecosystems. These numbers capture just a portion of our work—the projects with fieldwork components—but the impact goes far beyond: 🔹 322 field trips across 117 sites, including 2 international locations 🔹 623 days in the field 🔹 177 dives and 550 hours under pressure collecting data, restoring habitats, and monitoring marine life Top field-focused projects: 🌿Project Restore 🦈IMOS Animal Tracking Facility 🦀Living Seawalls And that’s only half the story. These stats don’t even include our land-based research or aquarium-based projects, where our team has been advancing critical conservation methods and innovative marine science. Together, we’re restoring ecosystems, driving biodiversity recovery, and shaping a healthier future for our oceans. Thank you to our dedicated team, partners, and supporters for making 2024 an incredible year. Here’s to even bigger achievements in 2025! 🌍 #MarineScience #SIMS #Impact2024 #OceanConservation #Collaboration #Fieldwork #ScienceForTheFuture Living Seawalls Martina A. Doblin Brett Fenton Mitchell Brennan David Booth

Field reports from our SIMS-based Integrated Marine Observing System Animal Tracking team PART 1: Our SIMS-based IMOS Animal Tracking team recently completed a 10-day field trip to Ningaloo, one of the oldest installations in Australia’s national marine monitoring array! Over 4 days on the water, the team worked tirelessly to download data from 7 offshore and 13 inshore receivers, replacing them with new equipment to ensure another year of critical monitoring. Facing ~sporty~ offshore conditions, the team overcame challenges with remote recoveries and even freedived to retrieve inshore receivers. This long-term data collection is crucial for understanding marine life movements and connectivity along our coasts. Ningaloo remains a key location for monitoring marine ecosystems, and the team’s efforts here contribute to a broader understanding of how to protect our oceans. Stay tuned for part two where the team heads to the Gulf of Carpentaria! #MarineScience #Ningaloo #IMOS #AnimalTracking #OceanConservation #SIMS Go team!

It’s been a busy few weeks here at SIMS!! Sometimes it is hard to keep track of all the incredible projects and events going on here at our headquarters, so here is a little photo dump of just a few of those things from the past few weeks to keep track! #sydneymarinescience #marinebiology #sydney

📑 NEW STUDY: Taylor et al. studied two popular recreational fishing spots in #NSW for the presence of PFAS “forever chemicals”, which may impact recreational fishers who consume their catch. 🌏 Locations 🎣Lake Macquarie 🎣Botany Bay 🤔 The issue Contamination of estuaries with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), has the potential to affect recreational fishers who consume their catch. However, the presence and concentration of PFAS across commonly harvested estuarine fish and other seafood is rarely quantified. 👩🏽🔬 What did the researchers do? The team used data from a state-wide survey of recreational fishers to design and conduct a sampling program for assessing PFAS contamination across two recreational fishing havens. 💡 What did they find? Perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and PFOS were the primary contaminants in edible tissues of recreationally harvested species, and concentrations were highly variable. In Lake Macquarie, all samples were below screening criteria, as were invertebrates in both estuaries. In Botany Bay, some fish exceeded screening criteria, but the most frequently harvested recreational species had the lowest concentrations of all fish across both estuaries. Ecological factors likely contributed to substantial variation in PFAS accumulation levels among different recreational species. 👍 What are some recommendations? The study showed how recreational fisheries surveys provide a solid foundation to frame investigations of exposure risk to these chemicals. Such data  will also support the development of dietary advice based on location. 👀 Read the full study: https://lnkd.in/d4aKT389 Research affiliations: NSW Department of Primary Industries, UNSW, Sydney Institute of Marine Science Funding provided by NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)

Throwing it back to the incredible Shore Things team from St. Michaels Daceyville, who raised nearly $1,400 for the Sydney Seahorse Project! In this reel, two of these young conservationists share why they’re so passionate about protecting endangered White’s Seahorses and how initiatives like seahorse hotels are giving these iconic creatures a chance to thrive. Their dedication reminds us that the next generation is not only aware of the challenges our oceans face but also deeply committed to making a difference. Seeing their motivation gives us so much hope for the future of marine conservation. 💪🌊 Thank you, Shore Things, for your hard work, passion, and belief in a better future for Sydney’s marine life. Together, we can make waves of change! #SydneySeahorseProject #MarineConservation #OceanHeroes #FutureChangeMakers #SIMS Martina A. Doblin Brett Fenton Mitchell Brennan David Booth University of Technology Sydney

We’re thrilled to share that Sergio Torres Gabarda , our incredible Aquarium Scientific Officer of the SIMS Tech Team, has been awarded the National Excellence Award for Tertiary Technical Staff at the annual Western Sydney University TechNet Conference! With over a decade of dedicated service to SIMS, our partners, and the community—and a remarkable career in Chile before joining us—Sergio’s expertise, energy, and humor make him an invaluable asset to our institution. Congratulations, Sergio, on this well-deserved recognition! Sergio Torres Gabarda, Martina A. Doblin, Brett Fenton, University of Technology Sydney, UNSW, University of Sydney, Macquarie University

At Pollination, we work to deliver a net zero, nature positive and more resilient future, and the resilience of our own people is a big part of meeting those challenges. That's why each Pollination employee is allocated a day of climate crisis/eco resilience leave each year. A group of Pollinators recently spent their day as 'Storm Squad' volunteers for the Sydney Institute of Marine Science’s Project Restore. We got our hands dirty and feet wet collecting washed ashore endangered seagrass (Posidonia australis) for SIMS to replant at restoration sites within Sydney Harbour. These days help better connect us to each other and to Pollination's sense of mission and purpose, as well as helping an important project advance their work in restoring nature. Find out more about Project Restore and how you can get involved with this citizen science project at: https://lnkd.in/gDViNziY #netzero #naturepositive #climateresilience

We are thrilled to announce yet another successful international partnership through our Living Seawalls team! A total of 240 #livingseawalls panels have just been installed in Boston (USA) in partnership with the Stone Living Lab. Congrats team! Sydney Institute of Marine Science Melanie Bishop (Co-Founder): Macquarie University Mariana Mayer Pinto (Co-founder): UNSW