With your help we are on a mission to determine the population of weedy seadragons around Port Phillip and Western Port bays. All you need to do to help is submit images that have a clear side profile shots of weedy seadragons and let us know where it was from.
We know it is challenging to get out at the moment, but we would still love to have your old images of Weedy Seadragons. Images can be from any time in the last 10 years.
Using your image and simple pattern mapping software we will be able to determine if your dragon is a new individual or an old friend and add it to our database. Eventually we hope to have an image and name for every dragon at your favourite dive sites in Port Phillip and Western Port Bays.
Why?
Weedy seadragons are the Victorian marine emblem and one of the most popular fish in the sea. The only place on earth they are found is in the waters of southern Australia. We even have them living inside Port Phillip Bay, the busiest shipping terminal in the country and home to over 5 million people. Yet we know very little about their populations. Recent work on the genetics of weedy seadragons indicates that there is limited gene flow between isolated populations like those found in Port Phillip and Western Port Bays. This has implications on our local populations as potentially once they are gone, they are gone. Understanding the size of the population is one of the first steps to conserving this iconic species.
This project is funded by the Victorian Government’s Port Phillip Bay Fund with additional support provided by the University of Technology Sydney and the Underwater Research Group of New South Wales.
