SNORKELING EXCURSION THIS SUNDAY FEBRUARY 20 - THE SEARCH FOR LEAFY SEADRAGONS IS ONE OPTION

Do leafy seadragons still live in Cowaramup Bay?

This beautiful and rarely seen fish has not been seen from Cowaramup Bay for over 10 years, so the Busselton Naturalists Club will be keen to find them when we have our annual marine life excursion this coming Sunday February 20.

However, when the Club tried to visit Cowaramup Bay last year, the day we chose coincided with one of the biggest swells seen on the west coast all summer.

The result was that the Bay was far too rough to go snorkeling and over 400 surfers were crowding out all public amenities.

So this Sunday, just to be safe, we’re meeting at 9.00am at the Dunsborough Tavern car park and our excursion leaders – marine biologist Sue Morrison and underwater photographer Ann Storrie – will decide where we’ll go snorkeling, based upon weather and surfing reports..

If everything is favourable, we’ll venture down to Cowaramup Bay again and try to find some leafy dragons.

If not, we might explore Yallingup Lagoon or some of the rocky coast north of Meelup where marine biodiversity is surprisingly high

The excursion is open to the public and is free of charge. Some snorkeling gear will be available for people to borrow.

At the conclusion of the snorkeling, Sue and Ann will explain what marine life has been collected and, with luck, we’ll be able to point out where a leafy seadragon or two has been found (they will not be collected but left untouched in the bay). All collected marine life will then be returned safely to the water.

Subject to swell conditions, the excursion should be well suited to families with children as we always find lots of marine life washed up on shore.

People are encouraged to be sun smart, with the weather forecast suggesting Sunday will be a warm 30 degrees.