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See the richness of Long Reef’s marine life and history and shares the importance of the location’s education, research and recreational activity. Video courtesy of NSW Department of Primary Industries

Video text transcript

AudioVisuals

V/O: Joel Cox

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve is the oldest reserve in NSW.

It’s rich in marine life and history. It’s a really important place for education, research and recreational activity.

Video:

Wide/drone shots of Long Reef rock platform.

Montage including close up on marine animals, historic fishing equipment, school group, science lab and recreational activity.

SFX: Wave sounds.

Main title screen

Video: Wide shot of Long Reef scene.

Title: Long Reef Aquatic Reserve protecting marine life and habitat

V/O: Joel Cox

So, we need an aquatic reserve at Long Reef to protect and maintain the diversity of marine life here. It’s important that this community-owned resource is sustainable for now and for future generations.

Video: Joel Cox speaking on camera.

Caption: Joel Cox – Compliance officer, DPI Fisheries

V/O: Phil Colman,  

Long Reef stands out, in my opinion, because of the diversity of Long Reef. Just behind me, we’ve got the western shore. And it’s due west and we get organisms here you won’t find anywhere else on Long Reef. On the other side, we have the southern rollers coming in. And so we’ve got entirely different fauna over there. And everywhere around Long Reef, we’ve got this access to different diversity because of the geological and the geographical position of Long Reef.

To me, it’s such a wonderful asset to a big city like Sydney.

Video: Phil Colman on location, wide shots of the rock platforms from different areas of Long Reef, close up shots of marine animals and plants.

Caption: Phil Colman – Marine biologist (retired), Australian Museum

V/O: Daniel Mallen

Long Reef Aquatic Reserve is a unique site because it’s safe and accessible with a vast range of marine life.

People can see a huge range of sea creatures from nudibranchs, bubble shells, turban snails, octopus, a whole range of bird life and all the trace fossils that can be found along the shelf out here.

Video: Daniel Mallen on location, creatures, wide shots of rock platform and sediment levels on the headland.

Caption: Daniel Mallen – Senior education officer, DPI Fisheries

SFX: Wave sounds.

Section title screen

Video: Scene of Long Reef.

Title: An outdoor classroom

Subtext: over 4,000 children visit each year

V/O: Jules Bellamy

So, the wonderful thing about Long Reef is there are so many different learning opportunities here that can be linked to the curriculum. So, for example, we can study geology. We’ve great example of sedimentary rock here. We can study marine biology. We can look at the different life forms on the rock platform and all the different adaptations. There’s so much biodiversity here, it’s fabulous for that. We can also study coastal processes, we can study erosion and weathering, we can look at human impact on the coastline. It really does give us so many opportunities. It’s a very versatile area for teaching.

Video: Jules Bellamy on locations. Shots of sediment layers in headland, various marine creatures, waves on rock platform, Jules with students, waves crashing on rocks, people walking on pathway and Dee Why town centre in backdrop.

Caption: Jules Bellamy – Coordinator, Coastal Environment Centre

V/O: Don Miles

What we find with students and even teachers – teachers who have been here when they were in high school themselves doing an excursion, they’re absolutely gob-smacked by the reef itself. It’s just an incredible place, so dynamic.

My personal impact, I’m hoping, is that they’ll gain an appreciation of this absolutely splendid site, that maybe will carry over into their private lives in the future. It may even direct some students to become marine biologists or ecologists or adopt some future career which may end up somehow making the planet a better place.

Video: Don Miles on location, looking for marine creatures, photographing rock pools, walking with colleague.

Caption: Don Miles – Director, AUSECO

SFX: Wave sounds.

Section title screen

Video: Close up of marine creature.

Title: A living research site

Subtext: scientists have studied marine life here for over 70 years.

V/O: Dr Penny Berents

Long Reef is a big, intertidal rock platform. It’s got different levels of exposure, different kinds of rocks and all of that lends to different sorts of animals living there. So, it’s a wonderful laboratory and classroom for marine systems.

Long Reef’s been used as a site for marine biology, basic documenting animals that live on the seashore, something about their biology, their reproduction. It’s had importance for geological studies, palaeontology, fossil studies. It’s been used in studying coastal processes, erosion, all the processes that happen on a rocky shore like desiccation, evaporation, effects of rainfall, effects of wave action. All of that’s been studied at Long Reef.

Video: Penny Berents on camera. Shows Penny with specimen jars and in a lab environment, marine creatures, sediment layers, headland features, rock platform, waves, underwater shots, examining fossils, children looking in rock pools.

Caption: Dr Penny Berents – Senior Fellow, Australian Museum

SFX: Beach sounds.

Section title screen

Video: Wide shot of Long Reef.

Title: A special place

Subtext: help care for the aquatic reserve.

V/O: Jules Bellamy

So, I think it’s wonderful that DPI Fisheries and the Northern Beaches Council work together to protect this area. It really has incredible biodiversity, it’s very important to our environment and it’s also really important to bring people down here to learn about it as well.

Video: Jules Bellamy on camera, with shots of marine creatures and plants, underwater shots, people walking near and on Long Reef rock platform.

V/O: Daniel Mallen

People can help preserve this special place by following the rules and regulations specific to the site, cleaning up rubbish and reporting illegal fishing. Also, just spread the word about the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve.

Video: Daniel Mallen on camera with shots of Long Reef Aquatic Reserve signs, people fishing and underwater shots of marine animals.

V/O: Dr Penny Berents

It’s important not to disturb things.

Look and don’t touch is really the message for Long Reef.

Video: People walking on rock platform and looking into rock pools.

V/O: Joel Cox

So, line fishing and spearfishing is allowed at Long Reef. You can use either to fish for finfish.

But you cannot remove any invertebrates or marine vegetation.

To find out more about the reserve you can download the FishSmart app or you can come down and join one of the free Fishcare Volunteer guided walks. Alternatively, speak to your local Fisheries Officer.

Video: Joel Cox on camera. Fishermen on rock platform. Long Reef signs with line and spearfishing symbols.

Wide shots of Long Reef and underwater shots.

 

Closing slide:

The traditional custodians of Long Reef are the Garigal people and the Gannagal (also known as Cannagal) of the Eora nation.

NSW government logo

Find out more: dpi.nsw.gov.au