Narooma Mission Trip

In late September 2018, Clear Tides founders - Jess and Roody, along with a team of passionate volunteers headed down to the beautiful coastal town of Narooma for their first mission trip.

The goal behind this trip was to spread their message of protection and conservation for the ocean to small coastal communities. We wanted to spread our love for the ocean, while educating the community on how they can protect their oceans even after we have gone.

Our trip was nothing short of magical, we were blessed with countless breath taking wildlife experiences and many beautiful relationships with the local community.

One of the many laws of energy is that energy of certain quality attracts energy of a similar quality and I truly believe the energy and down to earth nature of our volunteers attracted the most beautiful and kind hearted people (and animals).

We begun our trip with a team yoga class run by the beautiful Maree at Sundew Dynamics before exploring down the south coast, cleaning up beaches along the way. Dolphins surfed the waves as we admired the beautiful, untouched beaches between Narooma and Bermagui. Over the next few days we promoted our upcoming beach clean to local businesses who were more than happy to help us out in any way that they could.

Saturday was adventure day with Underwater Safari's, a day dedicated to diving the beautiful Montague island which is home to colonies of Australian and New Zealand fur seals. The boat ride was accompanied by a pod of dolphins, riding our bow all the way out to the island. An icy dive surrounded by playful seals diving around us was the perfect way to remind us what we were working so hard to protect. The seals were so curious - diving, spinning and winding around us as we were immersed in their underwater playground. Already on high from our wildlife interactions, we didn't think it could get any better but in the distance we laid eyes on an animal that was about to take out breath away. Three Southern right whales. The whole boat fell silent, as these magnificent creatures approached the boat, circling us and putting on the show of a lifetime. They circled the boat for about 30 minutes showing us their size, their power and their beauty - this was the interaction of a lifetime.

Still in disbelief about the beauty of yesterdays wildlife experiences we embarked on an early morning boat ride to look for more whales before our beach clean. On the horizon we saw many blow's and a few breaches and then suddenly behind a large exhale.. we were surrounded. Humpback whales spy hopping, fin slapping and showing off their gorgeous tails as they dove around and under our boat, allowing us to admire them from every angle. No more than an arms length away from the boat, these whales played with us all morning and off in the distance were countless whales breaching against the horizon. These giant animals had a curiosity about them but presented such a gentle, kind energy that completely captivated us. Upon leaving we passed through a pod of whales, dolphins and seals feeding... never have we witnessed such an active group of animals present such an incredible display.

Arriving back on shore (still feeling euphoric) we commenced set up for our beach clean at Narooma surf beach. The day consisted of free brunch, face painting, a raffle draw exploding with amazing prizes and a amazing BBQ overlooking the beach to finish up a hard mornings work! We were overwhelmed with the turnout, families from all over Narooma coming together to clean up their local beach and be active in protecting our oceans. A relatively clean beach, where the locals are active in ensuring the beach is clean and tidy still presented us with a large amount of rubbish ranging from cigarette butts, bottles and straws to chairs, clothing and a cooktop.

This weekend was filled with incredible encounters (both animals and human) and we are so thankful for all the kind souls we met along the way. It is so amazing to connect with like minded individuals who all share a passion and love for our oceans.

Special thank you to Francois and Clover from Underwater Safari's, Phil from Thurston photography, Gillian from the SLSC and Chris and the team at Quarterdeck.

Below is data collected from our beach clean which will be submitted to the AMDI.

- 4 buckets of soft plastics consumer items

- 1 bucket of clothing items

- 22 plastic bottles

- 17 glass bottles

- 48 tin cans

- Half a bucket foam items

- Blanket and pillow

- Plastic chair

- Metal cooktop

- 2 buckets miscellaneous

- 1 bucket paper and cardboard