What does it actually take to save a whale? Not the twenty-second clip you see on the news — the full story, from the Sunday afternoon phone call through to the night run home in the dark, 22 kilometres south of where you started.
In this episode of the Citizen Science Show, host Sarah Han-de-Beaux sits down with Adam and Amelie from Forster Dive Centre on the NSW mid coast — a couple who have turned their dive shop into a community conservation hub, and who spend their days off responding to marine rescues, removing hooks from Grey Nurse Sharks, and teaching people that the ocean is worth protecting because they finally understand what's in it.
Amelie brings a marine biology background and a gift for translating science into something anyone can feel. Adam brings deep local knowledge, a boat, and a willingness to spend seven and a half hours on the water on Father's Day.
Together they share the full behind-the-scenes stories of:
🐋 The entangled humpback whale whose pod tail-slapped to show them where the line was and who breached at sunset after she was freed
🐋 The juvenile humpback stranded in the Wallis Lake system in just 60cm of water, which made the New York Times and needed two separate rescue operations over three days
🦈 Ten Grey Nurse Sharks rescued from fishing hooks over a single weekend
🤿 The 'Diving with Challenges' program and the diver who taught them that underwater, there is only one language
Plus: their top three tips for citizen scientists, their hopes for their kids' ocean, and the local motto that says it all. There's no hurry in Tuncurry.
🐬 To report a marine animal in distress: contact ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia)
🦈 To contribute to shark citizen science: Spot-A-Shark
🤿 To dive with Adam and Amelie: Forster Dive Centre, NSW mid coast
More Information
https://seaworldfoundation.com.au/
https://ladyelliot.com.au/sustainability/project-manta/
https://www.forsterdivecentre.com.au/
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