The document announces a marine discovery talk series hosted by OCCI, a local volunteer group focused on coastal and marine environmental issues in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. The first talk will be on Thursday September 8th at 7pm at Community Hall in Charlestown Square, and will feature Environmentalist Tim Silverwood discussing his experience sailing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the plastic pollution he discovered there. The second talk on October 13th at Caves Beach Hotel will be by underwater photographer Justin Gilligan about his research assessing the extinction risk of marine fish endemic to Lord Howe Island.

1. MARINE DISCOVERY
SERIES – Talk 1
Thursday
8 September 2011 @ 7pm
At Community Hall, The Place,
LAKE MACQUARIE -
Charlestown Square, off Frederick Street
NEWCASTLE ARM (see attached map for details)
OCCI is a local volunteer group whose aim is to increase local community awareness about
coastal and marine environmental issues. The OCCI Lake Macquarie-Newcastle Arm does this
through interactive community displays excursions, workshops, and projects in the Lake
Macquarie and Newcastle area.
Through an Australian Government Community Action Grant, we are proud to
present our 2011 OCCI LMN Marine Discovery Series
- a series of three talks with local experts presenting on coastal and marine issues.
IS YOUR LIFE TOO PLASTIC?
- A TRIP TO THE PACIFIC
GARBAGE PATCH
A few months ago, Environmentalist and co-founder of Take 3, Tim
Silverwood demonstrated - by showing the film ’Bag It’ - how plastic is
consuming our lives, and our marine ecosystems. Then In July, Tim
sailed from Hawaii to Vancouver to research plastic pollution in the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge plastic 'soup' twice the size of France
thought to contain over 100 million tonnes of waste. Tim’s back and he will tell us of his experience on the sailing
trip, visiting the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and what he discovered along the way.
FIN DING LORD HOWE ’S NEMO
Internationally published and award winning Justin Gilligan is a
freelance underwater photographer, as well as a local NSW
Fisheries Technician.
Australia’s endemic fishes with small populations are among the
most vulnerable species to extinction. Through a research
project, the extinction risk of marine fishes endemic to the Lord
Howe Island region was assessed by diver surveys. The results
were to determine the distribution, abundance and habitat
associations of fishes endemic to the region.
As well as the research findings, Justin’s photographs were also
published as a 10-page spread by Australian Geographic
magazine (Issue 96). For all the budding photographers, Justin
will also discuss his dealings with the magazine.
Contact OCCI LMN at:
occi_lmn@live.com.au
Photographs courtesy of Tim
Silverwood & Justin Gilligan
The next Marine Discovery Talk is on Thursday 13th October at Caves Beach Hotel @ 7pm