Book your place in our final Summer By The Sea activity – Fishing in Narrawong this Thursday 24th

Over the past couple of weeks, Nicole Mojonnier, Lauren Kivisalu and I have been busy hosting a series of coastal activities in Nelson, Narrawong and Warrnambool as part of the Summer By the Sea school holiday program. The events are coordinated and funded through the Department of Environment, Water, Land and Planning and are aimed at encouraging holiday makers to make the most of our beautiful coastlines.

The activities kicked off in Nelson on Friday, 4th of January with a beach-combing walk, where participants found lots of interesting pieces, including plenty of By-The-Wind Sailors (Velella velella). The jellyfish relative is technically a colony of hydroids that build a communal float and drift with the wind and ocean currents. They can be as small as 5 mm and can occasionally reach up to 80 mm. When alive, V. velella are of a deep blue colour, but once washed ashore, the blue tissue falls away quickly and they become completely transparent (see photos below).

A group of holiday makers in Nelson sort out their finds during the beach combing session.

When alive, By-The-Wind Sailors are a deep blue colour (left), but once washed ashore, their colours quickly fade to become transparent (right).

During the evenings, Nicole has hosted three Creatures of the Night tours at NGT’s Kurrawonga property, where participants experienced the undiscovered animals of the bush. Attendees were treated to a rare sight of a tawny frogmouth, spotted and heard several sugar gliders, along with koalas, ringtail and brushtail possums, bats, and possibly an antechinus!

A tawny frogmouth was one of many special animals spotted at Kurrawonga during our Creatures of the Night tours (Photo: Jonathan Tuck)

This Thursday, 24th of January, NGT will be running our final Summer by the Sea activity for this year. If you have a child who is keen to learn the basics of fishing, bring them down to Narrawong between 2 pm and 3:30 pm (booking essential via the link below). Each participant will take home their very own sustainable fishing pack, which includes sustainable tackle (enviro weights, circle hooks), a kids fishing book, fold out ruler and much more. The afternoon will finish with a fish biology workshop, where anglers will learn how to age their own fish. Fishcare Victoria will be there to lend a hand, in what promises to be a great event. Participants are to meet Surrey River footbridge near the Caravan Park.

Participants of a previous fishing clinic held at Donovans along the Glenelg River.

Anyone wishing to attend the fishing clinic must reserve their spot via the Summer By the Sea website. To find out more, please call Lauren Brown on 0439 034 390.

We hope to see you there!

Lauren Brown