The ocean’s response to warming is better than we thought.  Phytoplankton are the most powerful ocean organisms because they can use sunlight for energy, and grow through the process of photosynthesis. Phytoplankton then become the food for other ocean organisms. The phytoplankton are not only responsible for making food for the oceans, but they are also responsible for almost half of all the oxygen in the world! By performing photosynthesis, they use carbon dioxide from the water and they make oxygen, which most living organisms, including humans, need to breathe. So, thank the phyt ..read more

We stand alongside several environmental groups opposing a proposed seismic survey for oil and gas in the Otway Basin, covering an area of pristine ocean larger than Tasmania. The survey put forward by seismic survey company TGS and oilfield services company Schlumberger would cover 7.7 million hectares in the Otway Basin between Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia and is one of the largest of its kind planned anywhere in Australia.  Seismic surveys consist of explosive underwater airgun blasts between 200-256 decibels - which is far louder than a plane taking off, or even a gunshot ..read more

BY LENA MILTON Our oceans are one of the most vital resources on the planet, giving us food, climate regulation, and oxygen as just a few of the countless benefits. When we think about protecting our oceans from pollution, we often think about plastic or oil spills, but the truth is that across the globe most oceanic pollution comes from the land, specifically from agriculture. In fact, approximately 80% of oceanic pollution comes from the land, usually from the runoff of chemicals from fertilizers, pesticides, and other synthetic agricultural treatments. Pollutants that originate from multipl ..read more

By Belinda Baggs There have been several announcements made over the past few months regarding Petroleum Exploration Permit 11, also known as PEP-11. This MP doesn’t support it, that the Resources Minister is considering it, the surf community sure as shit doesn’t want anything to do with it, the Government opposes it. Now, on the eve of a critical election, it is cancelled. Last week it was made official when the Titles Administrator officially switched the status over to ‘not approved’.  For a woman with roots firmly planted in the shorebreak of Dixon Park (and also a lot of that shoreb ..read more

Creative Solutions to Ocean Acidification. By Lena Milton Ocean acidification is one of the biggest environmental concerns we face today, and like many others, is a direct result of human-caused carbon emissions. While the most direct way to reduce ocean acidification is to reduce carbon emissions, let’s discuss other creative solutions that can be implemented on a smaller, more immediate scale. The article will focus on three solutions: seagrass farming, plankton farming, and reducing industry waste in the ocean. What Is Ocean Acidification? Ocean acidification occurs when excess carbon dioxi ..read more

Image- Indi Gambold Time for surfers to read the forecast on climate change and do something about it. If there’s one thing the modern surfer knows well, it’s how to read a surf forecast. In every surfer’s pocket is a phone that is flooded with forecasting apps that make them weather experts, able to track the next east coast low, time the ideal tide and make strike mission calculations so that tools can be dropped at precisely the right time. For a generation of waveriders who spent more time sketching pictures of perfect waves on the inside back cover of their school book rather than paying ..read more

Would you swap your surfboard for some running shoes and run to help save a rainforest? Join SFC co-founder Johnny Abegg and a bunch of his surfing mates 'trading tubes for takayna', running to help save the Tarkine wilderness in Tasmania.  Over the last two years of the Takayna Trail as 'Surfers for Climate', the group have raised over $43k for takayna, and the Bob Brown Foundation’s plight to have takayna protected, World Heritage listed, and returned to Aboriginal ownership. Please donate and support the team in their third run of the trail HERE.   ..read more

Big polluters like Beach Energy continue to drill in the ocean for new gas instead of investing in a renewable future. They are addicted to gas and like any addiction, a community intervention is our best chance. For too long we have not had our community voices heard when it comes to risking the coastlines for a fossil fuel we no longer need.  So, like fish out of water, with the help from our mates at Market Forces, we sat in on the Beach Energy AGM to ask some questions about the environment, seismic testing, sustainability, climate impacts and the responsibility to gas employees as th ..read more

“When I learned about the trajectory we are on, and the urgency in which we all need to act, I became focused on trying to improve the world that my kids will inherit…” SAM ELSOM - SEA FOREST Seaweed. As surfers we’ve had an interesting relationship with it. We’ve been tangled up in it, taken out by it on a wave, and even had it stuck down our wetsuits...  In more recent times, the environmental benefits of seaweed have drifted their way to the surface. It’s not common knowledge, but these quiet and mystical sea forests are helping create a more biodiverse and climate positive future.&nb ..read more

2050 is too late. Big on announcements, zero on delivery. A net zero by 2050 plan without strong emission cuts this decade is a joke! Just days from the beginning of #COP26 Scott Morrisons Net Zero By 2050 Target announcement is long overdue and lacks any form of accelerated action. Leaving Australia missing economic opportunities of the global energy transformation. We are basically treading water in the channel whilst all other comparable nations are getting tubes. to top it off the PM, ScoMo and Liberal Australia has chosen not to put this lame excuse for a Net Zero by 2050 Target in l ..read more