Marine animals and habitat

Anchoring

An act of vandalism you may never realise you are committing is damage to the seabed when anchoring. Reefs and sea grass beds are very important to sea life, and you should avoid anchoring on them. You can almost always find a patch of sand among them that your anchor will not hurt. If you have no choice but to anchor on reef, use a specialised reef anchor.

Note: There may be “anchoring prohibited” rules in parts of marine national parks.

Disturbance of wildlife

You should not try to get close to sea lions, whales, dolphins and whale sharks – they can become distressed, especially if the mammals have babies with them.

Noise, wake and wash

Another form of pollution is the nuisance you can cause simply by operating your vessel thoughtlessly. Wake and wash can cause damage to vessels on moorings and in pens, and injury to people on board them. Keep your speed low enough to cause negligible wash when passing near these areas – and also in the vicinity of wildlife.

Just like many near-shore residents, wildlife can also be upset by noise. For the sake of both people and wildlife limit the noise you have control over – music for instance – and ensure that your exhaust noise has not increased with the age of your motor.