Living Seawalls panels

Students explored a range of issues impacting the bay and harbour as part of their Mandatory Geography and Science classes. A focus of their learning was on investigating how individuals and organisations can instigate effective, positive change to improve the local environment. In Term 4, Living Seawalls panels were installed on the seawall at the edge of the school's property. 

We extend our thanks to Living Seawalls and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science who were invaluable in assisting staff in navigating the installation and in supporting student learning associated with  the seawall panels and our project.

Thank you to Miguel Perez for his hard work in the installation of the panels.

Living Seawalls

The habitat enhancement panels on the seawall in front of you are part of Living Seawalls, a flagship research program of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS). These panels have been designed to increase biodiversity by improving habitat for marine organisms. Living Seawalls were first installed in Sydney Harbour in 2018 and can now be found around Australia and internationally.

What do habitat panels do? 

Seawalls help protect coastal areas from erosion, but they don't have complex microhabitats like the natural shorelines they replace. Their vertical surfaces provide limited attachment space for intertidal species like oysters, which help maintain water quality and provide food and habitat for fish. Ecological modifications such as Living Seawalls can bring life back to seawalls using habitat enhancement panels containing features of natural shorelines such as rockpools, crevices and ledges. The restoration of these microhabitats allows a great variety of organisms to live on seawalls. In other parts of Sydney Harbour, Living Seawalls support up to 36% more seaweed and invertebrate species, and twice the number of fish species than on flat non-modified seawalls.

What lives on seawalls?

It takes time for disturbed areas like seawalls to be colonised by marine life. The habitat panels speed this up and in the first year we expect barnacles, smaller seaweeds, oysters, marine snails and limpets to attach to the panels. Through time, these will grow and more species will colonise so that eventually the panels will be hardly visible.

For more information visit: www.livingseawalls.com.au