SAVE the seagrass in CTB

Pictures credit: Manly Observer

Do you want to help boaters to AVOID DAMAGING THE SEAGRASS AT Cabbage Tree Bay?

One easy way is to ask Navionics, the leading application for maps that most boats have, to acknowledge what Transport of NSW has ruled in December 2021: "Boating is restricted to waters greater than eight metres (8m) deep to reduce impacts on seagrasses" and that Navionics has neglected to bring on their maps.

Two years ago I wrote to Navionics an email (see at the bottom of the page) but they did not bother actioning or following up. The Navionics chart still states: "Caution seagrass beds: use extreme caution not to damage the ecosystem when undertaking activities affecting the seabed (including anchoring). Contact the local authorities for more information". This sentence is ridiculously unactionable, the person dropping the anchor may have no clue about the seagrass that may not be visible from the surface or the bridge, and also an easy alibi in case of Police control, nor they are going to contact the local authorities before doing it. Yet every decent boat has a depth meter and can easily tell whether they are deeper than 8 metres or not.

thanks to the ones who have contacted navionics, the initiative is now over and I will post updates on the matter as soon as I have them

This is what gets drafted (not sent) by the link above, of course feel free to modify it if you want.

Hi Navionics,

I am a water user of Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, coordinates -33.800390, 151.297022. There have been frequent tensions between local marine lovers and boats anchoring on the seagrass, which is a key source of food for the resident sea turtles. We have identified a course of action to bring awareness to boaters on how to avoid this.

The current note on the Navionics chart states "Caution seagrass beds: use extreme caution not to damage the ecosystem when undertaking activities affecting the seabed (including anchoring). Contact the local authorities for more information" which is useless as boaters may not be able to see the seagrass from the surface, nor are they going to contact local authorities before dropping the anchor.

For mutual advantage, we are asking to amend the current note with what has been published by Transport of NSW in December 2021, https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-12/boating-in-cabbage-tree-bay-fact-sheet.pdf "Always check your depth before anchoring and only anchor in water deeper than eight metres", as simple as that.

One of us, Marco Bordieri, has contacted help@navionics.com on 19/4/2022 and explained the above to Cynthia from Navionics Support Specialist, but no followups nor explanations were provided by your representative. Hopefully this time we will have better luck.

Thanks for the attention

SAVE the seagrass in CTB

Do you want to help boaters to AVOID DAMAGING THE SEAGRASS AT Cabbage Tree Bay?

thanks to the ones who have contacted navionics, the initiative is now over and I will post updates on the matter as soon as I have them

This is what gets drafted (not sent) by the link above, of course feel free to modify it if you want.

Email sent on 19/4/2022