Lizard Island features in the the latest edition of The Weekend Australian Magazine as writer Ross Bilton details his stay and the experience of participating in the Citizen Science project. The Census will provide a large-scale snapshot of the health of the Great Barrier Reef – and a vital dataset for informing conservation efforts.

“The morning passes in a blur of activity: at half a dozen spots around Wedge and No-Name we jump off the back of Pisces and fin along the reef edge, which drops away vertically below us. It feels like flying. We snap photographs continuously, marvelling at the coral – plenty of it still appears to be in good nick – and the big fish: schools of Spanish mackerel blasting past us like silvery torpedoes; bumphead parrotfish, a metre long, grazing on the coral. There are sharks, too: not the sort of monsters that’ll barrel up from the deep ocean to strip a half-tonne marlin, thankfully, but harmless reef sharks – whitetips and greys – slinking gracefully among the corals.” – Ross Bilton, The Weekend Australian Magazine.

To read the article in full, visit.