04/06/2026
🌿 You don't need to be a scientist to help protect Low Isles.
One of the things we love most about our little corner of the Great Barrier Reef is how much people care about it — visitors, locals, tour operators, members. And now there are more ways than ever to turn that care into something tangible.
We're thrilled to share that Low Isles and the surrounding reef now has its own listing on iNaturalist — a global community science platform used by researchers and nature lovers worldwide.
Every time you visit and spot something — a fish, a bird, a coral, a crab — you can photograph it, upload it to iNaturalist, and your sighting becomes part of a permanent, verified species record for Wungkun.
The community helps with identification, so you don't need to know what you've found. You just need to notice it. 🐠🦎🌺
👉 Find the Low Isles place page here: https://www.inaturalist.org/places/low-isles-and-surrounding-reef
And iNaturalist is just one of the citizen science programs LIPS is involved with. Here's the full picture:
👁️ Eye on the Reef — the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's official monitoring app. Record reef health, wildlife sightings and incidents (crown-of-thorns, bleaching, pollution) directly from your phone. Our volunteers already contribute to monitoring surveys out at Low Isles.
🐠 Great Barrier Reef Legacy — our research and education partners, who have led projects combining citizen science data from reefs off Port Douglas into a single reporting platform.
🌊 Tangaroa Blue Foundation — coordinating the Australian Marine Debris Initiative, Tangaroa Blue works with us on clean-ups at Woody Island, local beaches and cays, turning every piece of rubbish collected into data that drives national policy change.
There is something here for everyone — whether you're a regular reef visitor, a snorkeller, a birdwatcher, or someone who simply picks up litter when they see it. Every observation, every clean-up bag, every photo on a phone contributes to the bigger picture of protecting this place we all love.
Head to our new Citizen Science page on the website to find out more 🌿
www.lips.org.au/citizen-science
Citizen Science Every observation counts You don't need to be a scientist to contribute to reef research. By recording what you see — a turtle, a coral, a piece of debris — you add to a growing body of real data that helps researchers and managers protect the Great Barrier Reef. LIPS works with ...
