Ocean Connect

Home
Australia
Gold Coast, QLD
Ocean Connect

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Ocean Connect wishes to promote local participation in enhancing awareness on marine environments. Connecting communities to coast!

Ocean connect envisions to provide tools and services to the Gold Coast Community to increase their understanding and knowledge of the word "Coast" within City of the Gold "Coast". Our objectives focus on:

- Connecting the Gold Coast community to Coastal and Marine
- Providing environmental education programs for schools and community on coasts and marine environment
- Promote environmental stewardship behaviours by giving the Gold Coast Community the capacity and awareness to practice marine and coastal conservation
- Organise community events to celebrate the uniqueness of the Gold Coast Marina and Coastal environment
- Mapping Coastal and Marine issues on the Gold Coast

President and project manager: Henry Hunt
Secretary: Casey Chu
Co-Founder, Treasurer & Program director: Maggie Muurmans
Co-founder: Tim Exley

06/10/2026

🐌💜 The Annual Gold Coast Sea Slug Count is back! 💜🐌

Join us from 9–11 October for a weekend of sea slug spotting, citizen science and a few prizes along the way 👀🌊

You can take part by joining one of our scheduled surveys or by submitting your own sightings from one of our survey sites to our ALA database over the weekend. You don’t need to attend an official survey to be eligible!

📍 Friday 9 October — Burleigh Heads Rock Pools shore survey, 1:45pm
🤿 Saturday 10 October — Boat dive (members only)
🌊 Sunday 11 October — Shore dive (members only)

🏆 Prizes
1st prize: a dive to Wonder Reef Gold Coast
2nd prize: Mon Nudibranch buff + stickers
🧢 Lucky draw for attendees: Ocean Connect Cap
🎁 Second lucky draw: Sea Slug stickers

All event times and registration details are available on our calendar, and you can use the QR code in the post to submit your sightings.

Whether you’re joining us in the water, exploring the rock pools or heading out on your own, keep your eyes peeled for our tiny, colourful ocean favourites! 🐌🔎

🖼️ sea slug art above and the stickers to be won are by the talented CuriousFox Adventures

03/10/2026

Seagrass might not always get the spotlight, but these underwater meadows are incredibly important 🌱🌊

They provide habitat and nursery grounds for marine life, help stabilise sediments, improve water quality and play an important role in healthy coastal ecosystems.

Through our seagrass monitoring and education activities, our community gets hands-on experience learning how to identify, survey and better understand these important habitats.

A huge thank you to everyone who continues to join us in the field and help build our understanding of local seagrass ecosystems 💚

01/10/2026

October is looking busy at Ocean Connect 🌊

This month we’ve got plenty of ways to get involved —Check out the October calendar and sign up for any events you’d like to join, we’d love to see you there 💜

28/09/2026

A huge thank you to all of our amazing volunteers who helped out at our Bunnings sausage sizzle over the weekend! 🌭💙

Together, we sold over 60 kg of sausages and raised more than $1,500 after costs - an incredible result that will go straight back into supporting Ocean Connect’s marine conservation, citizen science and community programs. 🌊

We’re so grateful to everyone who gave up their time, stayed longer than rostered, jumped in wherever needed, and helped make the day such a success.

We couldn’t have done it without such a hardworking team, thank you! 💙

24/09/2026

What a way to kick off The Blue Collective 🌊💙

Yesterday we welcomed our very first cohort of young women for the first day of The Blue Collective: Ocean Connect’s new program designed to support, connect and empower young women interested in ocean-related careers.

We spent the day getting to know each other, exploring future pathways and getting outside for some hands-on seagrass monitoring 🌱 with plenty more to come over the next few months!

A huge thank you to Little Urchin and Diver Mon Art for the beautiful goodies for our participants and helping our cohort stay sun-safe while out in the field ☀️💙

We were also lucky to have Tiani Dun join us for the day, capturing these special moments 📸 and sharing her own journey through marine biology, underwater photography, conservation expeditions and entrepreneurship with the group.

Such a great first day, and we can’t wait to continue learning, connecting and building confidence together. ✨

Empowering Queensland Women grant program | Queensland Government.

11/09/2026

🌭 Bunnings Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser – Saturday 26 September! 🌭

Come and say hello to the Ocean Connect team at Bunnings Warehouse Nerang on Saturday 26 September! Grab a sausage while you’re there and help support our marine conservation, citizen science, community engagement and education programs. Every sausage sold helps us continue protecting our incredible local marine environment. 💙🌊

A huge thank you to Bunnings Nerang for supporting our fundraiser and for generously donating gift cards to help make the day a success, we’re so grateful for your ongoing support!

📍 Bunnings Nerang
📅 Saturday 26 September
🌭 Come hungry and support Ocean Connect’s programs

09/09/2026

Our sea slug surveys help us track the diversity and distribution of these incredible animals across the Gold Coast. Because many sea slugs are closely tied to particular food sources and habitat conditions, changes in their communities can provide useful clues about broader reef health and environmental change.

By recording what we find over time, we can build long-term datasets, improve our understanding of local marine biodiversity, and get the community involved in meaningful citizen science.

We also had a few bonus marine critters make an appearance along the way, which is always a good reminder of just how much life is hiding across our local reefs 🐸🐠 ✨

A huge thank you to the City of Gold Coast Community Grants Program for supporting our work and helping us continue community-led marine conservation across the Gold Coast. 💙

📸 Photos of divers 🫧 Loren Mariani
📸 Photos of critters 🪸 Léa Breistroff

MarineConservation

04/09/2026

Looking for ways to get involved with Ocean Connect this September? 🌊💙 Check out what’s on and register via the link in our bio, we’d love to see you there!

01/09/2026

Expressions of Interest Extended 💙

We’ve extended applications for the Blue Collective by one week to give anyone who’s been meaning to apply a little extra time to submit their EOI.

If you’re a young woman aged 18-25 passionate about the ocean, curious about careers in the Blue Economy, and keen to connect with other like-minded women, we’d love to hear from you.

New closing date: September 7th 2026

🔗 Apply here: https://forms.gle/6qzBwSJNN3xbTGwc9

This program is proudly supported by the Queensland Government through the Empowering Queensland Women grant program.

MarineConservation OceanConnect

18/08/2026

🌊💙 EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST ARE NOW OPEN! 💙🌊

Are you a young woman interested in turning your passion for the ocean into a career? 🐠

Ocean Connect is excited to launch our Women in the Blue Economy Program, designed to support young women aged 18–25 who are interested in exploring careers across marine science, conservation and the wider blue economy.

Through hands-on experiences, mentoring, workshops and connections with inspiring women already working in the industry, participants will have the opportunity to:

🌊 Explore different marine and blue economy career pathways
🤿 Gain practical, hands-on experience
👩‍🔬 Meet and learn from women working across the marine sector
🪸 Build skills, confidence and professional networks
💙 Connect with other young women who share a passion for our oceans

Whether you already know you want a career in the marine sector or you’re simply curious about where your passion for the ocean could take you, we’d love to hear from you!

✨ Expressions of Interest are now open.
🔗 Apply here: https://forms.gle/6qzBwSJNN3xbTGwc9

This program is proudly supported by the Queensland Government through the Empowering Queensland Women grant program.

MarineConservation OceanConnect

Address

Gold Coast, QLD

Telephone

+61434412101

Website

https://www.oceanconnect.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Ocean Connect posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Ocean Connect:

Want your organization to be the top-listed non profit organization in Gold Coast?