Fortuitously planned in between the unseasonably warm early spring weather and the blustery and dusty conditions that followed it, was an exploratory trip by canoe of one of the little jewels of the Batemans Bay Marine Park – the Candlagan Creek Sanctuary Zone.

Twenty members and friends of the Nature Coast Marine Group set off up Candlagan Creek (more an estuary really that separates Broulee and Mossy Point) in mid September on a good rising tide to explore a mangrove estuarine habitat that has recently been protected under the Marine Park. The emphasis of the outing was on fun but with a side salad of education and exploration of a very user friendly part of the Park.

Candlagan Creek is one of a number of sanctuary zones in the Park. These zones provide the highest level of protection for habitats, areas high in biological diversity, key sites for threatened or other significant species or areas that contain important natural or cultural features. However, many recreational activities can be conducted in sanctuary zones, including tours, boating, surfing, snorkeling, diving and research and educational activities.

Key features of this relatively pristine system include ideal juvenile fish refuges and nursery conditions, limited development along its banks and upstream, and the extensive stands of grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) and seagrass beds (Zostera sp.) that extend upstream for about two kilometres from the more well-trodden reaches near its entrance.

Sighted on the outing were schools of juvenile mullet, luderick, bream, and whiting as well as the odd stingray, octopus and moray eel. In the surrounding vegetation the normal estuarine suspects could be seen lurking – Great egrets, White faced herons, Mangrove herons, Buff banded rails and the various cormorants along with more fleeting glimpses of Azure and Sacred kingfishers, Yellow faced honeyeaters and Striated thornbills.

This is one of the more accessible sanctuary zones in the Batemans Marine Park – easily explored by unpowered watercraft or on foot along its banks for the more mobile. Less mobile family groups or the elderly can also enjoy the clean and safe waters away from the winds and the rough surf that often makes enjoying the coast for the very young and very old a bit tricky.

The success of the canoe trip is likely to see this as a regular fixture on the annual activities calendar of the Nature Coast Marine Group.