The Coral Sea Marina Resort foreshore became a hive of activity over the weekend with the Coral Sea Academy hosting its inaugural Mini Safety on Water Expo. The event saw multiple local organisations join together to provide an educational experience for visitors to learn more about water safety, better boating practices, and enjoy a sausage sizzle in the sunshine.
The Coral Sea Academy was created by Coral Sea Marina Resort with which to provide an immersive travel experience for visitors to the Whitsundays. From marine conservation to sustainable travelling, the underlying theme of the Coral Sea Academy is to provide an experiential travel encounter engaging with a range of topics relevant to our beautiful region.
The Mini Safety on Water Expo saw Coral Sea Marina Resort join forces with Maritime Safety Queensland, Volunteer Marine Rescue Whitsundays, Volunteer Marine Rescue Midge Point, the Water Police and Airlie Beach Swim School by Danielle. With educational and interactive stalls displayed throughout marina foreshore, visitors were able to learn more about boating safety, get practical experience with life jacket servicing, and even put their hands up to volunteer in a safety flare demonstration.
The expo also offered the opportunity for visitors to hop on board and explore some of the safety vessels that operate in the Whitsundays, from the Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) vessels to the impressive Water Police vessel.
The highlight of the expo saw the traditional christening of the VMR’s brand new vessel. Whalesong VMR II was christened with a bottle of champagne poured over the bow marking this exciting new chapter for VMR Whitsundays. Whalesong VMR II will be capable of doing many more routine activations and be able to navigate its way around the Whitsunday waterways with ease and speed, allowing for the larger Coral Sea Marina VMR I to focus solely on medivacs, searches and assisting larger vessels further afield.
Mayor Andrew Willcox, Whitsunday Regional Council, spoke on behalf of all locals and visitors in appreciation of the incredible work of the Volunteer Marine Rescue Whitsundays volunteer crew.
“I would like to acknowledge Mal and his team and all the volunteer marine rescue crew and captains. From the people who do all the paperwork, to the people who man the radios, from those who cook the sausages sizzle to the people who fundraise – thank you all.”
“Whilst none of us really want to have to use your services in a professional capacity, we certainly do sleep well at night knowing we have trained professionals, if things go pear-shaped out in the blue yonder, are looking after us.”
Whalesong VMR II will provide much needed assistance as an additional resource for search and rescue activity, but it will also reduce overall operational costs for VMR Whitsundays so they can continue to assist our on-water visitors exploring the Whitsundays with ease and care.
The Coral Sea Academy is set to return on Thursday 14th November, at Lure for The Flying Scientist’s Marine Science Showcase. The Flying Scientist program, based out of the University of Queensland, is designed to assist regional Queensland with science related events throughout communities.
This workshop, from 6.30pm-8.30pm, will give visitors an opportunity to meet with marine biologists, Catherine Kim and Dr Jenny Allen, to learn more about reef sustainability and their fascinating research on whale songs. This is a free event open to the whole community.
Coral Sea Marina Resort invites you to immerse yourself in our incredible region and to be inspired and educated on all things Whitsundays.
For Coral Sea Academy updates visit the What’s On calendar of events.
