Conservation

Want to share your photo with us? Tag #sharedolphinmarine for the chance to get featured!

We also want to see the good that you do, so spread the word by using #sharedolphinmarine when you post an image of yourself helping clean up the planet! When you go to the beach, take a walk or even just stroll down the street to your favorite cafe in Coffs Harbour – make sure to pick up a piece of litter.

Did you know that domestic pets such as cats and dogs kill millions of native animals every single year? This places enormous pressure on already threatened species. Over 1500 of Australia’s native wildlife species are listed as threatened with 86 classified as critically endangered. We all love our furry best friends, but there is something that you can do to help reduce your pet’s impact on native wildlife!

#PetsInsideSavesLives is a conservation campaign that we launched to encourage responsible pet ownership in Australia. The initiative is part of the Australian Species Management Program to ensure the survival of Little Blue Penguins. Dolphin Marine Conservation Park recently donated two healthy males (Dennis & Ramon) to SeaLife Sunshine Coast to boost their breeding program. Watch the news clip here >>

Please help us raise awareness about threatened species by spreading the word and encouraging friends and family to keep dogs and cats inside or secured in yards. And take the pledge to secure your pets on the night of National Threatened Species Day – September 7th of each year.

Pledging is easy! Simply leave your name, postcode, and the number and types of pets you will be keeping inside or in a yard on September 7th below.

Please make the #petsinsidesavelives pledge!

In 2013, we partnered with Coffs Harbour City Council to join the Seal the Loop program. Fishing line entanglement is a huge issue in the ocean environment. Each year over 1,400 seals are killed by discarded fishing gear, and many other marine animals are severely affected by fishing line and nets.

We placed a number of blue ‘Seal the Loop’ bins around Coffs Harbour, as well as other locations up and down the NSW coast. The bins are strategically located in popular fishing areas and they are there to encourage people to responsibly dispose of their old fishing line – therefore preventing this harmful material from entering our oceans. Our staff members volunteer their time to empty the bins and collect the fishing line. Since joining the program, we have collected over 150 kilometres’ of fishing line, nearly 500 hooks and 250 bait bags, as well as lots of other rubbish!

We are proud Bronze partners of the Sustainable Advantage Program. This means that we’ve put our park under the environmental microscope in an effort to minimise our environmental impact. 

We were successful in reducing our water consumption by more than 12% and energy costs by almost 11%. Later in the same year, we were presented with a ‘ZERO Carbon Footprint for Waste to Landfill’ award by our regional waste management company, Handybin in conjunction with Impact Environmental. We are currently working toward our Silver Partnership which we plan to achieve in the near future.

We constantly strive to reduce our carbon footprint and aim to educate our park visitors on how to reduce their carbon footprint too. Find out some more tips on our blog.

We are a proud member of Wildlife Tourism Australia, a non-profit organisation established to promote the sustainable development of a diverse wildlife tourism industry that supports conservation.