Southern right whale by Jarvis Smallman

THE OceanLife Festival is unique, with 100 per cent of its profits being donated to a range of important marine biodiversity conservation projects.

Save our Marine Life is one of the recipients and WA spokesperson Monique Barker will be one of the speakers at Blue Yarns to talk about her personal connection to the sea.

SOML run a range of campaigns on issues such as marine parks, supertrawlers and mining, protecting the Antarctic and keeping tabs on seismic blasting which can injure marine life.

Ms Barker said the WA government was currently considering a marine park stretching from Bremer Bay to the South Australian border.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect the South Coast’s spectacular marine life, great fishing, valuable tourism, and our treasured coastal lifestyle for years to come – this is a legacy moment that will live on into future generations,” Ms Barker said.

“The marine environment off WA’s South Coast is a globally significant biodiversity hotspot and is one of Australia’s national treasures.

“The vast and varied habitats of limestone reefs, sponge gardens, seagrass meadows, rhodolith beds and kelp gardens are home to a stunning array of unique marine life – much of which is found nowhere else on Earth.

“From elusive seadragons and friendly blue gropers to endangered Southern right whales, Australian sealions and sea birds, the South Coast provides critical habitats for some of our most vulnerable marine life.”

For more info on Blue Yarns, head to oceanlifefestival.com