A new eco-cruise is giving locals the chance to explore a protected marine haven just off the coast of Wollongong, where whales, seals and seabirds gather during their winter migration.

Launched in late June by the Abyss Project, the 90-minute ocean tour is the first of its kind to take visitors by boat around the waters of Five Islands Nature Reserve.

“There’s nothing like it down here, from an education and marine conservation outlook,” says Abyss Project creator and marine biologist Nathalie Simmonds.

“It’s this pristine nature reserve that you’re not allowed to disembark on. It boasts some of the best biodiversity in the Illawarra, and during the northern migration we have this little snapshot in time where everything is here at the one time.

“I’m able to holistically educate on special species that humans already feel connected to such as whales, seals and seabirds, and there’s so many things that flow on from there.”

First attempt halted by pandemic

Nathalie co-founded the adventure cruise in 2020 with scientific diver Carl Fallon, running educational and cultural tours in Sydney until the pandemic forced the fledgling business to shut down the following year.

Nathalie focused on raising her three children while also returning to academia to begin a PhD at the University of Wollongong.

“It was truly devastating that the company closed down after Covid and there was a moment of grief after that,” she says.

“But this year, I really felt like it was time to at least try. I don’t like having regrets in life, so it’s been really enlightening and exciting to see that it has picked up exactly where it left off.”

After moving to the Illawarra, she saw the chance to revive the idea with a local focus, relaunching the venture as Abyss Project in partnership with Abyss Scuba Diving.

Nathalie has received support from organisations such as Destination Wollongong and UOW, and is also working with Jodi Edwards, a senior Indigenous research fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security.

“She’s able to tell me what I definitely should and shouldn’t talk about with culture, because I am so passionate about tying Aboriginal culture into everything that I do from a scientific perspective,” Nathalie says.

“But I also always want to remain respectful to culture and not overstep where I really shouldn’t teach culture and what is appropriate or not.”

Sell-out tours spark growth plans

The new tours are already proving popular, with four out of seven trips this season quickly selling out. The team is now looking at opening more dates.

They're open to all ages and cover topics such as local marine life, conservation and climate change. Nathalie like to chat about what’s going on globally and in our backyard: "Tying it all together really allows people to leave the trip with a sense of feeling connected to a place, and also wanting to conserve nature and knowing how to do that.”

The Five Islands Nature Reserve is about 27 hectares in size. Nathalie and her team support a plan to add two new protected zones – a 123-hectare sanctuary around Flinders Islet, and a larger special-purpose zone around the other four islands.

“Marine protected areas are needed at the moment. NSW is going for ‘30 by 30’ – that’s 30 per cent protection of marine areas by 2030 to hit the UN ocean conservation goal,” she says.

“That’s something we’re backing and are definitely hoping to see come into effect in the next few years.”

How one dive sparked a love of the ocean

Nathalie’s passion for conservation started long before the Abyss Project.

“I was very blessed that my parents took me and my brother on holidays with purpose,” she says.

“They were very inspired by nature and every time we went on holidays, it would be somewhere with beautiful backdrops – the Great Barrier Reef was one of them.

“When I was a teenager, I had my first dive and that was it for me. I knew I wanted to be a marine biologist and I went from musical theatre, dancing, drama and acting at Newtown Performing Arts to a completely different area in science.”

She later studied marine biology and began working in education, including designing the school programs she says are still running today at Symbio Wildlife Park.

With plans to launch cultural tours and school programs through the Abyss Project, she now hopes to pass that love of the ocean on.

“I would love to have as many people on board as possible – and for me to educate them on marine conservation,” she says.

“I want them to have an experience that touches them and inspires them to live a more sustainable and eco-conscious life.”

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