Latest News 

October, 2003:   Work on the "Lynette" is now complete, and the vessel is awaiting deployment on site at the Cochrane Artificial Reef.   As soon as approval has been granted by the appropriate government departments, and when the weather is favourable, "Lynette" will join the other objects on the ocean floor and provide a save habitat for many marine creatures, as well as creating another interesting dive site.

August, 2003:  BADARAI has now purchased all items that were included in the Regional Solutions Grant, and with underwater video equipment as well as a digital camera with an underwater housing, will be able to photograph and record what's been happening on the reef site.  Work on the new vessel, which has been named "Lynette" is nearing completion, and it will be placed on the reef within the next month or so, creating another object of interest to visiting divers, as well a new home for marine life.  The new logo, which can be seen above has been finalised and is now available on cloth patches and caps.  These can be purchased by contacting Alan or Brenda Cochrane (check our "Contact BADARAI" link above).  Dolphins have been reported on the reef for the past 6 weeks, and they are becoming very friendly and interacting with the divers.  

May, 2003: BADARAI is on track with the Regional Solutions Grant, having purchased to date the loader, 2 outboard motors, computer equipment,  2 GPS's and marine radios.  Deployments were also made during May and June, 2003 with members managing to get more concrete blocks and "Gavins" on site at the reef.  Work is progressing on a vessel which is to be placed in the near future.   Also, the association now has a model of the reef site showing the position of all objects placed on the reef.  It is made of fibreglass inlaid with sand and a grid with small models of the lightships, dredge, planes and other objects.  It is under a clear perspex cover to protect it and it can be transported easily to displays.  A new logo for the association has been designed for use on shirts, caps, and patches and will be posted on this site shortly.

November, 2002:  The November meeting of BADARAI was a very productive one with a number of issues being resolved.  One of the most important was the first payment to be made out of the Regional Solutions Grant, for 2 new outboard motors.  Payment for a loader will also be made from this grant in December.  Also, the association has now been able to obtain suitable public liability insurance, which means that placement of more objects on the reef site can now continue.  The compulsory dive monitoring will be carried out in December, with final details and training sessions now organised.  This is to meet government specifications to allow the association to keep the 5-year permit recently granted to them.

July, 2002:  On 12th July, 2002, the Deputy/Acting Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Anderson presented BADARAI with a grant from the Regional Solutions funding program.  This grant will allow the association to purchase 2 new outboard motors, a loader, underwater video and camera equipment, and computer and printing equipment.  About 30 BADARAI members attended the presentation and along with Mr Anderson viewed a 10-minute video of some underwater footage which had been shot the previous week on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  The video helps to show exactly what the association has achieved over the past 15 years, and gives an insight into how the project is helping the marine environment.  The grant is well appreciated and will go a long way to easing the burden of fund-raising for members.

April, 2002:  At the April meeting of BADARAI members discussed the manning of the information stand at the Bundaberg Agrotrend which will be held on the 16th and 17th May, 2002.  Andrew Cox of Bargara Beach Dive mentioned that the diving on the Cochrane Artificial Reef over the past week had been spectacular with visibility so good that the plane on the bottom was visible from the boat on the surface.  A dugong was sighted and a discussion followed regarding replanting of the seagrass beds to attract more dugongs to the reef.  The association wishes to extend congratulations to marine biologist Eddie Jebreen, who has been involved in the research and monitoring of the reef.  Eddie is taking the plunge and getting married in June - "Best wishes for the future from BADARAI".

March, 2002:  The Annual General Meeting of BADARAI was held in March 2002, to appoint the office bearers for the coming year.  The committee remains largely unchanged and will carry on with the good work that has been achieved in the past.  With the support and help of the association members, placements and monitoring of the reef can continue.

February, 2002:  The major topic of discussion at the February 2002 meeting was the problems with public liability insurance policies.  With the collapse of HIH Insurance and the events of Sept 11th in USA, public liability insurance is now becoming a luxury that small associations such as BADARAI just can't afford.  Without this insurance, the continuation of a project of this type and size is almost impossible, but the costs of the premiums are now so expensive.  Deployment of objects to the artificial reef site has been suspended until the insurance issue is investigated further, and public liability insurance has been obtained.  This is a great pity because the association has just been granted a new 5-year permit, only to find that time is being wasted while this is being sorted out.   BADARAI can only hope that the Australian government will bring some semblance of sanity back to the industry, to allow it to get on with the job of building an artificial reef equal to or better than any in the world...

January, 2002:  Latest news from the Bundaberg and District Artificial Reef Association Incorporated is that BADARAI has now been granted a 5-year permit to place similar objects of like size and materials to those which are already in place on the Cochrane Artificial Reef.  Along with this new permit comes a new monitoring programme that must be followed if BADARAI is to be granted other long term permits in the future. 

Prior to the new permit being granted, permits had to be obtained for every object to be placed, and monitoring had to be done four times each year.  This usually resulted in a great deal of time being wasted waiting for permits to be granted (often up to 6 months), and also during times of adverse weather conditions, it was almost impossible at times to adhere to the monitoring requirements.

The 5-year permit now allows BADARAI to concentrate on the job at hand, and that is to create an artificial reef equal to or better than any Australia, or even the world.  Monitoring can now be carried out on one weekend each year (usually on or as soon as possible after the first weekend in August).  On this weekend, four teams of two divers must complete two dives each, during which they perform fish counts and identification, recording the data as they go.  They must also photograph particular identifiable sections of certain objects.  These photographs, along with the data are sent to the relevant government departments in Canberra for analysis.  From the information gathered, standards can be set for the creation of other artificial reefs in the future.

Dive Log:  Rodger Cowell  -  Date:  5th December, 2001
Tour of wreck with Becky and Steve.  Even though choppy on the surface, my best dive to date on Art Reef.  It just keeps getting better.  Huge schools of baitfish trying to use the wreck for cover while being preyed on by schools of mackerel, some quite large. Perhaps 15–20 very large estuary cod doing the rounds looking for the scraps.  Cod very approachable, some able to be gently stroked.  Also very friendly large Blue Tuskfish, big Slateys, Mangrove Jacks and large Coral Trout.  Other divers saw Turtles and Groper.  Highlight was an 8-foot-long billfish under the boat.  Fantastic.

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** This page last updated on  25th October, 2003. **