Ocean Lovers Festival | Seabirds to Seascapes Trail

As part of the 2025 Ocean Lovers Festival, join us for the Seabirds to Seascapes Trail, an educational half-day excursion where participants can immerse themselves in the Seabirds to Seascapes Program.

The program is a four-year initiative led by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, dedicated to protecting, rehabilitating, and sustainably managing New South Wales’s natural marine ecosystems. Launched in August 2022, this program unites three pivotal initiatives: Project Restore, The Great Big Little Penguin Count, and the Seal Survey.

Attendees of this excursion will have the unique opportunity to explore the program's efforts up close.

The excursions are scheduled for Wednesday, 5 March and Wednesday, 12 March 2025, each accommodating a group of up to 50 people.

The day begins with a 9am departure on a ferry from the Eastern Pontoon at Circular Quay, arriving at Chowder Bay Wharf to visit the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS). Here, participants will enjoy a 45-minute tour to learn about Project Restore. Visitors will then reboard the ferry to head to Taronga Zoo and learn more about the seal and penguin research conducted at Taronga under the Seabirds to Seascapes program. The excursion concludes with free time for guests to explore Taronga at their leisure and make their way home independently.

Tickets are $10 per person (plus booking fee) and is limited to four tickets per person. Your ticket includes transport on a ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo via Chowder Bay and general admission to Taronga Zoo. Tickets will go on sale at 9am on Monday, 10th February 2025.

Funds raised from this excursion will be donated to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, allowing Taronga to continue to breed threatened species, carry on vital scientific research and deliver conservation programs here in Australia and across the globe.

Please note tickets are non-refundable.

Seabirds to Seascapes, funded by the NSW Environmental Trust, is supported by project partners the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Meeting point: Eastern Pontoon (see map below) at 08.30am