Cartoon to help protect Reef

WITH the help of a cartoon mudskipper named Mobi, Cairns school students are learning about protection of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

The $1.66 million pilot project aims to protect the Reef from urban storm water runoff through smart sensors and cameras which monitor the quality of water flowing through Saltwater Creek.

Mobi the Mudskipper is the lead character in a series of free online education tools, initially developed by James Cook University IT students as part of a work placement with the Smart Catchments: Saltwater Creek, Smart Cities and Suburbs project.

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said it was great to see an innovative pilot project come to fruition and continue to benefit Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.

“This project was a truly collaborative effort, between different levels of governments, education, industry and the community,” he said.

“This study encourages residents to identify how they can avoid and reduce pollutants entering waterways and take actions that support sustainable, healthy water in our region and reduce any environmental impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.

“Council will use the data to improve our own infrastructure and ensure we are true to our title as a Reef Guardian Council.”

The project is a collaboration between Cairns Regional Council, James Cook University, Wet Tropics Healthy Waterways and Itron Australasia.

Live data relating to Saltwater Creek can be accessed at the Cairn Regional Council website under the “waterwaste-roads” tab.