“A little bit of passion will get you a long way,” says Don Love from the Friends of Beware Reef diving group.

This page is a tribute to the passion of Don and colleagues John Ariens, Alan Wilkins and Ben Love who spent over three years diving, monitoring and photographing the Lakes’ amazing underwater world.

Their efforts covered large areas of the Gippsland Lakes to help more fully understand and showcase the dynamic and challenging nature of the environment that lies below the water.

“It’s a bit of an unknown treasure for a lot of people so I hope the work we’ve been doing will help people realise just how special the Gippsland Lakes are and also, perhaps not take them so much for granted,” said Don.

“When people see the photos of things like the Giant Spider Crab, colourful sea slugs (Nudibranchs) and Pipefish, they assume the pictures were taken in Queensland or some other tropical setting rather than the, often overlooked, Gippsland Lakes.

The Friends of Beware Reef Diving Group conducted more than 200 dives at more than 60 sites ranging from Sperm Whale Head through to Lakes Entrance.

Use the map to explore the dive sites and marine life they found. Simply select a site and scroll through the images and sighting locations that showcase how diverse the Lakes’ underwater world is.