The Community Environment Network (CEN) Platypus Watch program has secured funding to conduct eDNA testing for platypus in the Ourimbah Creek Catchment and it needs the community’s help.
“Central Coast Platypus Watch is excited to announce the location of our next study site will be Ourimbah Creek Catchment,” Platypus Watch coordinator Meg Rice said.
“Following the success of the pilot study in the Wyong River, CEN has been successful in securing funding to undertake eDNA testing for platypus and a range of workshops with community members within the Ourimbah Creek Catchment.
“As part of the program, CEN will carry out free land management assessments at selected landholders’ properties.
“Land management plans will include targeted remediation works, and the opportunity for landholders to work with our bush regeneration team at their property to enhance platypus habitat along the waterway.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the community to get involved with platypus conservation.
“By testing the waterways around local properties, we can identify platypus hotspots and implement simple steps to protect this iconic species and its habitat.”
The results from the initial study in the Wyong River catchment were very promising, detecting a strong presence of platypus.
The study detected platypus at six of the 14 sites tested in the catchment during the 2024 breeding season, while a further five sites showed indicators of platypus presence but fell outside the parameters required for positive classification.
Working with landholders across the Wyong River Catchment, Central Coast Platypus Watch trained community members in the process of collecting eDNA samples for the purpose of the study.
“Enviro DNA is a brilliant and non-invasive technique which allows us to obtain DNA fragments by collecting samples from the environment which, in this case, is water,” Rice said.
DNA can enter the water column when aquatic animals excrete urine or faeces, or when they groom themselves and shed their skin or fur.
This makes the platypus the perfect candidate for sampling, because they toilet in the water as well as spend a large portion of time grooming themselves while swimming or floating.
They also have exposed areas of skin on their feet and bills, which can shed fragments of skin when they brush against rocks and submerged branches while the animals are feeding.
The DNA fragments that enter the water can be present for variable lengths of time but eDNA degrades or becomes undetectable quickly, so its detection is generally linked to recent activity at the site.
Central Coast Platypus Watch will hold an information session about the project on Saturday, August 9.
To register your interest in attending and being a part of the project visit www.cen.org.au/events
To find out more about Central Coast Platypus Watch, visit cen.org.au/projects/platypus-watch/ or email meg.rice@cen.org.au
