Money raised from Brisbane brewery Ballistic’s series of Reef beers have gone towards supporting manta ray research on the Southern Great Barrier Reef.
Ballistic’s purchase of a SPLASH satellite tag for the University of Queensland’s Project Manta follows the brewery’s pledge last year that 10c from every Reef beer sold at the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort would go towards the initiative that researches manta rays on Australia’s East Coast.
The purchased tag has now been attached to a pregnant manta ray and it will track her movements over the next few months. You can follow that journey here via the Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef’s live tracking site.
Ballistic’s CEO David Kitchen said: “Regional communities are the beating heart of Queensland and we know that if we want to become Queensland’s favourite craft beer, we need to expand beyond Brisbane. As our commitment to these regional communities, we want to support causes that are important to locals, like protecting the Reef”.
Lady Elliot Island is an important aggregation site for manta rays, with over 1,000 individuals recorded in its waters in the last 15 years.
“Since 2007, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort has supported the Project Manta research team and… Lady Elliot Island has proven to be a prime site for manta ray activity and is integral to the important research undertaken. We are excited by this partnership with Ballistic Beer Co. and the local community. This type of collaboration helps in creating public awareness about manta rays and their fragile reef environment. In doing so, we hope that future generations can continue to enjoy viewing these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat,” Peter Gash said who is the managing director/custodian at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort.