Following the success of the Living Seawalls project, different colour panels have now been installed at Kurraba Point, Hayes St and McMahons Point to see if this has a benefit for biodiversity.
Seaweeds and invertebrates live close to their thermal limits and flat, man-made seawalls provide them with little to no shelter from the sun during low tides.
Over the next 12 months, SIMs will monitor whether the colour of the panels, which can create microclimates in their crevices up to 10oC lower than on flat surfaces, can help increase and support biodiversity. It is expected the cooler white panels, which have lower absorption and higher reflection of solar irradiance, will support more biodiversity than the hotter black surfaces.