Joanne showing us the template
that will help us paint the yellow
fish. Bryce Ross-Jones of Palm
Beach Progress association came
to help launch this Project.

On Wednesday 21st October 1998 a team of students from Elanora Heights Primary School met with Joanne Tulau from Pittwater Council and launched the Yellow Fish Road Project in the Pittwater area.

Two members of the Palm Beach Progress Association arrived - it was their group who had suggested that Pittwater Council support the Yellow Fish Road Project.

In the Yellow Fish Road Project we paint bright yellow fish on stormwater drains. This is to remind people that anything that goes down this drain can end up in the water where fish are trying to live.

Plastic bags are particularly dangerous - they look like jellyfish in the sea and they can choke marine creatures to death.

The first drain we looked at had
cigarette packets and other rubbish in it.

We were rather disgusted about
the rubbish in the gutter.

The idea for the Yellow Fish Road Project came from Canada. There was a chemical spill in the drains in British Columbia that killed many marine creatures.

A group of residents began painting yellow fish on drains to remind people not to put pollutants down the drain.

Chemicals in stormwater can kill fish!

First we needed to learn how to use the spraycan and the template. Pittwater Council decided to have three fish in the template and we all hope people will come to recognise this symbol.

The fish are in the shape of black bream which live in the ocean near here. We are fortunate to have many beaches along this coast line.

Joanne showed us what to do.

Testing wind direction

We had to be careful not to spray our shoes or any parked cars. Laurie Seaman from Palm Beach Progress Association showed us how to test which way the wind was blowing.

If your finger is wet, you can feel the water evaporating on the side of your finger that faces the wind.

Here are the yellow fish on the drain. We hope all citizens will come to recognise these fish as a symbol for protecting the environment. We hope all people will dispose thoughtfully of their rubbish, their toxic waste and their plastic bags.

The Manly Daily published an article about this program and about our involvement in it.