Honda reinforces enduring environmental commitment via Sea World partnership

Honda’s enduring environmental commitment

Honda Australia’s commitment to protecting the marine environment has been further reinforced via the extension of its long-standing professional association with Sea World on the Gold Coast, Australia.

The partnership between the world’s largest engine manufacturer and Australia’s favourite marine theme park is currently in its eighth year, with both parties recently signing an agreement for a further two years.

Honda marine manager Chris Schultz said the environmental performance of Honda’s four-stroke outboards remained a perfect match for Sea World’s stringent environmental requirements.

“Exceeding the world’s emission standards, Honda outboards are used throughout the park in the amazing ‘Imagine’ dolphin show, the hilarious ‘Fish Detectives’ sea lion show and the ‘Pirates Unleashed’ stunt,” Mr Schultz said.

“Honda is also a proud partner of the Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation (SWRRFI) and provides the twin Honda BF150 outboard motors to power the research vessel, Sea World 2… the reliability and speed of these engines allows the Sea World team to reach stranded and sick marine life as quickly as possible.

“Sea World’s highly-skilled staff is always on hand with resources and specialised equipment to ensure rescue operations can be initiated quickly, efficiently and – with Honda’s assistance – with minimal impact on the environment.”

The renewed agreement comes on the announcement that Sea World has again teamed up with the University of Queensland to conduct cutting-edge dugong research.

The latest program, which was recently conducted in Moreton Bay, involved sampling the wild dugong population by lifting a selection of dugongs out of the water and taking a comprehensive series of blood and tissue samples. With additional assistance from Sydney Aquarium and Toronga Western Plains Zoo, around 20 wild dugongs were sampled.

The samples taken from the wild dugongs are currently being compared to that of dugongs in captivity to monitor the species’ annual reproductive capacity.