During an afternoon on the water in Forster on Sunday, December 30, Christine Rasmussen was treated to sight of a passing fever of stingrays while her children had ducked off to get their own treat.

“I took a pic for the kids,” Christine said.

“But when they came back with the ice cream the stingrays had gone.”

She was set up at the end of the jetty behind Wharf Street, Forster when the amazing sight filled the water below her.

“They floated in and past in a fluid motion without stopping twice in the hour we were there,” she said.

“It’s a testament to the water quality and the improvements that have been made over recent years.”

Christine grew up near Gloucester and spent a lot of time visiting the waters of the Forster-Tuncurry.

“When I was a child, we would spot the odd dolphin on the high new year tides surfing in between the breakwall,” she said.

“Now, there is a dolphin seen every time we cross the bridge.”

As for seeing 100s of stingray grace the waters around her, she feels honoured.

There aren’t very many people she knows who have seen a sight like that.

With the high winds lashing the beaches over the weekend, lots of people were taking advantage of the Wallis Lake side for a bit of swimming, kayaking and boating around the island.

Christine said it’s a good feeling to know that tourism has become the “saviour of the marine environment.”

She believes Forster-Tuncurry has one of the most special waterways on the NSW coast.

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