Suzie Christensen, Lord Howe Island Board, The Lord Howe Island Signal

Recent heavy rain on the eastern coast of New South Wales provided some unprecedented challenges for our biosecurity team both on and off the Island. The Hastings River rose very high and ran fresh for some time. Potentially tens of thousands of frogs were washed out of the surrounding lands and found themselves searching for refuge. Now, if you were a frog, where would you go? It seems the logical choice for our amphibian friends was the giant green lily pad also known as the Island Trader.

Of course, Murphy’s Law would also see the timing of this rain event coincide with ship loading week. Our Biosecurity Team Leader, Chris Birmingham, was on hand at the Birdon facility to witness this first hand and the challenges it provided our biosecurity contractors at Port. ‘Frog patrol” became an almost hourly ritual as dozens of frogs sought to make the Trader (and perhaps Lord Howe Island) their new home. Over the course of the week a couple of hundred frogs were removed from all parts of the Trader, but especially the green and yellow parts. As fast as would we could remove them they would reappear. It seemed they might never stop!

Fortuitously, the departure of the ship was delayed by bad weather allowing more time for searching freight and the ship. Birdon employees and Trader crew also became expert frog spotters and it was great to have their eyes on the job too.

Inspection and search routines were increased at the Island end, and searches revealed a couple of frogs that had evaded detection, while a final one was found on a mail container after an indication by one of our wonderful detection dog teams. Every piece of freight coming off the ship was subjected to an increased level of scrutiny. All up we found 5 frogs at the Lord Howe Island end, 3 live and 2 who did not so fare so well on the high seas. A further frog was discovered by a local chef in their cool room! Many thanks to them for doing the right thing and reporting it to Board staff upon discovery.

Considering the magnitude of the frog event we consider this a great outcome. Thanks to all involved, including Birdon staff, at both ends, a great team effort. The protection of the Lord Howe environment is a shared responsibility across the community and it is great to see this kind of reaction to any new discoveries.

This article appeared in The Lord Howe Island Signal, 30 April 2022.