Marine

A magistrate has suspended the rock lobster fishing licence of a Yanchep man and prohibited him from being on any vessel used for rock lobster fishing for six months. In Joondalup Court on January 6 the 33-year-old man was also issued with fines, penalties and court costs totalling $11,014.30 for unlawfully interfering with fishing gear and selling recreationally caught lobster.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s now famous poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ embodies the seaman’s superstition ... somewhat bizarrely, whilst researching the story of the Lord Howe Sylph through various newspaper reports in the 1850s, 60s and 70s, I was somewhat (superstitiously?) struck by the proportionately high number of Sylphs that sailed into deeply troubled waters in those decades.

In Australia in 2022 we saw pink sunsets. The evening of 14 December 2022 was one such occasion. Those who follow the heavens might see this as a sign of an auspicious new year present for us all ... The question is what impact Tonga Hunga might have on earth’s weather or climate?

Aquaculture has continued its steady growth within the Australian seafood industry, according to the latest edition of ABARES Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said the aquaculture sector has continued its recent growth, accounting for 56 per cent of the total gross value of fisheries production (GVP).

The fur seal spent three months in rehabilitation at Sea World before being released outside the heads of Sydney Harbour last week. It was a great success, with tracking data showing Skip travelled 100 km south within the first 24 hours, and he’s currently swimming about 130 km south of the NSW-Victoria border, an impressive 550 km from where he was released.

Matt Blakers sees the seasons through a photographer's lens and each season has a unique signature that it scribes across the sea. Spring is playful, even flirtatious, and writes with a light hand.  The waves are smaller with a soft and inviting luminescence. Summer, by contrast, writes with a pen packed full of colour, casting hues from a palette of blues and golds. The falling lips of the waves are lighter, the sunsets are brighter and the water is warmer ... But it’s big waves that excite Matt the most ...

February is when our first turtle hatchling emerges from its nest beneath the sand. Before that happens, Sunshine Coast Council is calling on our community to come together to tidy up their local beach as part of the 9th annual Clean up for the Hatchlings event on Saturday, February 4, 2023 ... Volunteers can register now to pick up litter at various beach locations between Noosa and Caloundra from 6am to 7.30am.

Sarah Martin. Seasoned sailors have warned of the importance of remote telecommunications and being prepared following a freak storm that left dozens of yachts damaged at Lizard Island. Watson’s Bay, a popular anchorage on the northern side of Lizard Island and home to some of the world’s most pristine reefs, had about 25 vessels anchored when a freak storm with winds over 100km/h burst in from the north.

The whites run when juvenile western rock lobsters undergo a synchronised moult in late spring actually starts in the Two Rocks to Cervantes region before getting underway later in northern areas such as Kalbarri. During the whites run recreational fishers, who need a licence, flock to the Two Rocks marina and other areas so they can head out to check their pots.

As a consequence of a powerful storm on Melbourne Cup Day (Tuesday 1st November), the marine rescue vessel, MV Fearless, broke its mooring and was beached on east side of Blackburn Island.

On the evening of 2nd of July 1963, Pacific Chieftain was moored overnight - just south of Blackburn Island - when a gale snapped its mooring and the aircraft was washed up near Windy Point.

It’s been an egg-cellent start to the Sunshine Coast turtle nesting season, with six nests laid in seven days. At sunrise on Friday, November 25, expert citizen scientist and Turtle Care volunteer Lesley Dimmock spotted the first turtle tracks on Buddina beach.

The Sunshine Coast citizen science program is growing, and council is calling on our community for their ideas. Citizen science is when people volunteer their time to partner with researchers to increase scientific knowledge and collect data about their natural environment.

Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan has launched Dive Ningaloo's new dive charter vessel at an official naming ceremony in Exmouth. The newly restored Lady Ningaloo will provide tourists with access to the underwater wonderland of the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef and Muiron Islands.

A trial will soon begin to see if a technique never before seen on the Sunshine Coast could be used to help replenish Maroochydore Beach ... It involves importing sand from Moreton Bay and placing it in the water, about 300m off the beach. Waves, currents and tides will then deposit the sand onto our beaches providing an additional buffer against future storms and coastal erosion.

This month something particularly exciting washed up on Lagoon beach in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park (LHIMP) – a small cuttlefish which had died in recent storms. It was found by visiting researcher Sally Montgomery, and represents the first animal of a Lord Howe Island cuttlefish ever studied.

The future of the Weipa Billfish Club appears to be bright if the results from the club’s annual major tournament are any indication ... The 2022 Hastings Deering Weipa Billfish Tournament attracted 54 anglers in 16 boats, comprising five juniors, 10 women and 39 men.

When English historian, Derek Neville, was researching letters written by David Blackburn, navigator and ‘master’ of the First Fleet vessel Supply, he was disappointed to discover that the small island in the Lagoon at Lord Howe had lost its original name – ‘Blackburn Isle’. This name had been given to it by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball in March, 1788, when the very first landing was made at Lord Howe.

New fishery management arrangements for Spanish mackerel will be introduced from October this year, helping to restore depleted stocks and protect good jobs in the fishing industry for generations to come. The changes will mean two three-week closed seasons in waters off the state’s north starting in October 2022, and two three-week closed seasons in southern waters starting in February 2023.

Marine ecosystems and coastal communities will benefit from increased investment and restoration projects as a result of the new NSW Blue Carbon Strategy ... “The simplest way to understand blue carbon is to liken it to underwater forests – just as trees store carbon, marine and coastal plants and ecosystems do too, except even more efficiently” : Minister for Environment, James Griffin.

Offshore wind turbines are getting bigger every year, a trend that already helps offshore wind reduce costs all over the world. Whilst recent research suggests that costs will continue to dip as wind turbines get bigger and are deployed further offshore, the challenges to the design of the floating platform that supports the wind turbine increase.