Marine

Serena Kirby. A rare specimen of a ruby seadragon, found washed up at Ocean Beach, has piqued the interest of experts at the WA Museum. The pristine body of the seadragon was the lucky find of Annika Engstrom who regularly walks the beach picking up rubbish and plastics.

The start of the popular salmon run along the State's west and south coasts this month is hotly anticipated by Western Australian fishers but carries with it an increased risk of shark encounter, with ocean users reminded to put safety first.

Gabrielle Duykers. A unique Kingston art project will see participants fashion miniature lobsters out of ocean rubbish, in the hopes of increasing public understanding on the dangers of plastic pollution. The project is part of the Fringe on Tour Festival which will visit the coastal community from March 4 to March 6.

A patch of underwater land in the Gulf of Carpentaria could hold several trillion cubic feet of natural gas or hundreds of millions of barrels of oil – at least that’s what a company with the rights to drill it for exploration is saying.

A proposal to expand the Marmion marine park will if adopted result in the marine park’s boundary starting north of Two Rocks, according to information released by the Parks and Wildlife Service. At present the Marmion marine park, which occupies about 9500ha, is situated between Trigg Island and Burns Rocks.

Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Resources Paul Toole has announced the NSW Government will not support commercial applications for offshore mineral, coal or petroleum exploration or mining, in or adjacent to, NSW coastal waters.

For two years, Wayne Finch has been searching for a suitable site for a maritime museum in Kyogle. And he has found it ... Wayne's father, Frank Finch OAM, served at sea for 46 years and when he returned to Kyogle, his home became a homage to his love of life at sea.

“Sea spurge is now reappearing in NSW, this time in more regional and remote areas of NSW, and we suspect it’s spreading from Victorian and Tasmanian beaches .... A spraying program is underway, using a highly specific biocontrol agent of sea spurge, a fungus, which is native to France" : James Griffin, NSW Environment Minister.

Responding to the oil spill at the Port of Devonport has been a mammoth task, but years of planning and preparation meant multiple agencies were able to act quickly to contain the spill. The Environment Protection Authority, TasPorts, BridgePro, Tasmanian Divers Group, Marine and Safety Tasmania, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have all have worked in unison since a commercial vessel collided with two tugboats on January 28, causing fuel and oil to spill into the Mersey River.

International ships arriving in Australian waters will see a change in how they manage biofouling in 2022. DAWE Deputy Secretary Andrew Tongue said a change in biofouling policy would have flow-on effects for international shipping.

At 3:10pm AEDT on Saturday 15 January 2022 the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano (near Tonga) erupted with a blast so powerful that it caused a shock wave that was heard on Lord Howe Island that evening and reached the other side of the planet.

Consumers are increasingly demanding proof of their seafood’s sustainability and they are turning to a range of seafood certifications, rating programs and indexes to inform their purchases. Globally, there is a growing number of initiatives to guide consumers. But they are not all created equal, nor do they measure and report on the same parameters.

Australia’s history is populated with maritime related stories. With over 1,000 rivers and a coast that stretches for more than 36,000 kilometres, it is no surprise that Australia abounds with stories of people who have lived and worked on the water. This exhibition presents some of those stories, exploring the remarkable connections between people and their boats.

Geoff Helisma. The NSW Government is adding drumlines into its mix of anti-shark measures along the state’s coastline. Last week at Yamba, Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis met with Paul Butcher, principal research scientist with NSW Department of Primary Industries, to mark the installation of 15 SMART (Shark Management Alert in Real Time) drumlines, which will be deployed daily between Iluka Bluff and Angourie Back Beach.

John McNamara and Sue Spence. Strolling across the grassy threshold of Pilot Hill towards the lighthouse you feel you are entering a timeless realm steeped in history and unspoilt natural beauty. The stark white tower is a spectacular sight up close, especially when you look up at it against a bright blue sky; it defies its humble beginning. When the Pilot Station was established in 1854 crossing the river bar was a major obstacle to navigation.

The bottom of your kitchen draw isn’t where you would expect to find award winning art, but Darren O’Brien did. The Glenwood resident took out top spot in the open category at the 2021 Waste to Art Competition with Bitza, the junk yard dog who represented the problem of rubbish in our oceans ... Darren described Bitza as a “big pile of crap” and that creating the work had been a labour of love.

I first came to Lord Howe Island via Middleton Reef on board my friends prawn trawler “Sea Dreamer” in 1975. Unfortunately, the “Sea Dreamer” was wrecked on the Clarence River Bar with loss of life of my friend in 1979. Yamba was the home port for “Sea Dreamer”.

Lord Howe Island Marine Park staff have recently commenced a trial of environmentally friendly mooring designs to reduce impacts on coral and seagrass in the lagoon. There are 11 courtesy day-use moorings in the Lord Howe Island lagoon which are maintained by the Lord Howe Island Marine Park ... These moorings were originally installed as traditional block and chain swing moorings, which can limit the growth of coral and seagrass within the mooring footprint.

The immediate need for the development of a Desalination Plant on the Eyre Peninsula was fully supported by the District Council of Cleve at its November Council meeting. However, the Council also decided that it does not support SA Water’s proposed location of Billy Light’s Point in Boston Bay, Port Lincoln.

Greg Westcott. More than 40 years on from the demolition of the historic Portland Roads jetty, the community is divided by persistent lobbying by a minority of local property owners for the construction of a rock wall and boat ramp that, when completed, will extend out from “the point” about 190 metres into deep water.

NSW Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall has today taken aim at the Animal Justice Party (AJP) for recklessly threatening the future of the state’s invaluable fishing industry. Mr Marshall said he would not entertain the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment (Aquatic Animal Recognition) Bill 2021 tabled before Parliament by the radical group.