Marine

Worldwide, seaweed cultivation and utilisation are multi-billion dollar industries, yet Australasia plays little role in either. This is set to change, with growing interest in using our coastal and offshore waters to produce seaweeds that will not only provide high-value products for global markets, but will help mitigate human carbon emissions both directly through products that lower methane emissions and indirectly through long term carbon sequestration.

David Waterhouse. Lord Howe Island is a special place and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage property in 1982 in recognition of the global significance of the Island’s beauty and biodiversity. The Island’s isolation and its varied landscape are home to many unique and endemic species. Although Islands only make up a small proportion of available landmass, 61% of recorded species extinctions since the 16th Century have occurred on Islands. The pressure of invasive species has already been linked to the extinction of at least 5 bird species, two plant species, and 13 recorded (although likely much higher) invertebrate species from Lord Howe Island.

A sense of excitement has arrived along with the cold weather as Whyalla kicks off Cuttlefest 2021, a colourful celebration of all things cuttlefish. The Giant Australian Cuttlefish (sepia apama) swarm into rocky areas off the Whyalla coast during May, June, July and August to mate and reproduce, in the process creating a remarkable spectacle of cunning games, underwater lightshows and colourful kaleidoscopic displays.

A turtle that was found trapped in a crab pot in the Torres Strait has been rehabilitated and released back into the wild. After four long years, a group of wildlife carers were overwhelmed with emotion as they finally released a turtle which had been found as a juvenile.

Visitors at the Le Harvre Natural History Museum in France will get to witness artwork from Erub (Darnley) Island in the Torres Strait after last week’s exhibition opening. Erub artists were pleased to once again work with curator Geraldine Le Roux on an ambitious ghost net project.

A helicopter survey along the east coast of Cape York has revealed the extent of plastic pollution in the region. Commissioned by the Tangaroa Blue Foundation as part of the ReefClean program, the survey identified 2882 plastic floats, 211 ghost nets, 147 long line beacons and 234 fish attracting devices among thousands of items of plastic pollution.

The McCullochs anemonefish (Amphiprion mccullochi) is an endemic species which only occurs in waters around Lord Howe Island, Elizabeth Reef and Middleton Reef. The Lord Howe Island lagoon supports the world’s largest population - approximately 75% of all McCullochs anemonefish – and is therefore a critical area for monitoring this species.

Shire of Ashburton are thrilled that the Neil and Judy Baker Shell Museum opens this week in Onslow ... “Council has supported and worked hard to be able to showcase the impressive shell collection from residents Neil and Judy Baker so that it can be enjoyed by tourists and the community for decades to come”, said Councillor White. “Accumulated for over 60 years, most of the shells have been collected from the waters and islands surrounding Onslow, with others coming from Europe as collector items.

Rockhampton Regional Council is excited to host the national touring exhibition Submerged – Stories of Australia’s Shipwrecks at the Northside Library from 24 May - 4 June and from 7 June - 30 June at Rockhampton Regional Library on the south side ... “68 shipwreck stories were nominated by 46 maritime museums and heritage institutions from around Australia with 14 of the most compelling stories selected to feature in the exhibition,” Communities and Heritage Councillor Drew Wickerson said.

Cape York residents are being encouraged to help clean up the Peninsula’s beaches this year as Tangaroa Blue celebrates 10 years working in the region. Since 2011, the Tangaroa Blue Foundation has run annual beach clean-ups, with the first ever held at Chilli Beach, north of Lockhart River.

Researchers Andrew Baird and Tom Bridge from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University and Queensland Museum Network recently visited to document the biodiversity of corals in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park, accompanied by field assistants Matt Curnock and Duan Briggs. Andrew and Tom are key members of Project Phoenix, an international collaboration seeking to re-invent hard coral taxonomy, using both old methods and new technologies.

A major fuel rupture on a Sea Swift vessel will cause freight chaos in Cape York and the Torres Strait over the coming weeks. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has suspended MV Trinity Bay, the main barge for Weipa, pending a full investigation into the cause of the diesel spill, which leaked into the living quarters on the vessel.

FRDC. An historic, Traditional Fishing Agreement has been signed between the Narungga Nation in South Australia and the South Australian Government.

This turtle nesting season, Sunshine Coast TurtleCare volunteers have been gifted with three separate visits from a special tagged (K90712) loggerhead turtle known as Mystify, who has laid her eggs at Buddina beach. Volunteers suspect that she lives close to the Sunshine Coast as she returns frequently to lay eggs – the normal or expected interval is four years, but Mystify returns every one or two years.

This "Seas of Change" will take you on a 35-year journey in 2 minutes, highlighting how the Northern Prawn Fishery recognised in 1985 that sustainability needs to be a never-ending process.

... Little Penguins are the smallest penguin species, breeding along the coastlines of southern mainland Australia and New Zealand. The penguin that arrived on the shores of Lord Howe Island was, therefore, a long way from home and was most likely helped along by strong ocean currents. This time of year, Little Penguins shed and replace their feathers before the next breeding season, and this particular penguin was a young bird going through its first moult. While moulting, their new feathers are not waterproof and they are especially vulnerable, so it is incredibly lucky that this penguin survived the long ocean voyage to Lord Howe Island.

Malcolm Prowse. World leading mariculture expert, Dr Brian Von Herzen has just been granted a special talent visa to Australia and has set up his organisation's focus of operations in South East Queensland.

Dodging crocs and sharks, divers from Weipa will this week start work on removing 13 vessels from the waters around Seisia and the Torres...

NSW Department of Primary Industries - Lord Howe Island Marine Park News Researchers Jonathon Mitchell and Victoria Camillieri-Asch from The University of Western Australia will...

Lord Howe Island Signal Lord Howe Island (LHI) resident Caitlin Woods is in the final year of her PhD and is well underway analysing and...