MNLY: The Manly Blog, Sydney Sustainability

Report illegal fishing at Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, Manly

2011-10-25T14:13:00.008+11:00

Illegal fishing, take & chuck Watch Phone Line at Cabbage Tree Bay ‘No-Take’ Aquatic Reserve
Unlawful fishing activities can be reported 24/7 on the hotline

Pacific Black Ducks

2011-09-16T19:10:00.002+10:00

Pacific Black Ducks Anas superciliosa in Manly

Fossil Fuel Beach Rake and Beach Vegetation

2011-06-17T19:43:00.006+10:00

Fossil fuel machinery ensuring no beach stabilising vegetation takes hold of the eroding beach. The tractor-drawn beach rake destroys the endemic flora/habitat, but leaves most of the plastic and cement rubble behind. A tidy event space!Carpobrotus glaucescens, (Pigface)
See also
Anxious settlers awaiting tool supplies brought in by ships from the motherland 0611

World Oceans Day at Manly Beach

2011-06-08T14:05:00.006+10:00

Fossil fuel footprint on Manly Beach. More CO2 vessels on the horizon, large polluting ships going for the harbour
Plastic debris left by careless people to kill marine life

Sooty Oystercatcher

2011-05-31T16:03:00.006+10:00

A rare visit from a Sooty Oystercatcher at Shelly Beach headland Off leash dog got rid of shorebird. 31052011

Four Sooty Oystercatchers foraging at Manly Beach today http://tinyurl.com/3ne9de2 birds shorebirds habitat Haematopus No-Take zones Rain wild, rising ocean 01062011

Long-nosed Bandicoots of North Head Manly

2011-05-11T19:11:00.006+10:00

2010 8 killed, May 2011 7 known bandicoots killed
Vehicles rush in 'to get a view' on North Head 'Scenic Drive'. They park for free or take their dogs for walks. Pet rabbits are also being 'freed' and mingle with the giant rabbit population denuding the National Park. Free range pets, motor vehicles and urban intensification contribute to the declining populations of this endangered species.

Ban Fishing on Crowded Urban Beaches - Marine Reserves

2011-01-08T22:05:00.013+11:00

Each year there are fewer Crested Terns visiting Manly Beach.

More and more fishermen line up along the urban beach. Booze-free zone. Stinking garbage, dead fish, dangerous hooks and plastic junk are left behind.
A Crested Tern mother had a chick which she hid amongst the Seagulls. Returning from her feeding trip, she was in distress, trying unsuccessfully to regurgitate - a fishing hook and nylon string. Various phone calls were made to volunteer organisations with long waiting loops. Had it been a precious dog, there would have been a swift service. It is unknown if the dependent chick or the mother survived. But then it's all about beach as a tidy and profitable playground for humans. Wildlife, especially shorebirds, are not granted a habitat.

More birds killed by fishing hooks and fishing lines at Manly Beach

Ban fishing on urban beaches. Make Manly beach and the Northern beaches a marine park.

Tweets on sharing the planet with other species

2010-11-06T15:16:00.014+11:00

Biodiversity or kicking others off the planet:
#Endangered #orchid - #Habitat loss due to #clearing for more highway for more cars http://tinyurl.com/2dtqf2u #biodiversity #NSW Bulahdelah 05222010 2

'#Biodiversity summit won't stop anyone trashing the #planet' http://tinyurl.com/2e2e6p6 #CBD #convention #diversity TEEB monetize #nature 04112010

'A mobile command centre for maiming #wildlife' http://tinyurl.com/26ufxhf combat #biodiversity aussie utes #militarization_of_civil_society 05112010

Thing happen where #hunting & #fishing enthusiasts #encroach on #wildlife #habitat http://tinyurl.com/265btjt #poaching #National #Park meat 03112010

It is spineless to kick many of the world's vertebrates off the planet http://tinyurl.com/2fjyjlo #biodiversity #monoculture species #legacy 27102010

'More species slide to #extinction' BBC 2010: http://tinyurl.com/2fsgr49 2006: http://tinyurl.com/2blorrl #biodiversity habitat #change poss 27102010

"Habitat loss overexploitation pollution disease & human induced climate change are the factors driving extinctions" http://tinyurl.com/2d6hwro 21102010

Mass #extinction as a strategy Obliteration of the planet's species at a rate at least 1,000 x faster than normal http://tinyurl.com/2csybv4 10202010

From failure to #failure #Copenhagen here, #biodiversity (#CBD) there http://tinyurl.com/3yfllaz stop #extinction stop #habitat grab dysfctn 19102010

The Nagoya Access & Benefit Sharing Protocol PDF http://tinyurl.com/2b3d3ur #biodiversity share cake #biopiracy #CBD #COP10 #ABS North-South 19102010

"We are about to reach a threshold beyond which #biodiversity loss will become irreversible” http ://tinyurl.com/32oztpk mortgaging kids future 18102010

Wildlife Human Interface
Ranger rescues #crocodile from people http://tinyurl.com/2b2h3uo Sanctuary Lakes Palmerston #biodiversity baby freshie #wildlife crime au 19102010

#North Head #wildlife without a billboard for #roadkill: Squashed by #motorists today: 1 Ringtail Possum & 1 Bearded Dragon SydneyHarbNatPrk 05222010 2

Birds
Rainbow #Lorikeets feeding on red Callistemons, Sulphur-crested #Cockatoos feeding on the seeds of Brush Box #birds urban #trees #Manly 28102010

Nice to hear the #koel overpower the roaring #traffic for a while audio: http://tinyurl.com/388a665 #birds #pollution #Manly Eudynamys 27102010

Sub-Antarctic #birds killed with #brodifacoum on #Macquarie Island http://tinyurl.com/2d6aja t do no harm #restoration human-introd predators 23102010

On the use of #poison to eradicate #pests: 400 native #birds killed, #Macquarie Island http://tinyurl.com/2awbxke oops #invasive sp Tas #Nps 23102010

#Shelly Beach tide is blooming red #HABs Four #mutton #birds dying on #Manly Beach - out of habitat in long #migratory journey 22102010

The many dead black #birds on #NSW beaches? Think about their lack of #habitat in their transequatorial #migration short-tailed #shearwaters 22102010

#Pelican swallowed three fishing hooks & got entangled in #fishing #debris http://tinyurl.com/29bxqx9 Ban fishing TAKE @ urban coasts #birds 10201020 3

The Butcherbird's song http://tinyurl.com/2fg6msw is drowned out by the ubiquitous debris blowers of Manly http://tinyurl.com/29fftlu #noise 19102010

Manly Penguins
Nice image of a #Little #Penguin #swimming Hope no fossil fuel vessel will shred it apart http://tinyurl.com/2equq6t #Manly #boats #habitat 28102010

Forests - Habitat
Debt ? Just flog off the national ancient #forests http://tinyurl.com/349xz4j #privatisation #climate change #co2 #habitat #wildlife 25102010

Clearing the tropical #rain #forests, destroying the GBR #reef produces the BIG DRY http://tinyurl.com/2453xut RT @mongabay #Australia diy desert 16102010

Bio-diversity vs Mono-culture: Wildlife or exotic companions? Pets
Will Australians invest in #biodiversity or a mono-culture of dogs & cats? http://tinyurl.com/3733upu Extinction http://tinyurl.com/35asr2q 28102010

#Dogs - from #meat to status symbol http://tinyurl.com/2auffju #consuming #pet_owners #feces city #energy #dog_run #wildlife out #pets in 25102010

Invasive species
The #rabbits on #North #Head #NPs look like #pet bunnies & behave like lost family members #erosion #invasive #species #degraded vegetation 03112010 2

Conservation - Do no harm
Sub-Antarctic #birds killed with #brodifacoum on #Macquarie Island http://tinyurl.com/2d6ajat do no harm #restoration human-introd predators 23102010

On the use of #poison to eradicate #pests: 400 native #birds killed, #Macquarie Island http://tinyurl.com/2awbxke oops #invasive sp Tas #Nps 23102010

Only about 2% of the Kimberley state waters will be protected while 98% is still open to mining & fishing http://tinyurl.com/27vqt3n #marine 22102010

Palau can afford its waters to be a #marine mammal #sanctuary for the protection of #whales, #dolphins & #dugongs http://tinyurl.com/2d2l6eb 26102010

"The number of #marine protected areas fall far short of what’s needed 2 save the world’s #oceans" http://tinyurl.com/2uv4u9f CBD marine prk 20102010

Habitat for Flora & Fauna or rec area National Parks
1. they open up NSW #National Prks to bikes, then to hopping mountain bikes, next it'll be the landscape shredder http://tinyurl.com/2fgmyls 18102010

Vandalising the Enviroment - Crimes
"Many #environmental #crimes are dealt with by warning letters or infringement notices." http://tinyurl.com/26wepcu NSW Australia #wildlife 23102010

Images: Shark finning industry, Coffs Harbour, NSW
Healthy gulls with fresh filtered water at Manly

>>More
Tweets on the ocean marine ecosystem

Manly Beach Time Zones

2010-11-05T12:38:00.007+11:00

Manly Beach currently has 3 time zones - South Steyne, North Steyne and Queenscliff. Please adjust your watches as you proceed along the beach. The most reliable chronometer is at the North Steyne pavillion. It tells the correct time twice a day. To set your watch/mobile, please check the time there at 10.20 am or pm on any day. If you are not sure if it is 10.20, just ask someone at the beach. For summer time add one hour.

It is recommended that you pay careful attention to the time zones as beaches are only patrolled at certain exactly defined times. Note that Queenscliff time is usually one hour later than South Steyne time and North Steyne time is identical to South Steyne time and Queenscliff time twice a day respectively at 10.20 am or pm.
If you are unsure which time zone you are in, check for the lines on the sand or ask a local official or resident.

“Manly Beach 1000 miles from care, 3 time zones.”

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Chicago

Water on MNLY Blog

2010-10-16T13:51:00.028+11:00

A compilation of posts on water. Ways of utilising water. As a tip: a cost-effective dump, as 'unintentional' 'run off' or as general human-caused eutrophication of water bodies. Taking risks with public health by polluting the elixir of wet for all life.

Water & public health:
On the use of water and on the creation of dead zones 28082007
The water bodies of the Earth are being used as a cost-effective way to dump the unwanted.

Drinking water and healthy water bodies Pt II 04090207
Sydney's drinking water, we are being told 'is no public health risk'. Some areas of Australian coasts are so polluted, that it “can cause selective inhibition of phytoplankton species”

Drinking water security sewage and emerging bugs Pt III 10092007
"Growing population centres and the inefficient use of water is “the greatest threat to waterways”. Urbanisation, norovirus, disease history

Drinking water, food & health:
Drinking water security, Sydney belly: Cryptosporidiosis, Giardia 17102007
Reducing risks when eating out 21092007
More on Sydney water, Health and Pollution 27092007
Manly restaurants and eateries - a wishlist 13112008

Draining Sub-urbia, 'run off' Eutrophication:
Water chemical mashup over suburbia 23082007
Shelly Beach palm gully creek 20102007

Impervious surfaces, spaces for cars and running toxins in urban heat islands:
The world as a car park - hot and oozing toxins running into our water streams 13092007

Lawns - water guzzling & toxic
Lawn transplants costing the Earth - Manly style 09082007
A mono-culture of petrol and water intensive regime of foreign grasses (lawn), noise, air and soil pollution.
Coastal lawns golf and pesticides 04082005

'Run-off' to Manly Beach, dog feces and chemical cocktails:
Water quality at the beach 09082007
Careless urban sprawl in coastal areas is devouring wetlands and other natural buffers such as dunes and beach grass that would otherwise help filter out dangerous pollution.“ Local beaches are ranked here for both faecal coliforms and enterococci. Some of the waterborne illnesses like gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, respiratory ailments etc. probably hit people 'out of the blue'. Toxic waste such as heavy metals etc also show their effects only after some time.

Suburbs draining toxins into Manly Beach and Lagoon 16012006
Suburbs drain toxins and feces to Manly beach and Manly lagoon as a way of disposing of these unwanted substances cheaply. All the everyday actions of the everyday people are then drained into the non 'my space'. Socialise externalities" Mr Galloway found that concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, copper, lead and zinc in Manly's stormwater exceed ANZECC guidelines for pollutant concentrations in waterways by between two and 168 times."

Draining Manly suburbs pipe at the beach 20102005

Can Manly afford not to share North Head with Penguins? 19102008

Red Tides in the making...
Preventing red tides at Shelly beach, Manly 06102008

Proud to waste water
Wasting water as a life-style 25032007

Desalination mega projects - Water as a commodity
Water and Desalination Factories by M. Barlow 08102008
Privatising water, offshore factories sludge in the ocean
Desalination - A mega project or water conservation and whales 13082008

Mnly tag: water

Blog Action Day 2010 Water, Twitter: blogactionday, #BAD2010

Images: 1. Water sculpture for gathering clouds by the Eora people of the Sydney sandstone region. 2. Ancient drinking trough (for horses ?) in a town square, Lake Constance

Tweets on the Ocean - The Marine Ecosystem

2010-10-15T18:41:00.016+11:00

Ocean industrialisation
16,000 tonnes of #high-risk waste will be on the #ocean from #Sydney to Denmark http://tinyurl.com/2wywb6h #hexachlorobenzene #plastic risk 03112010

Ecological #footprint of factory farming #oceans http://tinyurl.com/22s4za5 unsustainable #fish #marine #seafood #aquaculture #GAPI #slow 28102010

Have #marinas - have #spills http://tinyurl.com/2atsotv #coast #boats #eutrophication #ocean as #fossil fuel #parking #shore line #habitat 25102010

563 km of offshore #wind factories http://tinyurl.com/2572o9o #coast #ocean #habitat #noise #migratory routes #wildlife energy visual impact 20102010

Industrialising the #ocean, shipping lanes & industrial parks. How much #noise can marine mammals take? tinyurl.com/22qwvmm co2 #whale 14102010

6,000 tonnes of solvent off France's #Atlantic #coast. Colliding #ships http://tinyurl.com/29d2nq6 #toxins #ocean neurotoxin #pollution 08102010

Marine Mammals
140 years old #whale stranded, no place to die in peace http://tinyurl.com/2byjxdn bystanders Vejlefjord Copenhagen #marine #mammal #habitat 03112010

Motor #boats shooting in the migratory paths of the #Humpback #whales at #Manly #Beach #habitat #marine #mammals #fossil_fuel 'recreation' 29102010

Where the #boats slowing down & keeping their distance for the #humpback #whales at #North Head ? http://tinyurl.com/25rvyx3 #habitat Manly 28102010

#Whales and #dolphins at the horizon of #Manly Beach. Beach vegetation not run over by terraforming machinery in flower. pigface scaevola 21102010

#Fishing gear traps baby #whale http://tinyurl.com/25xg5aj #humpback #entanglement #ocean junkspace #habitat #marine mammals RT @WhaleLikeMe 10202010

War games in #dugong & #dolphin #habitat http://tinyurl.com/27htec8 #marine mammals #Shoalwater Bay #Great Barrier Reef Marine Park #GBR au 19102010

Two #Humpback #whales slowly passing #Manly beach, threshing their flippers - and no one notices. #marine mammals 18102010

The #Humpback #whale' s #migratory journey is the longest documented movement by a mammal http://tinyurl.com/2dfjrtw #habitat #ocean clutter 19102010

A record number of #humpback #whales have been found dead on the Brazilian coast in 2010 alone http://tinyurl.com/26rafgt #ocean #habitat 15102010

Glue webcam on #seals and let them fetch data in the deep-sea tinyurl.com/28mz7uz Australian invasive #marine science gas oil #ocean 14102010

Ocean clutter and the marine mammals' habitat
Are #ocean vessels, #drilling rigs, desal factories & ROVs cluttering up the #Humpbacks #migratory routes? tinyurl.com/2f2od3e #whales 13102010

#Dugongs out of a habitat Marinas, #boats, fishing entanglement poaching hunting & pollution http://tinyurl.com/2dxv6r2 UNEP/CMS #Australia 09102010

Accelerated fossil fuel traffic in #whale #habitat does not mix tinyurl.com/2epv9xo #Marine Sanctuary #boats wildlife RT @WhaleLikeMe 12102010

The #ocean as a tip #Whale starving stuffed with our junk in it's stomach http://tinyurl.com/348molu junkspace plastic mammal RT @Earth_News about 050120 10

Preview of what an #offshore #wind turbine factory looks like on the horizon.. http://tinyurl.com/3akpuqe #ocean clutter #birds #noise coast 29042010

'Design Flaw Causes Hundreds of Offshore #Wind Turbines to Slide on Their Foundation' http://tinyurl.com/3x8fsnj ocean clutter RT @TreeHugger 29042010

Ocean as a cost-effective dump
In a world of the private motor car train carriages are being #dumped into the #Pacific #Moreton Bay http://tinyurl.com/24ujt5g #ocean #reef Orient Express 16102010

The #ocean as a tip #Whale starving stuffed with our junk in it's stomach http://tinyurl.com/348molu junkspace plastic mammal RT @Earth_News 05052010

Washed Up Whale Found with Gallons of Our Garbage In Its Gut http://bit.ly/csQsdv 21042010 RT @Tree Hugger

Ocean TAKE & dump
Stop trashing the #ocean http://tinyurl.com/386mssv #marine mammals #fishing #junkspace #plastic #Manly #run_off party PR #balloons #boats 06112010

Only about 2% of the Kimberley state waters will be protected while 98% is still open to mining & fishing http://tinyurl.com/27vqt3n #marin conservation rec fishing 22102010

Even when it is declared an #Aquatic #Reserve it still gets #plundered http://tinyurl.com/ybl2edn RT @bondimermaids #CabbageTreeBay #Manly rec take 22102010

#Pelican swallowed three fishing hooks & got entangled in #fishing #debris http://tinyurl.com/29bxqx9 Ban fishing TAKE @ urban coasts #birds 10201020

#Fishing gear traps baby #whale http://tinyurl.com/25xg5aj #humpback #entanglement #ocean junkspace #habitat #marine mammals RT @WhaleLikeMe 10202010

Spills & Toxic Disasters Deepwater drilling
#Deep-sea mineral #mining of hydrothermal vents, Papua New Guinea http://tinyurl.com/35u4d6s #marine #ocean #ecology #PNG #peak #rare-earth 22102010

Spraying #toxins (chemical #dispersants) on #oil spilled into the #oceans? http://tinyurl.com/2a8acsq wildlife aquatic ecosystems PAH GBR au 04052010

Coastal "refuges": Delta Nat. Wildlife Refuge http://www.fws.gov/delta/ & Breton National #Wildlife Refuge http://www.fws.gov/breton/ #spill 30042010

Stop offshore #oil #drilling! http://tinyurl.com/2c4uacq #ocean #clutter #spill #eutrophication #wildlife risks #deepwater #habitat #co2 30042010

Nagging doubt: Should there be a full ban on #off-shore #drilling? http://tinyurl.com/38fhmyu #deepwater #oil rig coast risks ocean ecology 29042010

3rd leak, 5 x as much oil as previously thought gushing into Gulf of Mexico http://tinyurl.com/2adn484 #deepwater #eutrophication #oil rig 29042010

Oil in deep water and safety rules http://tinyurl.com/2924rh3 #offshore drilling #spill #regulation OHS #ocean eutrophication au habitat 28042010

42,000 gallons of #oil per day are polluting the ocean & sloshing towards the wildlife refuge http://tinyurl.com/2uptosm #offshore rig spill 27042010

The deepest oil well in history on fire http://tinyurl.com/33o5kho #oil rig #energy #ocean #eutrophication risk society offshore Australia 240402010

"We have to look honestly at the hidden costs of our oil economy." http://tinyurl.com/2fvs3wy #BPoildisaster #offshore drilling #spill #cars 06052010

Telling infographics Oil #spill #disaster http://tinyurl.com/3xoy3gh #eutrophication STOP #oil rig risks #deepwater #wildlife RT @TreeHugger 01052010

"Outstanding drilling operations" and top safety award for Transocean, Deepwater Horizon Operator http://tinyurl.com/3yqfd8e #BPoildisaster 06052110

#Oil #spill in Gulf of Mexico will be ignited http://tinyurl.com/3ygtzsy #coast #drilling rig #deepwater wildlife #pollution #DrillBabydrill 29042010

Wildlife still exposed to crude oil spill disaster after 20 years http://tinyurl.com/y3g5u26 Exxon Valdez Australia reef toxin contamination 21042010

Ocean Pollution
#Shelly Beach tide is blooming red #HABs Four #mutton #birds dying on #Manly Beach - out of habitat in long #migratory journey 22102010

Looks as if there could be a #bioluminescent display at #Manly beach tonight - again http://tinyurl.com/27cq7dm #eutrophication runoff HABs 20102010

Ocean 'sci'
Glue webcam on #seals and let them fetch data in the deep-sea tinyurl.com/28mz7uz Australian invasive #marine science gas oil #ocean 14102010

Marine Conservation
Blue #gropers & #wobbegong sharks tracking http://tinyurl.com/24qnm9r #tagging #Cabbage Tree Aquatic Reserve NoTake BBQ RT @bondibluegroper 08102010

Coastal Marine Reserves Conservation Marine Parks
Palau can afford its waters to be a #marine mammal #sanctuary for the protection of #whales, #dolphins & #dugongs http://tinyurl.com/2d2l6eb 26102010

More #marine parks, no #offshore #drilling, #no-take #sanctuary zones http://tinyurl.com/288z8dw #ocean #conservation WA #humpback #whale 22102010

Dear Eastern Subs #Coastal #Marine Reserve, Wish you can get a NO Take, No boat-parking area soon #habitat #conservation RT @bondibluegroper 12102010

More>>
Tweets on sharing the planet with other species Biodiversity or kicking others off the planet

The Story of Cap & Trade or COP15 & ETS

2009-12-13T05:29:00.017+11:00

The animated Story of Cap & Trade is looking at the current climate debate at Copenhagen COP15. "Annie Leonard introduces the energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the "devils in the details" in current cap and trade proposals: free permits to big polluters, fake offsets and distraction from what’s really required to tackle the climate crisis."

From 'trashing the planet' to making profit from polluting with CO2 (giveaways to polluters), pulping the rainforest for consumer products to sinking island neighbours - it is all there. A fossil- fuel addicted society insisting on unrestricted consuming and BAU: business as usual. After explaining how businesses trade with permits to pollute (ETS) she proposes alternatives: solid caps, strong laws, citizens' actions, carbon fees and climate justice. and a clean energy economy.

Do take the 10 minutes, gather your household members, stop consuming and watch it.

The previous 'The Story of Stuff' (tweets) is about 'our consumer driven culture'. Annie Leonard authors the texts, Free Range Studios produces real web-based films. There are also many other collaborative climate justice advocates involved. Looking forward to the story of bottled water and electronics..

The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.

Dust Storms, Turbulent Climate and Survival

2009-09-27T03:33:00.016+10:00

While the life-supporting fabric of planet Earth is being undone, a turbulent 21 century is rushing towards us. Self-inflicted 'intertwined global-scale challenges' are unleashed leading to uncertainty. Climate disruption, decimation of biodiversity and rapid depletion of materials and energy are some the achievements of the anthropocene. The overheated Earth is being pulverised in the human stampede. Human-generated aerosols, sediments from parched river beds, mining and anthropogenic (toxic) junk space combine into 'dust'. Vigorous storms distribute the ambient particulate matter into their breathing organs which did not evolve to be vacuum cleaners. They choke.

Dense orange pollution cloaked south eastern Australia. "But despite this obvious sensory input, people... seemed to be essentially oblivious to the poor air quality and went about" business as usual. First things, first: The oversized suvs had to be freed from particles with a lot of water. Simply "defending national ideals". As "the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter per capita" there has to be some pride in standards. "Sleepwalking into an environmental disaster" is not on for the sporty nation - driving, or racing with the aid of 3629 kg might be.

But now you can ensure the survival of your family. Just like your suv, this is "a self-contained living system a gated community for one". Whatever the disaster will be, "at least you can weather all (dust) storms". Buy now SurvivaBall Model X7

Video via survivaball, You Tube Channel

Emission Intensive Events at Manly Beach

2009-08-24T12:13:00.013+10:00

Events in Manly are announced via a BIG CO2 footprint. At the beach front/Corso plastic banners are hung into the pines to announce an event. The banners and plastic strings weighing a few grams are being put up and taken down with a maximum of petrol usage and noise pollution.

Also a huge section of the public pedestrian space is taken up by parking a suv, a trailer and a crane in it. With the machinery running, the worker extracts the bit of plastic.

It is especially ironic that 'green events' are being advertised in this emission rich manner. Digital channels do exist. It seems incompatible with the council's 'Sustainability Strategy for Future Generations'.

The 'green family fun' event at Manly Lagoon also degraded the sound scape for the waterbirds/wildlife and adjoining residents. Amplified noise or anthropogenic noise pollution are not beneficial for wildlife. A high impact event.

NB In image 2 note the plane trails of high emission in the blue sky celebrating the aerial combustion engine as well. Families were fascinated with the pollution and the disappearing atmosphere for their off spring.

Perfumed Endemic Flora of Manly

2009-08-21T19:08:00.007+10:00

Perfume from endemic coastal flora:
Woollsia pungens, Snow wreath
Ricinocarpos pinifolius, Wedding bush image
Actinotus helianthi, Flannel flower
Pittosporum undulatum

In flower:
Xylomelum pyriforme, A tall Woody pear - stunning!
Styphelia triflora
Grevillea speciosa, Red spider flower
Eriostemon ssp
Xanthorrhoea, resinifera? Grass trees
Isopogon anethifolius
Caladenia alba and Caladenia carnea
Erythrorchis cassythoides unfurling

The Paper - an iconic culture that needs your help

2009-08-19T14:46:00.009+10:00

The dead tree media is dying. Yes, they are still being delivered daily to many doorsteps via petrol in sub-urbia. Lovingly wrapped in plastic, thrown on the manicured lawn at 6 am. In cafes they still get into THE paper rage to do the crosswords first. On Saturday, fight over the glossy sections to be in the know what the latest 'must have' should be. Sometimes the paper is just blowing about on Manly Beach.

But now YOU can support the struggling industry. There are also many more examples how you can use the paper: When retreating from the coast, pack all your stuff in it. Start the next BBQ with it or just do clean up that dog§*+" from the walkway.

Video via Slate videos

Manly Wharf - Depriving the Public of Access?

2009-08-15T20:25:00.017+10:00

There are attempts to grab some of the public pedestrian space by private enterprise on Manly Wharf.
The wharf is in the middle of Manly Cove, which is framed by green National parks with the odd whale or dolphins visiting Sydney Harbour. It is also the gateway for people arriving in Manly by public transport. Some 6 million commuters pass through this point for work of leisure. The options are to walk through the enclosed middle in the inside, which is crowded and full of cooking fumes. Alternative paths are walks to the right and left on the open air, along pubs and eateries on one side and a natural habitat on the other. The actual Cove and the infrastructure under the wharf are a dense biotope for local wildlife. Unique Manly Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) have their habitat in various locations. Walking along the wharf the lucky resident or visitor can catch a glimpse of what makes Manly unique.The plan to privatise some of the Wharf's walking paths on the West Esplanade side to monetize the "spectacular waterfront positions" for a few paying customers is myopic. Bursting suburbia is thirsty for public spaces, which are fast disappearing in Manly. Visitors come to be "seven miles from Sydney, and a thousand miles from care" and not to be 'in it' again. Encroaching with intensified commercial operations would not be beneficial for the wildlife.

The human footprint seeking constantly to enlarge in delicate environments, can trample an area. Already there are signs of visible pollution in the Cove water: dumped bikes, chucked shopping trolleys etc. With intensification the noise pollution would negatively impact on human and wildlife habitat.

Boat parking is proliferating and also a danger to swimmers and wildlife. Some just come to 'get tanked' in private racing boats, unload their dogs, have some alcohol, clutter up the cove and then race off again. A trend to be encouraged?Do not deprive the public of access to the Manly Wharf walkways
Do not accelerate rapid development and hence human disturbance to penguins and other wildlife.
Do not forget why people come here to live or visit

"Sprawling from land right out into the ocean as we clamber for more of its resources" Ocean Sprawl on Planet Green 0809

Update:
- Manly penguin wardens "will protest against what they say is the possible encroachment on penguin habitats by Hugo’s restaurant." Penguins already have lost habitat to the School of Artillery at North Head and "People living near the beach want to build pools on top of penguin nests". There will be a protest on September 13 via Manly Daily 180809

- Little Penguins, climate change, ongoing coastal development and habitat degradation. PDF

Image: 1 and 3 Google Maps

Humpback Whales Passing Manly Beach

2009-08-10T15:15:00.014+10:00

Whales are passing by. Today two Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) swam slowly along Manly Beach. It appeared like mother and calf logging, in close contact. After Shelly Beach they slowly drifted along the shore in the shallow water. Their habitat was free of polluting motors in the air and in the ocean, which is rare.A bit further north in a more protected terrestial area, there are rock engravings by the Eora of a Humpback mother and her calf. The 14 m long petrography depicts them overlapping in close body contact. An engraved person nearby is watching with views of the Pacific. Today the aquatic territory is littered in motorboats. Like measles they clutter up the shorelines. Noise and chemical pollution emanating from their presence interferes today with the large marine mammals pursuing their ancient migratory routes.The place is framed by the Eora shield, lovers and various symbols etched onto the sandstone.

With the unregulated access of mountain bikes these memes from 25000 years ago could disappear from the rocks and human memory. The whales too have to battle a degraded habitat with many human-made dangers.
More on whales and bikes in NPs.

Manly Beach Drift 'wood' - August

2009-08-04T20:05:00.095+10:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:

Crested Terns are back. Unusual footprints of a large shorebird. Unfortunately beach-nesting or just visiting Manly Beach for Australian birds is not on. We only share the beach with dogs. D aily, there are dogs ON the beach illegally. Today a large pony-like thing and a shrunken dwarf.

There were unusual shells along the beach.

Old wood-based media blowing along the beach.
Rich in glass chips, probably the remains of causing 'facial injuries' in Manly's nightlife, just washed down to the beach to glass beach users as well.
Three helicopters swooping in on the beach/surfers, adding noise pollution.
At the Queenscliff end of the beach one wonders about getting into contact with the toxic Manly Lagoon mouth. Is it safe to swim there? Too poor to decontaminate?
The southern end still has eroded stairs and is fenced off.

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Erosion: The large stairs at the southern end are still undermined and various debris is scattered at that end of the beach.
Noise: Ear-bursting building sites all along the beach front.
Glass, but a relative absence of the usual fast food packaging.
Daily illegal dogs: one white fluffy thing at Queenscliff and a large one on Manly Beach. A lot of council staff with a focus on parking revenue. Pity, they do not take advantage of collecting from dog owners that do not abide by the law.

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A small pod of dark do lphin s swimming orderly behind the surfline. A large juvenile Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) diving for fish.
The horizon cluttered with boats and ships, but free of that brown haze from yesterday.
The beach is free of visible pollution, shells and sand.
Along the beach a cacophony of building sites and road building/cleaning machinery. Noise pollution.

07080
A few plastic bits appearing again. Surfers Against Sewage just return the plastic garbage to the offender/sponsor. Better would be to charge for the removal of the anti-product from beaches. The ocean is to dear to be treated like a cheap tip.

A lot of large ships hovering for days on the horizon now. Tinnies whizzing, doing their best to scare any marine mammal away.

Noise pollution all along South and North Steyne, building sites, road building and the usual gas-guzzling vehicles. Manly on permanent beta.

Impervious Surfaces and Coastal Water Quality
A mobile factory has settled in at around 135 Steyne with various large machines along the beach. The asphalt truck/ machinery indicates, that they are 'paving a bit more of paradise'. Most sealcoating of roads/pavements contains toxic PAH which finally finds its way into the stormwater runoff or is blown away in the form of dust particles. PAH is toxic to mammals and the aquatic ecological system, it is also accumulative.

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Two Humpback Whales swimming slowly and in constant touch along Manly Beach. Following the curve of Manly and then Shelly Beach, they leave, hugging the coastline. Mother and calf loggin g? There was an unusual absence of combustion engines in the air and aqua-space.

The post-weekend beach-scape: A black plastic bag full of untreated dog feces ON the beach.

Plastic toys, balloons and polystyrene chips.

110809
With post rain and that tsunami feeling many birds behaved in unusual patterns:
Some Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, (Cacatua galerita),(audio) flew very high along the beach.
A Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) left the lagoon end to head north.
A Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), (audio) was chased by a smart Australian Raven ( Corvus coronoides )(audio).
Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) surfed the sand dunes
Willie Wagtails (Rhipidura leucophrys), (audio) investigated the beach
Magpie-larks (Grallina cyanoleuca) pierced the air with their 'pee-wee' (audio)
Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) joined in (audio)
In the pines a faint Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carnunculata), (audio)
High in the sky: Rainbow Lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus), (audio)

The surf had a thick greenish foam, that lingered and stained the beach sand in a slimy, bubbly green.

Strange media attention to people hassling aquatic wildlife at Shelly Beach Aquatic Reserve and killing a Wobbegong shark. One person's conservation efforts to save the Spotted Wobbegong (Orectolobus maculatus) are another's 'sports trophy' in spear fishing.

"The day you fail to find sharks cruis ing your favourite beach is the day you should really start to worry."

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An epidemic of 'convenient' 'one-mouthful-wrappers' and take-away & chuck coffee plastic garbage. There are definitely waves of usage, bound to fashion,'must do', 'must have'. Before it was the plastic water bottle one carries around jogging to look cool. Now it is the cup. Either way, the absence of mindful food and drink does not entice social responsibility. It is incorporated in the product/consumer mind: quick, convenient stuff for me, I, myself - the rest, the anti-product belongs to the public sphere. Chuck!

More green slime and frothy foam.
Garden clippings, mostly sawn wood washed onto the beach. Beach as cheap tip?

130809
A whale swam slowly along Manly beach towards Shelly beach. (Video) Both marine mammals and internal combustion vehicles take, unfortunately the same path along the shore. Boats usually 'park' ON Cabbage Tree Aquatic Reserve and then race off. The whales hug the shoreline going south now.

A very noisy chopper hovered over Manly Beach, vibrating all living beings. Deafening for all mammals, terrestial or aquatic. So much for acoustic comfort.
Along the Esplanade, pneumatic drills undoing the last jobs. Audible at the beach.

More of the convenient one-mouthful plastic wrappers left along the beach.

The daily illegal dog ON the beach.

At Queenscliff beach front the garages to house the CO2 intensive life-saving gear are apparently doubled. More habitat for combustion engines, less green space, more impervious surface and a new building on the sand dunes in times of 'planned retreat'.

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F o u r illegal dogs AND their owners ON Manly beach today. Two dogs at Queenscliff were allowed to freely urinate all over the sand. Think about it next time you roll on it, play with it or even eat it. Approaching the offending dog owners leads to verbal assaults and often physical threats. Emotional beasts defying the human law. Together with the feces draining from the walkway on to Manly Beach it poses a serious health hazard. There seems to be no enforcement of the law and an absence of a concerned community.

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Just like in August 2007, the 'green slime' (120809, above) of the day turns in to glowing waves of bioluminescence at night. (Video)

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Two school girls walking two rats on a leash ON the beach and around the pool. Doing their best to mingle with the wild rodent populations, facilitating a pathogen ecology for salmonella and typhus.
But why not, if cats are walked around Manly town to harrass the endemic bird population and dogs do IT ON the beach, then anything seems to go lacking effective regulation.

Divine swimmers doing the Queenscliff to Shelly Beach loop. Jet ski speeding further off. Incompatible ocean activities.

More plastic turning up as it gets warmer. All the plastic in the ocean and on the beach decompose, releasing hazardous chemicals (toxic bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer ) to ALL life. Treating the beach or the Pacific as a cheap tip/externality will reveal itself as a toxic legacy for all to come.

Glass on the beach.

With great confidence they are building more at the low-lying 'sanddune/path' at Queenscliff. It appears to be doubling built habitat for CO2 gear (garages). Rising sea levels denial? No retreat, no deserting coastal strips.

Retrograde amnesia forgot the eroded volleyball posts just a short time ago. A new turf is quickly staked out and 'pay & play' can continue. Privatisation of the beach? Only the ocean and the sky pose a limit.

240809
Jelly stingers are back at Manly Beach with 11 degrees above average today. The cycle starts again: nutrient enriched hot ocean, glowing at night with bioluminescent dinoflagellates , then jelly fish and algea bloom. The ocean and atmosphere as a tip are being 'cooked up'.

Flies are also back after the weekend stampede. 900 million people are presently sprawling around the globe, 'seeking to get away from it all'. Fast food anti-products all along the beach.

An extra large oil tanker hovering at the horizon. The white sand could contain more than green slime and dog poo...

Toddlers baking at the beach in full sun for hours.

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Washed up right in front of the Corso a Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster). The endemic 'water-rat' lives on Manly's rocky foreshore. It has a dense, water-repelling fur, partly webbed hind feet and a tapering tail with a white tip. It lives on aquatic invertebrates which it dissects with its specialised molars, it is a good swimmer. "It is reported to leave bigger ones out in the sun. As the bivalve heats up and dies, its valves gape, allowing the rat access to the interior." In mythology it features as a spouse of Moon.
As the unrestrained dogs and cats are allowed to freely enter its habitat it can be assumed, that this Australian local will soon vanish, just like the little Penguins. People choose to exchange rich biodiversity, which makes this place unique, for an impoverished monoculture.

A lot of post-event garbage and glass along the beach. The junkspace left behind these events should be a cost factor to the organisers.

At the Queenscliff end the diesel fumes from various buidling sites were so dense, that the beach could not be utilised.

The eroded large stairs at the southern end still have their foundations exposed. Rusty iron jarring amongst the rock and various mysterious mats are sloshed in the surf.

There was a large array of small shells.

260809
A very large pod of dolphins swimming along Manly Beach today. When they came closer to the shallow waters a yellow kayak raced too close to them, interfering with their route. A swooping helicopter finally put an end to the marine mammals visiting the beach.

Junkspace:
Noisy polluting sand-moving equipment at the Queenscliff end, 'doing the lagoon'.
At the horizon, an oil tanker emitting black plumes of pollution.
A lot of 'one mouthful' wrappers, a lot of sharp broken glass

Light pollution IN the ocean at Cabbage tree aquatic reserve & the Bower. A hassle for nocturnal marine life. Looks like the aquatic peeping and grabbing industry needs regulation.

On the Esplanade: Dog owners allow their beasts on extra long leashes to chase the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos which are picking up the pine seeds of the ground. The lawn is littered in dog turds. The leashes of careless dog-owners seem to get ever longer to the extend that even people get entangled in them now.

270809
Around the Queenscliff Rock Pool, many black flippers in the ocean close to the beach. Unfortunately they were not marine mammals, but many humans with lethal weapons. The scale of the operation was more akin to a professional Take and Go. The weapons seemed taller than the guys and a safety hazard for swimmers and walkers at Manly Beach. Armed 'sports' activities are not appropriate at a busy urban beach. It is just a matter of time before an 'accident' happens.

Where is the Manly Beach Watch, monitoring violations and pollution and collecting data on species?

Junkspace:
An unusual amount of very sharp glass all along the beach. Post event by-product. Soon signs should be erected: 'Danger! Do not go barefoot on Manly Beach. You carry all risks, ok! ' The usual amount of take-away garbage, left there by beach users. It is actually relatively rare that garbage gets washed in. Busy boat-days can lead to float-in junk. Unusual weather conditions bring minced plastic from the BIG Pacific tip.

Unusual large dead fish at the beach.

At the North Steyne Beach Club, the toilets on the beach side are being renovated. Could that be white paint tossed on to the beach sand?

Oil tanker at the horizon. The same as the days before? The uncluttered horizon will be a historical phenomenon.

At the Esplanade:
Large Red Wattlebirds (Anthochaera carnunculata) in pairs are very daring in the pines. They even clean the many garbage bins of insects.

Walking along the parade people devoting their lives tending to live-stock (dogs). Driven (CO2) to the beach, often three in harness, to empty all the 'meat' (CO2) at Manly Beach. How are these people prepared for emergency evacuations? Three 'calves' in the hummer and off to greener pastures?
Others in the stay at home nation, prefer to push multiples of their own species along, drowning out the screems with digital gear.

What a giant footprint!

280809
Three illegal dogs on Manly Beach today within a short time span. One dogowner allowed their two white inbred bull terriers to freely roam along the beach. This bully-behaviour had obvious effects on other beach users that felt uncomfortable. Potentially a dangerous situation

At North Steyne Beach, a dog owner sun-baking with a dog. As the beach seems to be a law-free arena, 'accidents' are about to happen. Will tourists really want to come to Manly to 'discover packs of dogs' and be harangued defenceless at the beach?

At this stage some risk factors at Manly Beach are dogs, glass, weapons (spearguns), fishing junk, kites and speeding vessels in the ocean.

Driftwood: July, June, May, April, March, February, January, 2009

Beach Sand, Fecal Contamination and Salmonella

2009-07-17T18:50:00.015+10:00

Salmonella has been found in sand of playgrounds in Mona Vale, Winnererremy Bay, Warriewood, Palm Beach and North Avalon. One year on and the bacteria (Salmonella paratyphi bio var java) have resurfaced in the sand. In Dunbar Park, which is now closed the sand will be replaced with 'treated bark'. Both in May 08 and November 08 Mnly wrote about the connections between(exotic) pets, fecal contamination and aggregation of minors in beach sand.

New research has also found that people digging in beach sand or building sandcastles risk gastrointestinal diseases and diarrhea. The epidemiological study looked into sand contact activities and illnesses.

"Researchers found evidence of gastrointestinal illnesses, upper respiratory illnesses, rash, eye ailments, earache and infected cuts. Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses were more common in about 13 percent of people who reported digging in sand, and in about 23 percent of those who reported being buried in sand...We have known for some time that swimming in waters polluted by fecal contamination can result in illness, but few previous studies have focused on sand."

Beach users should use a hand sanitizer or wash their hands/body after contacting beach sand.

The runoff from urinating and defecating dogs at the beach promenade/wall, draining through the pvc pipes/stairs onto the beach sand does not seem to make the beach sand less risky.
Questions remain:
Where was the sand sourced from that covered the playgrounds?
Where can information be obtained regarding fecal contamination of beach sand at Manly Beach?

Links
Sand, salmonella, e-coli and that cute pet, May 08
More salmonella mysteries on the Northern Beaches, November 08
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2009, July 10). Digging In Beach Sand Increases Risk Of Gastrointestinal Illness. Via ScienceDaily
Christopher D. Heaney et al., Contact With Beach Sand Among Beachgoers and Risk of Illness, American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published on June 18, 2009, Am. J. Epidemiol. 2009 170: 164-172; doi:10.1093/aje/kwp152

Seven Little Penguins killed by a Dog at Manly Beach

2009-07-06T20:33:00.012+10:00

Seven endangered Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) were butchered by one dog in their "protected" habitat in the National Park. (Images). This is the last and only colony in N.S.W.

Dog owner's attitude: ‘what’s one penguin against my dog’s freedom’ Manly Daily 060709

Mnly Blog points to an abundance of dogs being illegally allowed to be on Manly Beach (daily), in penguin habitats, Shelly Beach, North Head NP and the National Parks. There seems to be very little enforcementt and a lot of encouragment of the introduced canine obsession. The unleashed dogs are gaining territory, as wildlife is lacking a sponsoring industry.

Many cafes have dogs INSIDE, and outdoors they have their snouts on the same plates as the customers. Staff fondle the saliva of dogs and then continue to serve human beings.

But then in a society where children are mauled by dogs, people have their face ripped off, little flightless birds only get a few lines, before its back to serious business.

It is a state of poverty to exchange rich biodiversity for a monoculture of dangerous animals mauling people and Australian wildlife.

Questions:
How many convictions (on-the-spot fines) have been served on dog owners for illegal behaviour?
What proportion of resources are being devoted to the protection of wildlife?
What is the ratio of dog sponsorship by council, compared to the effective enforcement of the 'critical habitat' law?
Which tourist/visitor will want to see packs of dogs?

Update: 170709
T E N endangered penguins killed. Mnly Tweet
Penguin Habitat, Manly Cove

Manly Beach Drift 'wood' - July

2009-07-01T13:41:00.086+10:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:
010709Plovers reclaiming the beach.
Glass, as every day.
Erosion: The southern end of the beach is a building site. Two earth-moving machines and some 11 workers sifting through the rubble. Sandstone, basalt, cement garbage, iron bars, plastic/fibrous mats, that have been dumped there and now have to be hand-picked. Lines of vehicles parked on walking parade.

020709
Erosion: Southern end of the beach manufacturing: fencing down, rubble largely removed. Diesel machines still pumping on the beach and pedestrian parade.

An unusual amounts of shells along the northern end of the beach. Ocean acidification thinning shells? One look along the beach, it is 4x4s crawling, with the odd rocket pumping CO2.
A large tanker hovering on the horizon. A motorboat raci ng just meters from the surfies' lineup towards the Cabbage Tree Aquatic Reserve to 'park'.Glass, splinters, broken bottles, as every day. Image displays the average daily crop of sharp health hazards on a beach.

A flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) feeding on the ground seeds of the Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla). Two dogs have just been emptied on the same bit of lawn. Usually people: toddlers, bootcamp training clients etc roll on this turf.

Illegal dogs at the Queenscliff end daily. Dogs & motors in summary.

03709
Erosion: 'Nature' and many labourers hand raked the beach for the last debris/rocks at the southern end.
Daily illegal dog on the beach
A lot of glass collected. All forms of styropore at the northern end of the beach.

The daily ocean-going ship hovering on the horizon. Elsewhere they now have " regulation mandating that all ocean-going vessels within 24 miles of the state's coas t must use cleaner burning low-sulfur diesel fuel". Less premature deaths from air pollution/smog. Less acidification of the oceans.
Manly will probably soon give up "choking on noise and fumes of the international combustion engine" and be declared car-free. Breathing at Manly Beach and 'immersive Manly village' will be possible.

Fisheries without fishes, tourism without reefs, beaches and wildlife is not unthinkable. The collapse of the ecosystems would turn the present economic crisis into a hiccup.

060709
Highlight was a pod of dolphins upstaging the surfies by leaping high out of the surf.

For some 3 million years they were at home in their coastal habitat. Now this aquatic sphere is claimed by our species. 'Flipper' becomes bait, 'bycatch' or it has its habitat degraded by us. Marine infrastructure clutter up the coast, anthropogenic noise pollution from motor boats, toxins, waste and (fishing) garbage degrade the ocean even further. Eating 'our' tuna and squid the 'competitors' are often turned into bait. Many die from entanglement and ingestion of fishing gear which is so often found at Manly beach.

There are many Eora depictions of Bottlenose dolphins engraved into Sydney sandstone. Let's continue to share the ocean with these smart marine mammals!Image: Google Maps: Manly Beach, pipe, North Steyne/Raglan St.

Five Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) flying north, leaving bird-unfriendly Manly behind.
A flock of Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos feeding on the lawn under the pines on cones. Only the dogs posed a danger to them.
Two large dead fish at the beach. One a Porcupinefish as so often.

The appearance of the beach seems to be normalising.

070709
Crested Terns, Crows and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos
Divine cloud formations, sun and rain. Permanent tropics in Sydney?
Again a new lot of plastic junk: Drink bottles, tops and a lot of polystyrene in the shape of orecchiette pasta. At the sandstone wall a small 'run-off' pipe exuded small polystyrene balls with a black discharge on to the beach.

At the horizon, two navy ships hovering. Scary to think that in an event of an oil spill, the 'clean-up' costs could not be recovered as it might "hurt Australia's reputation."

A large noisy (navy) helicopter swooped a couple of times along the beach /surfers. The 'manned scarecrow' chased all birds away. No marine mammals were in sight with that noise. Time to switch to 'unmanned' air vehicles in a regulated airspace.

080709
Manly Beach going to the dogs...A dog owner took their dog in bright daylight illegally for a walk all along the shoreline of Manly Beach. Black plastic dog feces bags blowing on the dunes. On the walking parade a dog defecated in a puddle. The rain drained all untreated excrement down a pipe onto the beach. One would think, that with an explosion of the dog population, corresponding enforcement services are being made available. There is supposed to be a 'litter guard', where is the canine/feces guard? What is public health?The usual amount of glass on the beach. Maybe there will be less in the future, as premises of alcohol merchants will be regulated. Drinkers will no longer be trusted to handle glass after midnight in some places.

Re the daily ocean-going vessels at the horizon: Elsewhere a Clean Air Act will set standards for engine and fuel to improve the air quality, save lives and the environment.

090709
Manly Beach is a unique parrot beach: White cockatoos during the day, lorikeets in the afternoon and black cockatoos occasionally. Echos of some 55 million years of a bio-diverse heritage. Locals facilitate captive non-Australian animals.

Junkspace: Plastic in the form of a lot of drink bottles, toys, lighters, caps/lids and 'party balloons'. Differently shaped polystyrene packaging bits today.
The usual crop of freshly cracked glass.
The 'run-off' pipe around Raglan St. has a distinct odour of miasma.

Tourist buses with idling motors spill their customers on to the beach. Photo, litter, off.
Yet again, another motorboat racing along the lineup and then, as they all usually do straight to the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve to 'park'.

Erosion: The southern end of Manly Beach is still fenced off. Rocks and black plastic mats are scattered over the beach.

100709
Junkspace: An unusual large amount of packaging from a wasteful 'throw away' s ociety. Plastic bottles, styrofoam cups and a very large number of 'disposable' domed plastic lids and foam cups. A large array of 'one-mouthful edibles wrappings'. Carry-out trays are the latest to be dumped at the beach. Maybe the cafes/crèche are too unbearable? If the sale of these wasteful items can not be prohibited or regulated, then it could at least be taxed.
Litter in the sky: A large clump of 'party balloons' released and stuck in + 25 m high pines. The entangled strings pose a hazardous environment for birds/wildlife. What form of 'waste management' will remove the plastic junk: kites, balloons etc out of the 'littered' giant pines?

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are boldy grazing the pine promenade for seeds, hoping, that all dogs are on a leash.
Daily dog illegally on Manly beach.

130709
Diesel ploughing at the Queenscliff end. More diesel fumes belching from train-like trucks and vehicles 'moving' along road-side Steyne cafes. Other than deadly diesel fumes, the ocean did not smell of kelp and salt.Erosion: Rocks, cement junk and black plastic mats still jumbled up on the Sth.Steyne end of the beach. The $3,000,000 building site 'stabilising the sea wall' all along Manly beach is supposed to be completed by 2010. Holding back the sea level rise for the "the long-term viability of the local economy".
A walled off rising ocean, caused by anthropogenic CO2 emissions, might be a quick fix instead of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management that is interdisciplinary. Taking the needs of the coastal ecology into account and reducing CO2 emissions might be a sustainable prevention of a rapid retreat.
Image: Katsushika Hokusai , The Great Wave off Kanagawa , Tsunami via Zeno

140709
Large waves, calling plovers and sunshine.

The dumped rubble of cement, plastic mats and sandstone is still exposed from the erosion from the Corso to the southern end of the beach.
The rubble and steep sandcliffs provide a welcome family entertainment in the school holidays. There are attractions like throwing the rocks around. Digging up the metal beach sign and converting it into a funfair guillotine is all part of recreation. Digging diarrhea sandcastles has branding potential as a theme park. If the kids are bored with chasing seagulls, then there are attention-grabbing helicopters hovering over the beach or the many planes overhead going to desirable locations.A last look at the historic sandstone wall, studded with life and remnant dune vegetation before the disaster preparedness wall will be errected. Will it equally be studded with an abundance of pvc pipes draining dog feces, lawn chemicals etc onto the beach? Will the sandstone stay? Will they get rid of the Asthma Weed?

The daily dog ON the beach of course. A procession of packs of dogs on the esplanade. Mostly driven in suvs to Manly Beach to be emptied. A minimum of three harnessed dogs, or at least one each on display. The white fluffy thing is so 'yesterday' and serious hunting animals are 'in' this season: Doberman, Great Danes etc. Fashion dictates and the old models get churned into a dog pound to get pulped or released into 'freedom'.

Most walkways are parked out with service trucks/utes from uncountable building sites. The noisy 'green machine' seems to go for peoples' toes sitting on benches at 10.40 am.

Broken glass of all colours, shapes and sizes.

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Small to fist-size rocks along the southern end of the beach have emerged since the erosion. Ideal for toe-stubbing or family target practice.

The butt littering was overwhelming. A lot might have washed down from the roads with the rain. A couple of plastic lighters thrown in.
Styropore disintegrating into bubble-sized pieces. Broken glass

At the beach wall, dogs urinated on the wall/steps and the rain washed all down on to the beach sand.

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos picking seeds from under the cars and are in danger of being run over by speeding cars.

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The beach stairs at Victoria Pde/ Sth. Steyne are hollowed out from underneath. Deep water and surf hits the stairs.200709
Severe erosion of the beach stairs at Victoria Pde/Sth Styne. Waves continue to undermine the stairs' foundations, distributing rubble and fibrous mats along the beach. Deep surf is pounding this area. Up to fist-size rocks have been dislodged and cover the previously sandy beach from the Manly Surf Live Saving Club to Raglan St.

An unusual amount of freshly cracked glass, a post weekend crop?
Some unusual shells at the northern end of the beach.

230709
T h r e e dogs on Manly Beach illegally. A regular male dog owner walks along the entire esplande throwing a ball ONTO Manly Beach which his brown Australian Kelpie is fetching. A Doberman tied to the bottom of the stairs preventing access to the public. The daily dog at Queenscliff. No enforcement.

An angler set up multiple rods and clutter at the beach. Joggers got entangled in the 'loine'. Beach rage over disputed legitimate activities on a crowded beach. A health hazard! Time to make it a NO-TAKE area.Plastic 'take away' junk is increasing at a rapid rate. Plastic lighters and glass.

A lot of cut garden refuse. Endless leaves which are blown by petrol-powered 'leaf' blowers into the the gutter. Seen all over Manly the owner/ contractor blows the debris from the private proverty onto the public pathway/ road and finally into the gutter. Council workers do it too. All privatise the soundscape. The collected works are then flushed down the pipes onto Manly Beach and get sloshed back up onto the sand. It takes a lot of petrol and noise to achieve this state of 'tidyness'.

In the sky three light aircraft affording their paying clientele swooping views of Manly surfies. From the road (Steyne) roaring building noise as the road is cut open.

240709
Two speeding jet skis (tautology) racing along Manly Beach. This could be life-threatening for the frequent long distance swimmers. Little Penguins feeding on the upper layers of the ocean and other marine mammals are also endangered by this petrol-fuelled activity.

Manly Beach as cheap garden tip? Rich in debris and garden refuse after a night's rain. Most large pieces are cuts from an iconic sub-urban palm: The Cocos palms (Arecastrum romanzoffianum), a weed. The rest is flushed or blown down to the beach with the air of petrol from the streets of suburbia. (see 230709 above)

The one-mouth plastic wrappers are rapidly increasing. Silencing devices to not get ones hands dirty? The odd plastic lighter.

The horizon looked uncluttered with an occasional 'bump' like a migrating Humpback whale. But then to allow jet skis and motorboats to speed is not very inviting for a large marine mammal mother and her infant. The time she needs to lift her breathing infant out of the water is often not granted in the motor-boat infested oceans. Many young have to die, or are 'put down' by 'benevolent' human beings after the freshly born and mother have been separated by noisy, speeding objects that criss-cross their migratory routes. Encroaching 'peep industries' also pose a danger.

A dead Rainbow Lorikeet on the beach. Either fed to death on sub-urban balconies and gardens. Or maybe a fox got it out of a pine?The daily illegal dog ON Queenscliff Beach. A lot of dog/fox turds left on the Esplanade lawn, awaiting rain to flush it down onto the beach sand.

290709
A dolphin pod swimming up and down Manly Beach today. The group consisted of ten dark individuals that swam in a tight formation to occasionally form a vivid hunting? circle. The access of these marine mammals to the surfline was only possible, because of an absence of hooning motorboats or jetskis.

Shells all along the beach.
A lot of freshly cracked glass and styropore bits.

Along the Esplanade:
A noisy building frenzy all along the beach.
Event advertising (small pieces of cloth) being hung into the pines with the aid of a suv and crane idling and parked on the footpath, as most 'service' vehicles do. An absurd idea of communicating events with an high emission footprint. The daily green machine, just sitting there idling and adding to the noise pollution.A lot of dog feces was left on the walkway by irresponsible dog owners, despite the machine cleaning. Many people stepped into it and smeared it along. The rest just runs down the stairs/ through the many pvc pipes onto Manly Beach. Just on the other side of the beach wall people rolled in the 'sand'.

But then it is 'just' a hygiene and enforcement issue compared to the large scale ecological vandalism being committed by Australia, depriving other species of a right to existence and leaving a degraded 'quality of life' for the ones to come.

See also Driftwood of:
June, May, April, March, February, January, 2009

Sharks, Beach and Fears

2009-06-30T18:29:00.006+10:00

Via Save Our Seas Foundation, YouTube channel, more on shark nets here

Manly Beach Erosion 2009

2009-06-28T23:01:00.012+10:00

Erosion: Get the slide show and click here
Or watch it here (select HQ):

Manly Beach Spirit

2009-06-22T19:41:00.009+10:00

SUV driver aiming to plough their way across pedestrian strip, despite the pram, three adults and dog. All non-motorised beings had to dodge to survive. Pedestrian crossing, Sth Steyne/Victoria Parade.

Marine Corps style female fitness runner banging into walkers (obstacles) on 'their' gym track and injuring them. 'Fitness Boot Camp': I, me & myself, get out of my track. Shelly Beach Walkway.

Black suv racing , endangering others. Sydney Road, along Ivanhoe Park.

Families mistake the severe beach erosion as an adventure playground: Small children are playing amongst the dislodged rocks, cement chunks, crevasses, debris, fibrous mats, dunes and backwash. The 'stormwater' run off pipes (eutrophication) draining the suburbs, seem to be the highlight of small toddlers. Manly Beach

Pathogen Ecology at Manly Beach

2009-06-21T11:52:00.011+10:00

People pass on superbugs to seagulls. "...Wild birds pick up E. coli of human origin, and with human resistance traits, and may accordingly also act as an environmental reservoir and melting pot of bacterial resistance with a potential to re-infect human populations."

Both aggregate at beaches and like to share take-away food. Humans leave the 'throw away wrappings', gulls leave their feces on the beach promenade.

Waste management on the Manly Beach front (images) takes the form of high-pressure hosing, and debris blowers. All are petrol powered, polluting and very noisy. The waste, which as we now know has the potential to contain antibiotics-resistant bacteria is 'dispersed' by the air or water/aerosol pressure. The waste is blown, wet or dry, either in the direction of the beach or towards South Steyne and its outdoor eateries. Beach users, parade walkers and customers of the eateries need assurance that risk factors are being kept to a minimum.

Silver Gulls (Larus novaehollandiae) are a native and protected species. Enforcing the 'no feeding' rules would limit their spread.
Eradicate invasive species (Indian Mynahs) and their feces, dog feces on public footpaths. Enforce the law.
Adopt sustainable waste management not based on petrol and that does not constitute noise pollution.

Via > > Bonnedahl et al. Dissemination of Escherichia coli with CTX-M Type ESBL between Humans and Yellow-Legged Gulls in the South of France. PLoS ONE, 2009; 4 (6): e5958 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005958

Escherichia coli , antibiotic resistance
Reverse zoonosis
Image: Google Maps, Manly Beach front, parade with eating facilities, South Styne and the eateries opposite.

Manly Beach Drift "wood" - June

2009-06-04T18:09:00.058+10:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:

010609
A large reef fish, bluebottles, coconuts
Willy Wagtails surfing the kelp heaps. A very large Pelican/Gannet feather full of parasites.

JUNKSPACE:
Two people with plastic bags collected things, wood? unseen before.
Fumes at the beach: cars, eateries and smokers
- There are Life Guards for the aquatic zone, but where are they for the terrestrial slow lingering toxins?
Noise: Building sites all along

020609
Cat fish, bivalves, sponges, shells
Swallows and Willy Wagtails surfing the kelp
Kelp holding the beach in place, if no one interferes

Junk space:
Plastic junk, a lot of bottles and plastic pellets seemed to be accumulating in front of the 'litter free' beach club. More surfing plastic bits.

What can't be 'cleaned' with the aid of petrol at the beach doesn't get done. It is impossible - the blind spot.

Glass, sharp and in all colours and sizes.

Industrialised cleaning of the promenade at prime visitor time repels users. High pressure hosing exposes people nearby to aerosol pollution. It ruins the ambiance for hours.

030609
Kelp heaped up at the northern end
Sponges of many shapes and sizes, many pink/red
Coconuts, Sea urchins, dead fish

Junk Space:
Plastic, especially bo ttles. Countless light blue tops
Glass, bumper crop, sharp, many bottlenecks
Food wrappers, the one mouthful type, now also for dogs!
- Can't industry take full life cycle responsibility for their (anti-) products?
Fishing junk: plastic ropes, fishing string all tools to entangle wildlife.
Light pollution in daylight

040609:
Bird scape: Four very agile Gannets (Morus serrator) were busy diving. Willy Wagtails were patrolling the kelp. Large swarms of magpies fight over the tips of pines. Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are still into pine seeds.

Kelp at the northern end is grabbing the sand back, Cunjevoi and Sea tulips mingle with the plastic bottles.

Most of the 'drift'wood is of anthropogenic origin, sawn-off and dumped. A lot of garden rejects.

JUNK SPACE:
Fishing Junk: Floaters, long nylon strings, plastic ropes, a car tyre with intricate entangled ropes tied to plastic container.
The plastic pellets still linger, especially in front of the 'litter free' Surf Club/beach. There seems to be an unusual amount of plastic bottles, tops and fast food wrappers/cutlery of a throw-away society.
Glass, not much today.
Odor scape: Fumes from idling diesel tourist buses and unpleasant fat from some eateries at the beach.

090609
Dead fish, nice large sponges,

At the Sth Steyne end the pine roots are exposed on the beach by the erosion, caused by the climate- change accelerating behaviour of fossil fools.

Junk space:
A record amount of broken glass, all over the beach. Post-event glass.
Black plastic bags for dog feces blowing along the beach.
Garbage: Take away packaging and drink tins.
The Pigface (Carpobrotus glaucescens) planted around the base of the pines squashed into pulp by a stampede of feet. Post event damage.

120609
Styropore in all shapes and sizes along all of Manly Beach. The petroleum product, used for some many fast food throwaway items, does leach into the products. Everlasting plastic rubbish.

150609
A great variety of shells and coral pieces all along the beach.
Two Pelicans flying towards the polluted Manly Lagoon

Junk space:
Glass, a huge crop of all colours and sizes. All freshly cracked scattered all over Manly Beach. Let's call it the post-weekend crop.

170609
Kelp all roots up is doing its best to hold the sand.

Bird Audiospace:
A couple of Gannets (Morus serrator) dive directly at Manly Beach, Sth Steyne, neatly between the flags.

35+ Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, (Cacatua galerita) travel through the pine arcade. Both at rest and in flight emitting their distinctive raucous call. Feeding together on the pine cones, trimming the odd branches, hanging upside down.

The dogaholics walking their packs underneath seem to be blind to such an event. How could anyone think of confining such a powerful social bird in a cage? Why are so many inviting them with junkfood to their balconies in Manly, culturing dependence and inviting the demolition of their houses? In many places they still shoot and poison the protected animal.

Two Masked Lapwings (Vanellus miles) fly over at the Queenscliff end emitting their characteristic day and night call during flight. The Plovers' habitat is reduced to dirty puddles near roads where they are killed by cars, dogs and cats. Some sub-urban birds have given up breeding all together and leave it all up to the human species and their canines.

A White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) was seeking refuge on top of a tall building, as the wet slopes of Queenscliff were crowded with dogs. Engraved into local sandstone rocks by the indigenous people of Manly, the birds lived in this area for eons.

A Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina) hunted in the lower levels of the pines, filling its 'larder'.

190609
A very large spiky Porcupinefish together with a toxic looking spray can. Is the zoo imitating toxic 'reality'?

Plastic lighters, 'party' baloons with long entanglement ribbons for wildlife. Dog feces plastic bags, that claim to be 'biodegradable'.
Glass, a lot of it, especially in front of 'Manly's litter-free beach'.

220609
A fresh delivery of plastic pellets. Shredded styropore. Rejected broken surfboards. Many plastic 'throw-away' lighters.
The smell of miasma in front of the 'litter-free' beach club, emanating from the 'run-off' pipe.
The horizon cluttered by a cruise liner billowing pollution into the blue sky and Pacific.
Unusual severe beach erosion all along the beach.

230609
Severe erosion of Manly beach. Even if all autoholics kicked the habit, a 25 m sea level rise is a "can do" for coming generations.

A new large amount of plastic resin pellets (nurdles, mermaid tears) along the southern 'run-off' pipe. This is the raw material for the plastic industry to make the many plastic goods. "Over 250 billion pounds of nurdles are shipped around the world to plastic processing factories every year." A lot gets lost due to inefficiencies and ends up on beaches and in wildlife. All the other plastic junk at the beach, drink bottles, tops, lighters etc are made from these pellets. Today there were some extra large pellets, all mingling with styropore.

School group launching various 'message in a bottle'. Hope they took the glass.

240609
Erosion gnawing at beachfront. Rocks at North Steyne Beach now exposed as well. Manly Beach is fenced off at the parade end. The beach is closed. Earth-moving equipment at work to manufacture a beach at high costs. Sisyphus rolling boulders in the anthropocene?

A new delivery of plastic pellets, together with a lot of minced plastic junk. It has the appearance of a cost-effective tip rather than a beach.

On the invisible side of ocean dumping: All the dumping of e-waste at the kerbside, containing "toxic chemicals, including lead, mercury, cadmium, beryllium, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chromium, arsenic, antimony and bromide" will no longer be possible by 2010.

A brown haze lingering at the horizon.

250609
A Little Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos) out of a habitat, searching for a spot to dry its wings.

Erosion. Human labour and earth-moving equipment rolling rocks at the beach. Daily, more and more rocks and fibrous matting is being exposed. Beach and promenade are fenced off.
Despite a forest of signs, families are magically attracted to the sand cliffs and 'rockeries'. One carer by-passed the fence at the beach and swung his toddler at the edge of a 1.7 m sandcliff, rocks underneath. Hungry for adventure.

A very large amount of sharp glass all along the beach.
The usual plastic mince, car tyres more often lately.

Dogs, like every day at Queenscliff beach. Was there ever one conviction?

300609
A large assortment of shells, corals and sponges all along Manly Beach.

Again, an unusual amount of freshly cracked glass of all colours.

The erosion of the beach, especially at the southern end reveals a lot of junkspace: Cement rubble with rusty iron bars jarring out of the ground. Large amounts of fibrous white sheets that used to cover up the 'foundation rocks'.
Council's fences and barriers get broken by the public forcing their 'right to access'. Families seem to be drawn to the rubble as a funfair. Sandy beaches never seem to attract that many minors. Check out the detailed 'erosion' slideshow here.

See also Driftwood of:
May, April, March, February, January, 2009

Less Fig Trees at Manly Beach

2009-05-26T20:29:00.008+10:00

Large old endemic fig trees are dying mysteriously along Marine Parade. In the first image, the circled tree has been dropping its leaves for a long time now. The one around the corner at the sandstone sculpture (image 2, below) has just recently decided to shed most of its leaves and immature figs (image 3).
It appears that the cliff face is becoming increasingly tree-free. Instead weeds are spilling down and Indian Mynas are replacing the native dragons. Changes!
More on Fig trees in Manly
Trees on Council Land
Images: Google Maps

Plastic Pellets and Erosion at Manly Beach

2009-05-25T16:53:00.022+10:00

Wild weather events have brought forth two unusual phenomena at Manly Beach: erosion and plastic pellet pollution.

Erosion: At the south end , especially near the Life Saving Club the sand has dropped by 110 cm. Large chunks of cement, rusty iron pipes and sandstone are exposed. The stairs' foundations and the old infrastructural stumps have been exposed.

Plastic Pellets: Nurdle (pre-production plastic pellet or plastic resin pellet) are approximately 5mm in diameter, white or discoloured. All of it 'gets lost' in the industrial production and transportation of plastic products. Once in the ocean they become 'mermaid tears'. Many animals at the ocean become sick or die from them. In the end they enter the entire food chain. Additionally they leach plasticizers. They are also a transport medium of toxic chemicals (PCBs, DDE) in the marine environment. In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch giant amounts are in a vortex till the next gyre hurls them in any direction.

The plastic pellets have in the memory of Manly blog never been seen on the beach. There is also a lot of general plastic debris as well all along the beach.

Is there a marine science body responsible to monitor such occurences, or is it all up to the expertise of life savers?
Links:
International Pellet Watch, Global Monitoring of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) using Beached Plastic Resin Pellets.
Plastic Debris, Manly Beach
Coasts eroding, tag, abc

Herbicide Use in Manly

2009-05-24T20:44:00.020+10:00

Herbicides kill unwanted plants

Biocides "have been designed to disrupt biological systems, causing death to target organisms, such as insects or plants"

They have been used in warfare to make the leaves fall off the trees in the rainforest(Agent Orange). The damage was great on all life and some victims fought a class action lawsuit about the poisoning.

These chemicals are not just used in warfare for eradicating life, they can also be put to use as chemical weapons to remove unwanted plants for example.
Once a place industrialises, that is it relies on fossil fuel machinery and chemicals for 'vegetation control' then the costly “rapid knockdown ability” of these toxins saves the labourer from bending down and picking up a weed.

Lately there have been many signs of the use of such substances in public areas that are highly frequented by people, pets and wildlife.

At the end of Bower St at the Shelly Headland Loookout where some Bitou weed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera*ssp) needed to be 'managed' a whole swath of native plants are dead or dying: Mangrove Boobialla (Myoporum ssp.), NZ spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides) and Saltbush (Enchylaena). All of the endemic flora provided habitat for native marsupials and birds. It appears to be a very inefficient 'by-kill'. The location is on the cliff's edge so runoff is an issue. Why the remaining woody shrubs and trees are butchered is another question.

Around immersive Manly Town many poles have that iconic Australian 'one grass' sprouting at the bottom. The same signs of herbicide death. Even at the beach, the vegetation at the sandstone wall also shows the same signs. A sign of surface runoff?

Who knows what the turf along the pines contains which children and dogs are rolling in. Both toddlers and dogs are low to the ground and stand to be in closer contact.

Council's website was last updated in 2007 on the matter and reads:

"The aim of this plan is to meet the community’s general right to know about pesticide applications made to outdoor public places that are owned or controlled by Manly Council. The plan allows members of the community to take action to avoid contact with pesticides if they wish. Manly Council aims to ensure that pesticides are applied to public places in a safe, responsible and humane manner, minimising harm to the community and the environment."

In a more current document council mentions that "70 litres or less of herbicide is to be used annually".

How is the public informed?
How is information made available?
How can residents/visitors/pets reduce exposure to land or beach where hazardous chemicals have been applied or have run to?
Why aren' t there any signs?

A community of users might have certainty at the moment, but history has taught that the Precautionary Principle is always a good guide. The impacts on peoples' health, the well-being of pets or the environmental impacts will, as usual come years later.

Images:
1 & 2, Poles with dead grass in Manly town, close to Manly Beach
3 Dead vegetation at the beach stairs. Run off?
4 Various Mangrove Boobialla at Shelly Headland Loookout dying.

Links
Endocrine Disruptors
Some Reasons to not use Herbicides
Glyphosate

Update:
040509
North Head , Lady Fairfax walk and lookouts also seem to be befallen by the great 'browning'. Weeds especially along the fences are doing well. Endemic plants are hit. Eutrophication down the cliff from the lookout.

260609
" Weed killer kills human cell... Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells." Environmental Health News, 220609

Nora Benachour and Gilles-Eric Sralini, Glyphosate Formulations Induce Apoptosis and Necrosis in Human Umbilical, Embryonic, and Placental Cells, Chem. Res. Toxicol., 2009, 22 (1), pp 97–105 DOI: 10.1021/tx800218n Publication Date (Web): December 23, 2008

Roadkill at Ivanhoe Park, Manly

2009-05-20T12:50:00.007+10:00

Parks or public green spaces are under constant pressure as they are seen as Terra nullius to be 'developed'. Ivanhoe Park is squeezed by two large roads (Sydney/Raglan), giant sports arenas, a large pub and other commercial facilities. The squeeze continues on this little island of flora and fauna.

We have stopped counting the road kill on both roads of native birds and marsupials. Today another Ringtail possum was smeared by racing drivers across Sydney Road. There seems to be a kill every day now... going unnoticed.
Image: Google Maps

Fishing (hooks) and Albatrosses - Manly Beach

2009-05-20T11:56:00.007+10:00

Another dead Shy Albatross found at the beach. This time it was an obvious victim of 'fishing-by-kill'. The fishing hook was lodged in its eye and the nylon string entangled especially the young bird's legs.
Create more Marine Reserves, eradicate the ineffective and wasteful fishing industry and ban ' recreational' wasting of biodiversity.

More 'recretional fishing' victims at Manly Beach here

Manly Beach Video with 'Announcements'

2009-05-07T11:26:00.006+10:00

Manly Beach video made with a mobile, mashing up some of the audio-scape of the life guards' announcements and the sounds of the Pacific ocean. More ocean animations full screen...
Via DotAtelier

Fragrant Flowers and Frogs Chanting

2009-05-03T18:35:00.006+10:00

Perfumed air by flowering wetland heath (woollsia pungens), eucalyptus botryoides and most banksias. The audio-scape: Thousands of frogs vibrating the airwaves. A crisp crystal moon.

Manly Beach Drift 'wood' - May

2009-05-01T15:27:00.088+10:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:

Glassing - unintentional/intentional
A stunning lot of freshly cracked G L A S S on the beach. It can be mapped as a post-event phenomena.
On the cemented turf violence with glass, 'g lassing' seems to be a popular, mostly alcohol-fuelled activity. There were a lot of bare-footed people on the beach. Which 'stakeholder' is responsible for this potentially dangerous 'externality'?

Airborne Bird Feces and Public Health
At prime visitor time the main cement stairs along the Corso beachfront were sprayed with a high pressure hose. The stairs tend to get caked in bird feces and 'fast food'. The odd butt and wrapping thrown in too. The worker wore no protective mask/ respirator while blowing the nutrient-rich accumulations of bird droppings, feathers and debris in the beach direction. Nearby visitors seated on the stairs received a good dose of of the moist, pulverised, and airborne mix. If OHS is an alien term, then at least the health hazards associated with bird feces and food wastes should be taken into consideration not just in times of pandemics.

Stingers
An unusual jelly, a squarish transluscent bell and short, pink tentacles.(Purple Stinger, Pelagica noctiluca?) Never seen before. It seemed the only medusa on the beach.

An almost hot day with dense white clouds. The horizon uncluttered. 010509

Herbicide in runoff
Various plants around Manly suburbs seem to have been sprayed with herbicide. That classical plant around the pole that petrol-fuelled 'gardening' could not eradicate.

At the beach, along the wall where a few endemic grasses and other plants strain to stabilise the sand, the same 'yellowing'. The bio-cide seems to have flowed as surface runoff and finally came out of a drain, just above the beach vegetation. People often sit on these patches, but 'no worry' - it's just a bit of pesticide at the beach. 020509Crested Tern Habitat: Eutrophication Pipes

Awesome having Crested Terns bomb-dive next to one's head in the surf. Almost hot water. A Pelican flying circles, looking for a habitat. Many types of shells. Some post-event glass freshly chipped. Some fishing string.
At the Manly Life Saving Club, developments race on. Extreme pollution around that premise: a cacophony of debris blowers and diesel-fuelled deliveries of 'fast food' - all blowing into the building. A place to avoid. 040509

More than 24 Crested Terns with offspring. White Cockatoos grazing on conifer seeds. Styropore flakes seem to have come down the hill, washed out of the pipe and got flushed back in. A lot of them. The "Green" machines are disturbing the peace and quite. Fecal matter on the stairs being moistned and dispersed as aerosol by a high pressure hose again. 050509

Unusual mushroom-shaped sponges. Many leg-less seagulls. Why? Large Bluebottles.
All streetlights along North Steyne are on in the daylight. Too much money? Not enough CO2? Pollution from smokers, diesel vehicles and rancid restaurant oils mingling at the beach.
Elsewhere they are flying a blue flag at the beaches to assure users/visitors that the water is clean and the shore-line free of anthropogenic debris. 110509

Dense schools of different sized fish in the surf. Gannets diving for them (video) Seagulls chasing Crested Terns and Gannets for their rich catch. At places the ocean looked like it was 'boiling' with life. A few Willy Wagtails (Rhipidura leucophrys) checking out the dunes and a few Butcherbirds calling (aud io) from the pines. 130509

A very large variety of shells today. Many Crested Terns still fishing. The surf had very large fish nosing around our legs. The usual plastic junk, fishing/diving garbage and chunky glass.

All streetlights blasting energy during the day from Queenscliff to North Steyne Surf Club. This has been going on for ages now, they must have money to burn! Their offspring might ask them one day why this planet has become so uninhabitable. (PDF) 150509

Diesel and noise pollution at the Queenscliff end: The smell of 'kelp' or the substance that flows out of Manly Lagoon has been exchanged for industrialising the beach and lagoon mouth with noisy and stinking machinery. 180509

The last oysters scratched off by very hungry and needy people at the Queenscliff rocks end. Street lights still blasting in the day as if there is no tomorrow. Dead fish and a lot of garden refuse washed down to the beach from the subs. 'Throw-away' lighters and very large, sharp pieces of glass. Boat-parking on the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve. Who needs biodiversity when in need of parking that petrol-guzzling 'recreational' aquatic vehicle? 190509

A second Shy Albatross found with a fishing hook in its eye and the fishing string tighly wrapped around its legs. Many dead fish and many sepia. The usual 'event' glass and one-mouthful wrappings.
People that look at things at the beach seem to be either small children or foreigners. For the rest it is a (free) gym or a path to the surf. 200509

Wild weather conditions pound the coast. The row of pines in full seed seem to emit a castanets' sound before the lorikeet frenzy starts. Two Pelicans glide over the beach without a movement.
The sand was covered in small pieces of volcanic rock that have blown in. Large Cuttlefish sepia bones.

Along the sandstone wall some native vegetation is re-establishing itself, holding the sand in place: Knotted Club Rush (Isolepis nodosa), Pigface (Carpbrotus glaucescens), NZ Spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides) and Scaevola sp.
At the southern end the surf is lapping at the stairs, signs of erosion become visible.
The heavy rain washed suburbia clean again. Down the hill it all goes, all the unwanted externalities.
The plastic Junkspace contained fishing and surfing paraphernalia. Fast food 'throw-away' cutlery and dishes, a lot of balloons with fancy long strings, dummies, spray cans, furniture and crates.
An adult man flying plastic kite in the air, endangering others. Usually the plastic debris gets tangled in the tall pines and stays there for the birds.
A lot of fruit rolled around the shore: apples, figs, grapefruit, oranges, tropical mysteries. The gulls prefer apple.
The usual daytime light pollution and energy waste from Pine Street to the north all along North Steyne.
Around Pacific St. the dunes are reclaiming lawn territory from the underground.
An army plane flying low over the Pacific horizon. 210509

Wild weather still pounding the shoreline.
Audio: Pounding surf, White Cockatoos screeching.

Fauna: An abundance of Nudibranch (Glaucilla marginata). Crested Terns are still blending in with the Seagulls.
Jellyfish: Many Velella, the unusual Bluebottles mingling.

Vegetation matter: Most vegetation matter seems anthropogenic, cut branches, weeded grass tufts, weeds etc. Possibly washed down 'externalities' from sub-urbia.
Plastic: Many bags, 'party balloons' and extra long strings and fancy ribbons ready to entangle wildlife.

Glass: Only one extra large, sharp piece today.
Dogs: Black plastic bags, full (of feces) and empty blowing around the shoreline. Illegal dog packs ON the beach.

On the parade: the same pine vegetation as if the council's idling 'green' machine has never been there. 220509

Wild ocean, even the gulls are uncomfortabe at the beach. The volleyball infrastructure on the beach eroded and scrambled like toothpicks. That bit of 'real estate' on the beach won't be 'monetizing' for a while. The stairs are challenged by the pounding waves, the large sharp rocks from under the sand/ beach are exposed by the erosion. 230509

The erosion and plastic pellets have their own post. There was an unusual amount of anthropogenic debris on the beach. Mostly plastic, a lot of it minced. Giant rope knots, plastic cables etc, ideal to entangle. Most crested terns have disappeared. The smell was not the best and it was not kelp! 250509

Erosion, especially at the south end of the beach. Large rocks, cement lumps, iron bars and mysterious fibrous mats surfacing. The last upright volley poles are going.

Plastic junk and plastic ropes and fishing lines, knotted in thick entanglement balls. The "litter free" North Steyne beach was like the rest of the beach full of plastic garabage and plastic resin pellets.Kelp is arriving to replenish the (northern end of) beach and grasp the sand. Sea tulips and live marine creatures are also amongst it, so the human community will scream 'stinky weed' again and deprive the beach of what it needs. Strange insensitivity towards the other most overwhelming smells...
Jellyfish, large red/burgundy with a huge bell.

Motorised: Wheelies on the ocean, idling green machines on the parade and tractors at the beach stemming the tide of human junkspace. 260509

Kelp: At the north end of the beach: 150+ cm high kelp covering the pool's edge, the beach and surf. Sea Tulips are also mingling. Swarms of Swallows chasing thick swarms of 'kelpflies' in their habitat.

Sponges: A great variety, many still in their colour.
Jellyfish: a couple of the huge bell in red/burgundy.

Junkspace: Minced plastic junk all along the beach.
In front of the childrens' hospital the pines now even become a tip for long and thick fishing strings, high up in the trees, ready to entangle Lorikeets or any other bird. Junkspace making has many dimensions.
Horizon: Thick brown haze pollution. Romatic fireplaces, pollution from a car-dependent nation? 270509
Kelp: + 150 cm high especially at the northern end, sloshing in the surf and reaching into the lagoon and pool. All along the beach as well. As it is mixed with Sea tulips and Cunjevoi it will smell of decomposing animals. That is aside from the Manly lagoon smell, the many eutrophication pipes leading into it and the ocean, funneling the 'externalities' of Sub-urbia into the Pacific.

Sponges in great variety, Shark eggcases and Sea Urchins.
Swallow cleaning up the kelp and marine life 'flies'.

Plastic Junkspace: The old finely minced plastic with the plastic resin pellets from days ago, distributed along the dunes. A fresh lot in the thick kelp of mainly plastic bottles and fast food, eat & chuck debris. And all that on a 'litterfree beach'.

Dogs and more dogs illegally at the Queenscliff end of the beach.

Queenscliff cliff edge: Most woody vegetation (trees) rolling down the cliff 'sponatenously'. Even the endemic wetland reed (Phragmites australis) looks as if it is sick and tired of stabilising the cliff edge. Another habitat going for Herons and Ringtail possums. Only a bare and eroding cliff face/headland would be recognisable as iconically 'Australian'. 280509
See also Driftwood of:
April, March, February, January, 2009

"Stinky weeds" at Manly Beach

2009-04-12T20:54:00.013+10:00

In "Help! It's the stinky kelp" the SMH claims that "The smell comes from a tubular weed called cunji which was ripped off the rocks at the same time as the kelp". Cunjevoi (Pyura stolonifera) are animals, when they decay they smell. The giant sea tulip (Pyura spinifera) was also washed up along with the kelp. Such is beach ecology.

Out of sight 'management' of the unwanted parts of nature, such as "landfill" appear to be opportune ideas to " silence community complaints".

It is a mystery that this "community" never complains about the deadly petrol fumes along the cafes/restaurants, the beach and surf. Not a word about sewage odors or the plastic debris. But the unsightly "stinky" seaweed and the nuisance of decay ought to be removed from tidy town so that business as ususal can continue.
How will they react when the red tide or the oil slick hits?

Manly Beach Drift "wood" - April

2009-04-01T14:17:00.034+11:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:
A raging ocean today on Fossil Fools Day, most beaches are closed.

The unusual find today was as a small (17 cm) dead Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelyidae and plastic). A large Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) wrapped in plastics and kelp. Many tropical-looking fish. An unusual number of juvenile Snappers and many Porcupine fish of all sizes. A dead juvenile Australasian Gannet (approx. 55 cm). A lot of dead Cormorants and at least 14 living Crested Terns.
Jellyfish in all colours and sizes, a thick layer of bluebottles all along the beach. Small flat disk-like 'bluebottles'. The usual transluscent giant blobs. Unusual was a large glassy Jellyfish with 4 corners! A large purple/mauve blob (20cm) consisted of many scale-like compartments and short tentacles. A large variety of big sponges and a lot of pumice. The foam appeared very colourful.

A couple of mollusc overgrown coconuts. And a generous amount of shared noxious weeds from garden clippings. Treated pampas grass, asparagus fern, prickly pear etc.
The human Junkspace: Mostly plastic: 'party' balloons with looong strings, full 'throw' away lighters, dummies, fast food debris, fishing junk/hooks and a syringe A dumped (stolen?) bicycle.
A woman on the walkway walking her dog on a very long leash ON the beach. A pack of free range dogs on the beach in the afternoon as well. Wonder how many prosecutions there are in Manly for dogs on the beach? 010409

Sponges today of all shapes, sizes and colours. The endosymbiont animals do not have a nervous, digestive or circulatory systems, but are sure an indicator for the absence of a murky marine habitat.A Brushtail Possum carcass, possibly 'busted' by the dog-fanatic community that seems to eradicate anything Australian.

Unusual were the large fist-size red/purple jellyfish. They seem to have scale-like compartments on their bell and very short tentacles. They look as if one does not want to touch them. The usual transluscent, amorphous blob jellyfish and bluebottles.
The 'party balloons' with entangle ribbons do not seem to end, in fact the clumps/knots seem to get larger and more plentiful. But then there is a lot to celebrate in an overcrowded world with diminishing resources. 020409

Mystery fish, note the sharp teeth and leg-like fins?

A Cunjevoi (Pyura stolonifera) day today, all over the beach. No, not illegal bait, it all seemed to have blown in with the wild weather. An unusual large (55 cm) fish, maybe a Catfish? Sharp teeth in a powerful ancient loooking head and a sword-like tail. A still very colourful looking Weedy sea dragon( Phyllopteryx taeniolatus).

Many washed up little nudibranch (Glaucilla marginata) again. Usually they float on top of the ocean eating Bluebottles and incorporating their stinging cells. A few stranded Velella, mingling with the odd Bluebottle/The Portuguese Man o' War (Physalia physalis). A few Ram's horn shell (Spirula spirula).
Two dead rats and a car tyre. 030409

A thick layer of kelp on the beach and in the surf today. Brown algae accumulates heavy metals such as copper, lead and zinc from sub-urban 'runoff' (pdf) , industrial activities and motorised watercraft. "In some parts of the harbour, lead levels in seaweed were six times higher than those off Hong Kong Island". The contaminated brown algae of Sydney Harbour is so toxic it makes the prawn (Epifaunal amphipods) feeding on it drop dead. Huge bits of Cunjevoi in between.
Junkspace: 2 more tyres, noise pollution from amplified events and glass around these areas. 2 dead rats by! the pool. 040409
>> Driftwood March, February, January 2009

Manly Life Saving Club and Sandcastles

2009-03-30T17:12:00.013+11:00

Test drilling at the Manly Life Saving Club this morning. Diesel fumes spewing particles into the prime end of the swimming area is converting the beach and parade, yet again into another noisy and polluted building site. Enlarging the club to fit more fossil fool gear into it, fitting more merchandise, business venues or party space into it seems inappropriate. Out goes the nice terrazzo, in ye old laminate, as seen in the other reno jobs.

Heard of rising sea levels and "planned retreat" from Sydney's northern beaches ?
Who will benefit from a long and noisy building site?
What will be the impact on bathers, walkers and residents?

Switch off the lights! Manly Light pollution

2009-03-25T19:29:00.019+11:00

Click the image for a larger version of the glare bombs

Switch off the lights, join other places that refrain from light pollution. Keep some of the life-supporting climate for others to come. Do not trap wildlife with artificial lights. Flooding the environment, the beach and the night sky is an expensive hazard for human beings too. Stop the waste and fossil fuel burning. Some NSW councils turn off their "non-essential lights, computers and air conditioning at noon on Friday."

> Reducing Light pollution
Light Pollution, Wikipedia
Neighbour friendly lighting
SydneyOutdoor Lighting Improvement Society

Update: Gimmick Day is over, cheap child amusement and attention focussing on 'tourist landmarks' in the MSM. After the dimming, 'business as usual' continues, now with a relieved conscience. Systemic failure stands in for lack of structural change. 300309

Landmark Figs of North Head and Sealed Soil

2009-03-20T17:29:00.016+11:00

North Head - a visit
Along North Head Scenic Drive, as the title suggests, there is no walking or cycling path to visit the National Park of the unique northern headland of Sydney. Joggers, walking visitors and cyclists dodge the speeding cars to get to THE view. This year one bandicoot has been recorded as killed.

Increased urban structures: light pollution and eutrophication
On the right of the roundabout a new carpark has been built, converting the bushland into an impermeable surface. The run off from the hill would run straight to Collins Beach. From tall poles mega-watts bellow down on the surface and adjoining bushland. For the endemic fauna the artificial lighting has severe consequences. The CO2 emission is another matter.

Butchering natural heritage:
Further, opposite the Artillery more 'scorched earth' carparks. On the right side of the Artillery are four giant ancient fig trees framing a cafe as the main landmark. All four have been severely cut back with no apparent reason. Hard to believe council would approve such u naesthetic butchery of the natural heritage of Manly. The limbs missing did not seem to be in the way of any human mobility.
At the Fairfax Walkway
Again the cemented walkway is impeding all natural drainage and erosion gullies dig deep. Encouraging large tourist coaches and not providing sanitary facilities, leaves the landscape littered in paper tissues flying in the wind and more. Apparently blind or illiterate dogwalkers bring their pets into the National park despite it all.

Images: 1 Google Earth, North Head Scenic Drive, roundabout an carpark before being sealed and light flooded. Collins Beach 'down the hill' .
2. Two of the figs to the right side of the cafe/Artillery

Bird-Unfriendly Structures in Manly Aquatic Reserve

2009-03-18T21:06:00.008+11:00

Cormorants used to perch on this lamp pole in the day and owls used to sit there at night. Now it has bird-unfriendly spikes all along it. Adjoining the Fairy Bower Pool and Manly's Cabbage Tree Bay aquatic reserve the urban wildlife has been sitting there for years in the absence of large trees. These native shorebirds are being repelled from their habitat.
Possible arguments for the bird repellent structures could be the animal feaces.
On the same grounds one would have to act on:

The tonnes of untreated dog faeces running into the bay and beach.
The multiple decaying and smelling pipes draining Bower street onto Marine Parade and finally into the ocean.
The public health hazard of invasive species (Common Mynas) encrusting (Sydney Road/ Central Ave.) Manly CBD in their faeces. The tables and plates of eateries are densely visited by this species, leaving their traces.
The feeding of seagulls could be actively discouraged.

Urban wildlife could be encouraged by:

refraining from habitat destruction
controlling introduced pets
reducing glass surfaces in human dwellings
reducing nightglare
planting more trees
not exposing them to mobile tower radiation

Update: By November 09, Bird spikes get discovered by humans in Manly

Sculpture disappearing, Wildlife snatched...

2009-03-17T12:54:00.006+11:00

If it is in a public space it is lifted - wildlife or sculptures (pdf) . The 'Crawl' swimmer donated by Loui Fraser at the Manly Surf Pavillion at South Steyne is now head-less.

Oil Spills, Ships and Readiness - The Moreton Island Case

2009-03-12T21:39:00.009+11:00

The spill of toxins, explosives etc in Queensland is serious. More from the Moreton Bay Blog, Bayjournal

Australian Senator Discusses Oil Spill
Video via cheatah55

Manly Beach Drift "wood" - March

2009-03-01T20:50:00.074+11:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:

Thick layers of Bluebottles/ Portug uese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) along the beach and many in the surf with very long tentacles. There was a very large unusual medusa, an approximately 18 cm transluscent bell with short mauve tentacles, arranged in pairs. An impressive creature. (Image)

People fishing, wagging dead fish heads in the water seem to want to attract sharks to the beach which is full of people. Crested Terns still mingling with Gulls. Some real driftwood, large logs of native trees.

An increasing diversity of jelly fish, bluebottles, round 'buttons' and transluscent blobs. Many dead fish, a headless Weedy Seadragon. Nice shells and kelp species along the Manly end. Extreme rugby between the flags. Sm oking carers with newly borns on the beach. Towards Nrth Steyne., kelp and thick in bluebottles. Olfactory mystery and building noises. Huge logs of driftwood.

Endless plastic 'party' balloons, full of gas and deflated with fancy looong ribbons, entangling anything in sight, released to share with wildlife and future generations. Family or PR 'fun'. 020309

Serious (commercial?) spearfishing took place at the Queenscliff end of the beach. At the time when life-savers knocked off, the professionally armed diver killed a lot of marine life and dragged it to the beach. Many children were in the water and also gathered around his loot. The very large weapon in a public space seemed most inappropriate. The proximity of an armed hunter in the ocean and on a crowded beach appeared against all beach safety. Apparently it is l egal. After the beaching, the heavy and rich 'harvest' was brought to the caves of Queenscliff, where more 'goodies' were bunkered. If it was within the 'bag limit' and what species the heavy bags contained will never be known. 050309
Marine Parks NOW!
Three Crested Terns diving. Ravens cleaning up a dead Seagull. Some dead fish, a couple of transluscent blobs (jelly-fish).
Junkspace: Countless plastic 'throw-away' bottles, chucked after a 'convienent' drink. Along the entire length of the beach. Fishing Junk: Long strong plastic ropes/gear and styropore sinkers. 060309

A wild ocean last night blew thick layers of blue bottles onto the beach - the jelly fish variety and the plastic variety. A few tiny Nudibranches were still alive at the beach. They had a black and bright blue colour. Crested Terns were diving. A coconut with many bi-valves with orange edges. A not unpleasant fish smell.
Fishing people trying their best to entangle beach users and marine life. A lot of nylon string and plastic toys were left behind.

Rain washed all of suburbia clean. All the toxic fertilised lawn transplants, the foamy car-wash, the untreated dog and cat poo, etc (known as "stormwater", pdf) ends up in one of these holding pools. (eutrophication image) Seagulls bathe in it and then it seaps into Manly Beach and the wider blue Pacific. From marine biodiversity to dead zone.

The sand is a colourful composite of shell bits. Soon shells will not be able to build their hard shells and the 'sand' will disappear. An acid ocean, full of carbon dioxide does not allow for hard shells being build. But there is no sign of slowing Manly's use of fossil fuels. A degraded world will be left behind for the many off-spring they are hurling around the place with fossil fuel. 090309

Generous amounts of garden clippings, prickly pear and other weeds. Balloons, balloons and more... Blue Bottles and the blue 'button' jellyfish. Many cuttlefish bone/sepia. At the Queenscliff end, the smelly problem of 'kelp' stuck in engineering wonders, was 'solved' with the aid of a lot of diesel and heavy machinery.

Usually there are many plastic bags on the beach, but this dumped bait packaging seemed unusual. The contents had been pilchards from W.A. Forgotten seems to be the mass mortality of pilchards (Sardinops sagax) during 1995 due to "a novel Herpesvirus". "T he deaths occurred along 5000 km of the Australian coastline and 500 km of the New Zealand coastline." It is believed that " the virus was introduced to a naive population. It appears to have a point source and correlates though it is not proven, to an area where a large population of blue fin tuna are kept in pens. They have to be fed on pilchards, which are imported from overseas and dumped into the ocean there." "Bait" has the potential to spread disease, especially with an absence of a 'code of practice'. Australia's 2.89 million "recreational" fishers consume 4000 tonnes of purchased marine fish as bait p.a.

Dumping fishing gear and "bait" at the beach or ocean endangers marine life and has the potential for huge economic damage. 100309

A washed up Yellow-bellied Sea Snak e (Pelamis platurus, images ) +30cm long, headless. A beautiful black skin and a very bright yellow underside. Many dead Pufferfish and large Porcupinefish. Crested Terns with hungry offspring. A great variety of kelp and jelly fish. A large coconut full of living bi-vales, 4-edged dark seeds, also alive.

An unusual number of (recession plagued?) anglers with very large buckets. More plastic bait bags blowing in the wind. Freshly cut large fish heads stinking on the beach. Chucked fruit and veg from some boat?. Unusual in today's junkspace, apart from the usual boring 'party balloons' with long strings, was a full condom.

Extreme sport: surf kites seemed to want to raze the heads of walkers and swimmers with their gear at high speed. For joggers a real challenge to dodge the fishinghooks, racing surf kites or slip on a full condom. 110309

Dead birds: 1 young Crested Tern, + 3 Mutton birds. A dead rat - not the native water rat. A few dead fish.

A lot of garbage: A new wave of 'convenient' one-mouth-full portions, "mini" this & that, individually wrapped. Stuff it in, swallow and chuck. So easy.
A real epidemic of plastic balloons with entangle strings, every day. Just spottet a "mum-party" yesterday, each pram had some six balloons tied to it. And then 'party!' they are released - off they go - to enta ngle the marine offspring.
Fishing junk, floaters with nylon string still attached and plastic bait bags. Strange campaigns to only lobby against plastic bags and have a 'blind spot' for all the other ubiquitous plastic junk. Bottles and bottles... 120309

A thick layer of Soldier beetles (Cantharus Lugubris, images) washed up along the beach. More gardens and parks will have less biological control agents now. Nice shells. Plastic fishing junk, a syringe and a lot of freshly cracked sharp glass.. Another spearfish gun at Queenscliff amongst sun - bathers. 160309

A lot of Crested Terns (pdf) mingling with Seagulls, leaving their offspring with them whilst they go diving. With stunning aerial displays they shoot into the shallow pools and bring fish to their young. Often Seagulls chase them to extract the catch. One adult feeder had a fishing string dangling out of its bill which it was desperately trying to extract to continue feeding. More plastic fishing junk on the beach. It's time to make fishing illegal in dense coastal areas. More large pieces of glass on the beach. 180309

In the morning the row of Norfolk Island Pines is abuzz (audio) with Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. The large white cockatoos overpower even the surf. It is rare to hear the large Black Cockatoos. More Wattlebirds have been busy in the pine rows during the day. Cleaning the garbage bins of spiders. In the late evening the pines come alive with the buzz of thousands of colourful screetching Lorikeets. A large bird of prey flying with heavy wing towards the north.
Council's petrol-fuelled gardening and cleaning cuts through all of nature's sounds and ruins the ambience on the beach and walkway.

On the beach, a Raven investigated a golfball. An 'egg' to crack on the footpath or an intelligent removal of hard missiles from the beach? Maybe a weapon to d rop on the dog owners holding three to four dogs each in their reins. The hard golfball ended up high in a pine tree.

Large amorphous 'blobs' of transluscent jelly fish. 250309

Illegal dog paws prints at the North Steyne end of the beach in the very early mornings. The size of a pony. An angler was scaling a large fish alive. The flapping and agony of the tortured creature was severe. A couple of Pelicans flying north/west regularly, seeking a habitat. A large array of nice shells. 260309

Hundreds of dead-ish Porcupinefish from one end to the beach to the other, mostly +/- 10 cm. Many fresh Bluebottles/ Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) floating in and stinging people. More transluscent jelly blobs. A dead microbat was washed up. Usually they fly along the foreshore.

Advertising in every direction on the beach. Solid state spam in public space.

The blue sky, dimmed by "Aerosols, tiny particles or liquid droplets belched into the air by the burning of fossil fuels" visibly at the horizon, additionally gets marked by jet trails. "Jet engine exhaust contains carbon dioxide, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, unburned fuel, soot and metal particles, as well as water vapor." The pulverised ancient matter, showers back on us through what often appears like a blue sky over the Pacific.280309

Manly Beach Drift "wood" - February

2009-02-25T18:23:00.018+11:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:

A lot of bluebottles. On the beach, many had small shiny fish entrapped in their tentacles. Some were in the water, leaving large streaks/marks on some people's skin. Thick kelp on the North Steyne end. Crested Terns diving, 2 Pelicans soaring above. A dead bird. Various dead fish.

Junkspace: Approx. 10 'dead' balloons with long gift wrapping strings, ready to entangle. Freed up into the environment by 'fun'- loving people. 250209

As most early mornings or late evenings, dog owners defy the law and encourge free range activities of their dogs on the beach. Today, one large hunting dog (many seagull feathers?) and a hand-bag sized rat-like thing called dog were on the beach.
Beer bottles, whole or as generously smashed glass were left on the sand. The number of smokers seems to have increased, butts and toxic fumes are hard to evade on this "smoke free beach". Car fumes and rancid cooking oils drifting right up to the 'surf'. Crested Terns are still there, so it is not yet getting cold. 270209 (Image "Dog harasses Little Penguin" by local children, expressing their desire for the existence of wildlife in their life-time, Manly Library exhibition)

Manly Beach Riot Day

2009-01-27T16:08:00.018+11:00

Following a long celebration period, during which adults modelled marathon drinking in sub-urbia, Australia Day or Invasion Day should be the final bang of the same thing.

To flee sub-urban misery, the oversized cars where packed with plonk, meat, dogs and kids. THE public space in which it all has to take place is of course the beach in Australia. Walkers invest their life racing no less than three dogs in harness (on average) along the beach to empty them there. Schoolies had settled on their towels with endless containers of alcohol and smokes. National flags covered the Corso, most bodies and their skin.

From beach to town the ubiquitous primal sound of "woo hoo" could be heard. The utterance of 'winners' borrowed from another culture and sphere has long replaced the endemic home-grown articulations of "cooee".

Public intoxication, violence, rage and glassing are not foreign to Manly. "Violent attacks have risen on the northern beaches by almost 10 per cent in the past two years." Violence is often said to be 'alcohol-fuelled' amongst mostly young men. Even businesses on the Corso are 'feuding' and 'brawling' diplaying violent behaviour in public.

Later in the day a group of 80 young Australians arrived (by public transport?) also clad in the national flag and said to be sedated by alcohol. Their utterances are claimed to have consisted of: "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie’’, "Aussie Pride", "f*** the pigs’’ "f--k off we're full", "we’re celebrating we are Australian, f*** the ethnics", "lets go f--k with these Lebs" and "tits out for the boys" .
Their deeds were violence against people and vandalism towards objects."They jumped on top of cars and smashed windows as they ran up and down Manly's Corso." "An 18-year-old Asian female in one of the cars was showered with shattered glass, giving her numerous cuts to her arms... A taxi driven by a Sikh Indian was also targeted". Manly Police and the riot squad attempted to restore civic order.

"Australia Day became a scene of brawls and vandalism across the state - with anger spreading from Shellharbour in the south to Port Macquarie in the north." "Ambulance crews were called to a fight at Sutherland train station with reports of a 10-person brawl, with a glassing and a female with a fractured finger." "Police say about 1,000 people were involved in the fight at Burleigh Heads". Head injuries at Batemans Bay. A "massive brawl"erupted on the Queensland's Gold Coast.

The 2005 Cronulla riots in NSW also come to mind. District battles for the golden 'public' sands away from unsustainable hot sub-urbia.

Previous:
Sydney riots I, 05
Defending the turf II, 05
Sydney Riots, Beaches and Exclusionism, III, 05
Spooky for Australian Children, update: 040109 abc
Other:
Rebel Without a Cause
Riots With a Cause
Update:
Manly 'morons' rampage was racist: academic. SMH 270109, " racism dressed up as nationalism"

Channel-billed cuckoos

2009-01-18T15:13:00.006+11:00

As mentioned before in detail, the Channel-billed cuckoos are now looking like adults. Their thighs and claws resemble that of a bird of prey. The Wattle birds were feeding their very large offspring and the Koels with the local native fruit of the area.
Image: Scythrops novaehollandiae, Brehms Thierleben, via Zeno

Manly Beach Drift 'wood' - January

2009-01-15T16:01:00.041+11:00

A monthly summary of what has washed onto the shore or beach through the winds, tides, waves or human action. Marine debris, flora and fauna, dead or alive:

Each day washes another type of jelly fish up, today bluebottles, yesterday a mysterious 2 cm 'button' with a dark blue short fringe. The entire beach filled with them. The day before, transluscent blobs. Heating up the ocean, turning it into an acid b rew and eradicating the predators of jellyfish (Sunfish, turtle etc) will produce an ever denser 'bloom' of more or less stinging jellies to wade and 'swim' in.

Many different types of kelp in beautiful shapes. A living hermit crab (Pagurus sinuatus) walking about in a big shell. One cuttlefish whole and the other with arms and tentacles cut off, cooking on the sand. 'Cheap bait'? Desperate fishing people swish nets of stinking fishheads on the sand, maybe to att ract sharks? An abundance of fishing junk all along, reels, nylon etc.

At the pipes of sub-urban eutrophication lingers a mysterious smell. Intertidal critters do their best to coat the pipe. Terns love the safety of the tall signs. Real driftwood, washed in by the king tide.

The human contribution: Smoking all over the beach, toxic butts in the surf. Large groups of young people all with unprotected he ads in the water and on the beach. Their coaches and carers are well covered from uv radiation.
On the sand and in the surf, the smell and sound of petrol racing. Roaring, smelly boats in 'operational areas', getting close to bodies in the surf. Buggies racing along the sand, without an apparent urgency for speed. One day it will be termed an 'accident'.
Commercial speed boats spin right into the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, depriving the marine fauna of a safe habitat. Swimmers and divers are in great danger form aquatic 'wheelies'. The airspace also has more frequent hovering of helicopters, private and commercial 'joy flights'.

On the litter front, the usual 'one mouthful' wrappers and containers, many balloons, gift wrapping and other marine debris on the shore line.

Denise Ellis Kelly pointed out how a speeding motor had killed a Little Penguin. She also mentioned how the shark net tangled and drowned a dolphin at xmas. (Manly Daily, 140109, p. 22) This is probably just the visible 'tip of an iceberg'. The motor boat and living body interface is as deadly and polluting as terestial traffic. Ban, reduce and lower speed. Motorised lifesavers' high speed is only warranted if life is in danger.

Aerial plastic tangle in the form of kites, string and balloons are left in the tall pines for animals to get entangled in.

The extreme light pollution along the beach from North Steyne Club to Queenscliff pool is an “ecological tra p” for wildlife and a blinding nuisance for people. One light bellows out CO2 pollution during the day as well. What a waste.

150109 Image 2 & 4 :Penguin art exhibition by children in the Manly Library. "Boats can hurt penguins. Slow down!"

A moray eel washed up, strangled by fishing line right behind the neck. Another inhabitat of the Cabbage Bay Marine Reserve reef became victim of fishing by-kill.
More Crested Terns (Sterna bergii) indicating heat to come.

The daily junkspace: unwanted flimsy plastic sun tents, generously left behind when broken down after a low usage rate. Large sheets of plastic tarp and the usual unwanted plastic bits.

On the beach walkway - many cars, unloading their commercial loads for the day. The council “green machine” billowing black smoke, repelling people from using the beach parade. The noise and pollution impact on beach users from driving on pedestrian paths is considerable. Operators stop for long periods to engage in long 'ride on conversations' – all with running motors of course, as it is customary in CO2 belching hot Australia. The accumulated fumes from the diesel-intensive mechanical sweeping and the decibel pollution drives people from the public space which is apparently being 'cleaned' for them. 220109Another large dead moray eel with a tumor/growth? on the side of its body. A dead frog and many blue bottles. A hot ocean and the feeling of desertification racing. Despite it all, SUVs and airconditioners are pumping up the Hot Planet. 300109

Movie: The Bards who lived at Manly Beach

2009-01-05T20:53:00.004+11:00

Now the movie: 'The Bards who Lived at Manly', Henry Lawson. Made with Xtranormal, Text2speech, 3D movie editor - first try.

Plastic Pacific - Manly Beach

2008-12-17T21:39:00.017+11:00

Plastic Pacific - Manly Beach click!

Manly Ocean Care Day - A Green & Blue Network

2008-12-07T21:16:00.024+11:00

Manly Ocean Care Day Festival 2008 - Some impressions from along the beachfront:

The Maori community
was demonstrating their fibre and wood craft. Te Papa Wawata Ki Te Moana performed traditional songs. Using Native New Zealand flax (Phormi um tenax and Phormium cookianum) women were demonstrating their weaving skills in a Pacific ambiance, that they had created in their hut. Beautiful handbags and backpacks with intricated patterns. Occasionally Pandanus and flax are also used.

There are some New Zealand flax plants in Manly delighting nectar-feeding birds, bats and possums. Of course there are many fibre plants, that the local Guringai population use/d. There are always weaving artefacts by Tjanpi, the Aboriginal women's basket weaving project from the Central Western Desert region of Australia available in Manly.

"Always was, always will be Aboriginal land"
Australians for Native Title and Reconcilitation (ANTaR ) was focussing on “ issues impacting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”. Their Sea of Hands installation is well known.

The Aboriginal Heritage Office is caring for over 1000 sites of Aboriginal culture and heritage in the areas of Sydney known as North Sydney, Lane Cove, Willoughby, Manly, Warringah, Ku-ring-gai and Pittwater. They educate (pdfs) and one can volunteer to report back on the state of vandalism of the sites.

The Ocean & its wildlife
ORRCA is protecting and affording welfare of seals, sea lions, dolphins and dugongs.The rescue organisation trains people, gives advice on 1st aid for marine mammal rescue. They like to hear of any sightings 24/7 - Ph.: (02) 9415 3333

“The Nature Conservation Council works to conserve nature and protect the water we drink, the air we breathe and the places we love.” It is “a non-profit, non-government organisation representing 120 community environment groups across NSW.” “Save Fluffy”, seemed so appropriate for Manly, with on average 2-3 dogs in harness. But they do mean the local Grey Nurse Shark which needs saving from exctinction.

NPA~Marine is the marine sector of NPA (National Parks Association of NSW), they are working with local communities, industries, scientists and government... to help create healthy oceans for the future of NSW.

Terrestial
The North Head Sanctuary will get its own nursery and propagate endemic flora.
Gardening
Great to hand out native Australian (endemic) plants.
Permaculture North is "Sharing Sustainable Solutions with Communities" They offer "an amazing array of skills in self reliance, energy & water conservation, qualified permaculture design and teaching". Rumour has it that there might be a community garden in the future and nature strips will be released from the terror of lawns and petrol 'gardening'.
Fauna
WIRES is "helping injured, orphaned and displaced wildlife".
The stuffed variety of Australian wildlife was preferred as no one wanted to cuddle the poor creatures into discomfort. Leave them in THEIR habitat.
The cat cage was a good idea and should be compulsory.
A dog on the beach, as every day.
Draining Sub-urbia
Stormwater displays - where did all that coloured water go? Did they come in a cleaned car?
Public Spaces
People from Little Manly Beach want a public reserve zoned as Open Space not more real estate.

Edibles - Slow & Local Food
Slow Foods Sydney would like to “preserve and promote local culinary traditions and foods.” Go local-vore and organic, educate about junk food, agribusiness and factory foods. They do not like pesticides, but regional markets. Where were all the Manly chefs?

The Manly Food Coop, for that very local, low packaging organic food - of course.

Sustainable Seafoodies - Soon there will be an "an online guide to sustainable seafood in NSW" Again Manly chefs, do take note on your menues!

A lot on watertanks, solar equipment and light green commodities.
There were many more stalls and activities...

Ideas for future actions
It would be desirable to hand out less dead tree material and refer/put information/displays on the web. Additional networking could strengthen the causes and communities. There seemed to be a forest of resposibilities, eg if this creature is on the beach, in the ocean, on state territory or NPs etc. It is confusing. Too many boarder/ interests for the flux of life. An integrated ecological management plan would benefit the blue & green and all creatures in these biomes.
Images:
1. Maori weaving
2. "Save Fluffy", Save the Grey Nurse Shark, nccnsw
3. Rigtail Possum, dazzled by the daylight
4. The Event along the Manly Beachfront
More:
Manly Beach Ocean Care Day Animation
Ocean Care - Of Albatrosses and Red Tides
Stuff at Manly Beach on November 2008 and December 2008

Mutilated Green Sea Turtle and Fishing Debris

2008-12-04T19:23:00.013+11:00

Green sea turtle, O8R051 was found mutilated by fishing gear debris. It took zoo staff four months to rehabilitate the creature.:

"A fishing line had cut a flipper to the bone and X-rays showed she also had a fish hook lodged in her throat. Her face had been badly bruised when she thrashed out in panic with her flippers in vain attempts to escape the fishing line. The bruising triggered an eye discharge, leaving her almost blind....We see a lot of turtles here... estimating half have swallowed fishing lines or hooks, or have become entangled in lines. Many others have ingested garbage. Still others have been attacked by cats or dogs on beaches." SMH

Once a marine park is established, it would be desirable to prohibit this mutilation, by-kill and mindless sharing of marine debris. 'Recreational Taking & Chucking' is a threat to biodiversity. "We can't expect to have over 93 per cent of our waters open to fishing and be aware of the fact that our marine life is declining and our habitats are being degraded and not expect that trend to continue." (abc) The control of introduced canines assaulting Australian fauna would require a mind-set change.