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.
Daily, 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.
050809
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.
060809
A small pod of
dark dolphins 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.
100809
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 logging? 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 cruising your favourite beach is the day you should really start to worry."
120809
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'.
180809
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.
200809
Just like in
August 2007, the 'green slime' (120809, above) of the day turns in to
glowing waves of bioluminescence at night. (
Video)
210809
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.
250809
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
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.
lly 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'.
