Dead Fish and Noisy Motors at Manly Beach

Dropping anchors onto the aquatic reserve
In the Marine Reserve today 'leisure crafts' were throwing their heavy anchors into the low reef today to pop some champagne.Motorising the beach, air and land
Helicopters hovered over Manly beach and sub-urbs, giving it that VN ambiance. Are there any restrictions on people perving from above, destroying the space with their noise? How many noisy aircraft routes can Manly Beach handle, in addition to the diesel-spewing coaches, running their air-conditioners hot?
Beach findings
On the shore of Manly Beach an unusual number of ocean/leather/mosaic jackets. We mentioned that an unusual amout of puffer fish and moray eel were also washed up onto Manly Beach. They all seem to have been dislodged from the safety of the reef caves of Cabbage Tree Aquatic Reserve. Maybe they are all just ploughed into the industrial beach sweeper and disappear with the tonnes of garbage into the tip? Does anyone record why there were so many dead reef fish last week?

Images: Some of the dead fish (ocean leatherjacket, pdf & Eubalichthys mosaicus) washed up on Manly Beach 071008 and possibly an Eora engraving from the Pittwater region.

Plundering the Cabbage Tree Bay Marine Reserve again

Again, the "no take" Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve has been vandalised in broad daylight with many people present. 'Protected' fish such as the Blue Gropers and many more were speared. It is sad, that apparently only one person stood up to these people carrying potentially deadly weapons on a busy beach. Regularly, MNLY confronts people taking buckets full, spearfishing, filling big nets of colourful 'protected' fish. Some carers just let their kids collect as much shellfish as they wish. Most of the plunderers know about the illegality of their actions and become very aggressive. It is sad, that the enforcement of a "no take" zone is left up to the arbitrary citizen willing to risk their life.

A phone call to the relevant authorities on weekends and after hours, when most of the 'harvesting' and 'sport' takes place, is usually diverted to an answering machine. Rangers are off duty. MNLY has been documenting some of the vandalising of an aquatic reserve since 2005 and made numerous phone calls. It would be a positive step to hear that vandals, that "could be prosecuted" are actually fined. Effective protection of the marine reserve should be 24/7.

Via Manly Daily 'How can anyone be so bone-headed?' 071008 (Maybe it is has not fallen out of the archives, as the 'red tide' 021008 has.
Images:
Portrait of a male Eastern Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) with escorts. Shelly Beach, Manly, NSW, Flickr
Eastern Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis). Fairy Bower, Manly, NSW, Flickr

Report all illegal taking and vandalising in protected aquatic habitats: Ph: 1800 043 536
- Manly Council Rangers Ph.:9976 1630
- Sydney North Fisheries Office Ph.: 8437 4983

Update: The 'Spearoz' community is also discussing the matter here