Manly Beach Drift 'wood' - August

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.

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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 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.

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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 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.


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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."

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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

More Salmonella 'mysteries' on the Northern Beaches

'Mystery' has struck again. Sand contaminated with Samonella paratyphi B var java was found again on the Northern Beaches playgrounds. "Hitchcock Park at Avalon and Winnererremy Bay at Mona Vale on the Northern Beaches have been fenced off for the second time this year, while a third South Avalon playground has not re-opened since May". Replacing (some) of the sand did not work. The bug, linked to exotic fish/pets can cause serious illness.

In pet-fanatic Manly off leash dogs mingle in playgrounds and on the beaches with toddlers. Apart from community hygiene standards and enforcements, it does not instill confidence that possible bio hazards could also turn out to be 'mysteries' for half a year or more...
More:
Salmonella paratyphi bio var java contaminated grounds May 2008

Manly Restaurants & Eateries - a Wishlist

There are some very good restaurants in Manly. Council made an effort to bring the “the basics of food safety, cleanliness, and hygiene practices” to the eateries and restaurants recently. The NSW Food Authority introduced a ' name and shame' register. As we are frequenting these premises with our friends, MNLY has a wish-list.

We'd like:

1. a regularly cleaned place, preferably using non-toxic materials
2. the provision of hand washing facilities for staff and customers
3. a fragrance- free environment
4. a smoke-free environment, in and outdoors
5. a spam-free ambiance
6. an absence of dogs (and their feces) in the food and drink establishments
7. an absence of toxic car fumes and unventilated gas heaters in the sitting areas
8. that it is stated whether the water was filtered
9. that it is mentioned on the menu where the fish/seafood comes from, esp wrt aqua-'culture'.

In detail:

1. In some places the paucity of cleaning is obvious. Some premises elsewhere are disclosing their ecological cleaning agents and the frequency of cleaning.
2. The bathroom does not necessarily have to be designed, as is fashionable in event gastronomy, or even cleaned with ecological sound materials. But the bottom line should be clean facilities and functional hand washing basins ( hot water, soap & towels) for staff and customers in times of recurring norvirus, hepatitis and Sydney belly. Toilet paper helps.
3. Various toilets offer synthetic fragrance sprays in small toilet cubicles to mask odours, due to lack of ventilation. Entering the premises one is forced to inhale these harmful substances. (pdf)
4. The right to breathe while eating out
   
5. Climate damaging flat screens have been installed in many places to pour some solid state spam over the customer held hostage to programs of shameless self-promotion of sales people. Each of the LCD displays is a huge energy guzzler, some use the equivalent energy of 7 fridges (de). These unsolicited, non-informative messages ruin the atmosphere. The choice of music is often, soothing to the staff, but incompatible with the clientele.
6. Dogs, prohibited in all food and drink serving places, regularly are seen sitting on laps, eating off the plate, kissing their owner. Staff handle doggy bowls and human implements simultaneously without concern. The dog saliva on the table just gets redistributed with the same old rag, that is used for all tables. True, as seen in real life!
7. Unflued gas-heaters, an unhealthy and wasteful form of heating are approaching the end of season now. The doors open up and more vehicle pollution and noise is made available.

Also:
Reducing Risks when eating out
Links:
What is an 'air-freshener'?
Health Risks from Perfume: The Most Common Chemicals Found in Thirty-One Fragrance Products by a 1991 EPA Study
What is a fragrance, video
The hidden threats lurking in synthetic fragrances and indoor air “fresheners” pdf
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants (PPCPs)
Common Synthetic Fragrances Found to Harm Wildlife, Humans
Household fragrances may be harming aquatic wildlife

Update 061211
We also would like to eat ethically wrt to industrial relations. Don't serve up up poverty wages, lack of sick leave, and discrimination. Guide (US)

Sand - Salmonella, E. coli and that cute pet

With reported salmonella infections surging in NSW and gastroenteritis reaching epidemic proportions again, it is time to look at the local 'mystery' disease.
The latest outbreak has hit the Northern Beaches' sandy playgrounds. 23 children are suffering from Salmonella paratyphi bio var java, a bug associated with exotics in aquariums.Suburbs cleansed of Australian 'wildlife' only allow interaction-starved young humans to relate to animals as pets, held in captivity. Under the guise of education & child-care living creatures become the objects to form the attention skills of little ones.

After dogs & cats, exotic pets fuel rampant animal traffic and pet shops. Lifted out of their habitats, and/or raised in unsanitary crowded conditions, these exotic beings are then brought (mostly illegally) into the child's space. The exotic bugs come gratis. Reptiles and amphibians became fashionable recently due to their perceived low maintenance and cost effectiveness. ” During 2001--2006, the number of turtles kept as pets in the United States increased 86% to nearly 2 million turtles.” Both turtles and other reptiles are a cause of human Salmonella infection. In the US children in 33 states have become infected with this new emerging disease. “...Salmonella carried by small pet turtles has sickened more than 100 people and hospitalized at least 24 nationwide in the largest recorded outbreak of its kind...” Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java has been found in most of the cases, “an exposure to turtles, other reptiles, or aquariums containing tropical fish.” was prevalent. In some instances the children were even sharing the unchlorinated pool with the turtle, for some it resulted in renal failure.

The Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is one such popular pet turtle from the wet-lands of the United States. Popular with the animal trafficking industry, later as another costly invasive pest they are finding their way illegally into Australia, from Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart and Melbourne. “The CDC has found that potentially fatal diseases such as monkeypox, salmonellosis, tularemia, and plague have been transmitted to people via imported animals such as squirrels, mice, lizards, snakes, and turtles.”

It would be sustainable to learn to share the world with the Australian animals,that still exist and interact by providing a long-term habitat for them and healthy young human beings, learning about ecology and interacting with peers in an intact environment. No invasive pests and no hurled alien bugsAnd more on beach sand...and E. coli
It has been found that bacteria from sewage ( Escherichia coli, fecal coliforms, and enterococci) accumulates in the golden beach sand of Florida's shores. ” Results showed that wet sand (in the intertidal zone) and dry sand above the intertidal zone had significantly more fecal bacteria than near-shore seawater ”. Feces-derived bacteria actually continue to reproduce on the beach sand, wave action washes some back into the blue surf. Rolling on beach sand could harbour health risks.

Let's not think about the untreated mess illegal dog-walkers leave behind on unsupervised beaches. Lucky, that Manly is girth by a vigilant water quality management.
More:
On Salmonella, CDC
Turtle-Associated Salmonellosis in Humans—United States, 2006–2007, CDC
Stop kissing that turtle, Barf 0908
Update: 
280709 Beach sand fecal contamination and salmonella
260212 Salmonella in Sydney playgrounds, Mona Vale, Winnererremy Bay,  S. Paratyphi B biovar Java exotic pets reptiles aquarium hygiene Multidrug-resistant Salmonella Java
06012015 Finally, the 'feel good solution' of blaming Australian native animals is here. Blame the last endemic bandicoots and turn a blind eye to pet feces and contaminated sand in which minors aggregate in large numbers (with their pets).