Mutilated Green Sea Turtle and Fishing Debris

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.

Manly Beach Drift "wood" - December

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:

30+ dead Leatherjackets again, possibly Meuschenia flavolineata, (10-20 cm long). Kids playing 'ball' with them. Millions of mostly still alive Ladybirds at the water's edge, struggling. There appeared to be no 'white collar', probably a native. Many aphids, scale insects, mealybugs, and mites will not be eaten this season by this 'gardener's friend'. As with the mass occurrence of dead crickets (021108) it is unknown how they ended up in this environment.
The usual 'fast food' wrappers and many 'gift-wrapping strings' with balloons, ready to entangle. Beach worm 'harvesting' and fishing 'classes' now at the waters' edge. High speed kite surfing poses a serious danger to swimmers/surfers and beach users.
Image: sandsculpture, kelp and pine needles 021208

A seagull had both feet tightly entangled by a fishing string. It could hardly walk or balance. Do we really need 'recreational taking' on busy urban beaches? Container ships hovering on the horizon. 031208

Thousands of Ladybirds struggling at the water's edge again. Seagulls gorging on the live ones. No one seems to notice, as strangers are usually recognised, by exhibiting curiousity and looking at objects at the beach. For the locals it is just a tabula rasa to do stuff on. Giant sand castles with deep trenches, possibly to trap joggers in the dark?. Various container ships cluttering up the horizon, possibly heavy in junk for the coming exchange festivities. At the North Steyne cliff end a White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) was stalking insects and amphibians in the urban run off. Rock engravings of the Eora people depict this coastal bird doing its thing for thousands of years. An off leash dog did not allow the bird to continue feeding. 041208

A 2 m long log covered densly in living Crustaceans. The Goose barnacles were of white/blue colour. The life raft was returned to the sea. A pelican was gliding north, looking like a flying ancient lizard.

A double rainbow again, nicely offset against the plump white clouds. A few blue bottles , many dog paw prints in the sand and black dog feces plastic bags sloshing in the water. 051208

Post Care Day and after rain. A huge soggy pond at the pipe. Leaf litter plus sub-urban run off, hanging around the surf. A large amount of garbage, mainly plastics: wrappers, bottles and an unusual amout of 'party ballons' with long 'fancy' wrapping ribbon of all colours- ideal to entangle. Inflated baloons blowing around. Again, full nappies, a syringe and chemical loo cleaner.
A near-death shearwater, an unusual number of seagulls with only one leg. Many blue bottles, nice kelp of all different shapes. Painted driftwood and building materials. The daily dog on the beach, hopping about on the prize winning North Steyne beach. A person flying his surf kite over the heads of swimmers/walkers ('obstacles') at very high speeds. Above the water, control of the medium seems to be beyond the guy stearing it. One day a beach user will be injured by these speeding installations. Council probably is liable for such eventualities. 081208A few small Abalone shells (Haliotis coccoradiata), rarely larger than 3 cm. A nice audio-scape coming from the rows of pines: Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), Red Wattlebirds, (Anthochaera carunculata) and Ravens (Corvus coronoides). Black faced Cormorants flying north. 091208

Powerful fast clouds stroke the beach. Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) surfing the dunes at high speed, mopping up insects. Ravens eye the dead fish. Rich leaf litter, blown down the hills from endless noisy debris blowers which move the sub-urban debris into the public gutter and down to the beaches. Civilised places have given up the polluting of air and water a long time ago. 101208

> Drift "wood", November 2008

Manly Beach Drift "wood" - November

A 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:

Dead crickets (Gryllidae), along the entire beach, a thick layer 1 to 2 m wide of dead insects. Seagulls were feasting on some of them. There was talk of aerial spraying locust in Sth NSW/North Victoria. Bees in Victoria were protected from the pesticides. Any connection? A dead Petrel. Thick clumps of kelp. Some blue bottles 021108

Rabbit poisoning (sodium monofluoroacetate?) is taking place in the Mona Vale Beach area. An unusual amount of dead birds, fish and insects were observed there. (Manly Daily, 041108, p2) Just a reminder, there were unusual numbers of dead fish (moray eel) at Manly Beach (081008), a dead albatross (021008). There seems to be no monitoring body of these mass ecological occurrences or possible eutrophication. It will be a different 'silent night' without the chirping of the many crickets.
Today, many translucent jellyfish, (10-15 cm round), a nice large shark egg case, maturing kelp and sea gulls and their young all along the beach. 0411108

Many glass-like translucent jelly-blobs, one had rusty/ red tentacles. 5 dead black seabirds, more kelp, fresh large blue bottles. Many plastic lighters. At the rocks off Queenscliff Rockpool, one rock had been cleared of all the oysters. Right in the run off from all the houses and toxic Manly lagoon. Yum! 051108

Post weekend frenzy: 8 dead shearwaters, possibly short-tailed shearwaters. No, it was not starvation and exhaustion' which kills them but 'fishing'. One had been trapped by a fishing hook of a human being, it had a long nylon string tangling out of it's beak. Is there any monitoring body for the eradication of wildlife in this biome? A marine wildlife annual database?
Fishing took place just there at Queenscliff Rockpools and at the weekend the ocean was full of boats in full take-mode. The multiple fishing rods on the busy beach are a hazard to people and wildlife. Busy urban coastal areas must be free of 'recreational taking' and sharing of their dangerous debris.
One dead Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus), a lot of kelp, many sepia hulls and very large bluebottles. Full "disposable" nappies were generously left behind. The usual plastic 'convenience' food, drink and toys. Giant sand castles, are being built by large optimistic families, simulating rapid and extreme climate change. 101108 Image: Bird hanging by long nylon string out of its beak.

Polystyrene, the white crumbly plastic that does not biodegrade in various chunks and pebbles. Many plastic dummies and the usual plastic bottles and plastic tops galore. A lot of 'gift wrapping', long enough to entangle any marine creature. A lot of dead winged insects and lost mole crickets.
A lot of grey round pumice again and brownish foam that sits on the sand for a long time. The surf is lapping at the cement stairs.
There is light pollution emanating from new street lights, starting at North Steyne and continuing along half of the beach. One of the mega-lights even stays on all day. Turning the dark sky and the Pacific into an overpowering glare. So much spare energy, blasting emissions like there is no tomorrow. For beach/promenade users it is unpleasant, for birds and insects deadly. Residents living in this 'sport-light' ambiance must be blinded. 141108

A few Crested Terns (Sterna bergii) mingling amongst the Silver Gulls (Larus novaehollandiae), a sure sign for hotter days to come. A fluffy thing, called dog walked along the beach illegally in bright daylight.
The disappearance of the horizon - hardly a day goes by where there is an absence of toxic diesel spewing container ships hovering until they can enter the jammed harbour to spill their o.s. commodities on to hungry consumers. More frequent ships increase the risk of oil or chemical spills, as well as exotic marine pests. They are not just clutter on the horizon of a beautiful beach, but a health hazard to all coastal and harbour residents and wildlife. 171108

Another dead moray eel, large blue bottles and many dead bees and other winged insects. 181108

Large amounts of leaf litter, mostly Brush Box (Lophostemon confertus). Either the rain washed them in to the ocean or some considerate person blew them against the wind with their debis blower. A Magpie checked the litter out. Stunning rainbows. 201108

A cold and rainy day. Sub-urbia washed its load onto the beach, the run-off looked like a mix of dark dust, gum leaves, speckled with jacaranda and bougainvillea flowers. Contractors and residents blow the debris of the 'nature strip' into the common gutter. The unwanted of blandburbia is transported via a million noisy petrol powered machines into Manly Beach, the Pacific. There were also many cigarette butts. A chucked unwanted lobster head, full nappies again. A racing beach buggy did not improve the air.Floating in the water a bright plastic buoy, with a couple of long strong ropes and a heavy lead/metal weight attached to one of the ropes. The inscriptions read:'MANLY JLSC 'Nippers''. Turning the beach into an event zone and leaving potentially deadly junk floating for marine mammals to get entangled in can't be kid's fun or delight any sponsors. Floating plastic debris and the possiblility of entanglement does not seem to be in the spirit of "Ocean Care" or good PR for Manly beach. 231108

A fresh smell today of salt, fresh fish and kelp. Huge waves and golden sand. 241108
Many plastic bags, full nappies and a not so fresh smell 251108

Grass stars (inflorescences of Spinifex sericeus) rolling along the beach looking for suitable real estate to bind the sand, stabilising against coming turbulences. Human stampedes limit this colonizing grass in its dune-binding function. A large variety of different kelps today.
Many non-biodegradable balloons sloshing along the beach. Balloons have become a popular way of advertising one's business, as well as staging events and parties. There they are - in all colours, maybe ending up in the intestines of a whale. Later to be found stranded and more than three square feet of plastic would have to be removed from it's bowl.
Many sharp and dangerous pieces of glass of all colours along the beach. Each bottle taking one million years to break down. The disposable diapers were still there - in 450 years they might be gone. The mono filament fishing line tangled around Queenscliff Rock Pool grids will take 600 years to disappear. Many plastic bags. There is a lot of polystyrene and garbage trapped in between the rocks at that location. So much for ocean dumping for one day 261108
> Drift "wood" December 2008

Plundering Aquatic Reserves and getting away with it

Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve has been listed on the National Estate register since 1991. It is a 'no-take' aquatic reserve in which people are not permitted to fish by any method, destroy marine life, or collect dead or alive marine organisms, including empty shells. The Marine Pde. is a popular walkway beside this 'No Take' area on which walkers and swimmers can enjoy the biodiversity of the area.

Right after the Manly (beach) SLSC, at Manly Point beside a sign 2 spearfishers were plundering the Reserve today at 12.30. Many walkers stopped and looked, no action.There were also swimmers near the armed robbers.


Then a Manly Surf Lifesaver came running from the club and made one of the thieves put the large nets and bags back into the ocean. There were beautiful tropical looking fish in there, blood dripping every where. I urged the lifesaver to inform the authorities, but he declined. When I finally got to a phone, the Fisheries Dept. was on hold - for ages - then an intelligent agent asked for specifics... A walk to council, referred on to the next phone to ring the ranger. There they wanted the identities and claimed Fisheries were responsible. There was that lunch time feeling in the air.

Almost daily there are people illegally collecting and destroying marine animals along this very small protected area. There are signs all along the way, that are self explanatory (images). The threatened fine is supposed to be $ 22,000. The enforcement seems to be outsourced to the public. It is really expected to face the 2 young men with their 2 m long weapons in a public place. Deliver 'their identities' to the relevant authorities in time.


A protected area is only as protected if the law is effectively enforced. Citizens can cooperate, but must see positive effects to not lose confidence in the enforcing authorities.

This was not the only incident today, although it had commercial proportions, there was also someone scratching in the intertidal area with metal implements for living shellfish. There is usually more happening at night, as reported before

There is a possibility for commentary here, just in case anyone out there can identify the armed plunderers.

Click pictures for enlargement. There are many more..

Update: 08102008 Plundering-cabbage-tree-bay-marine again