Summer by the Sea 2012 – your chance to connect with the coast
For anyone looking for kids holiday activities and keen to connect with the coast on a low budget, Christmas comes in January... January 2nd to 22nd to be precise. During that 3 weeks an incredible range of fun learning opportunities are available through the Summer by the Sea program brought to you by Coastcare Victoria. You get to have fun and meet some amazing marine and coastal critters and the dedicated community members who can tell you all about them. [caption id="attachment_2396" align="aligncenter" width="517" caption="Sunrise seen from Altona (pic Julia Muniandy)"][/caption] Baykeeper can't wait to get out there for the fourth ...
Cart-rut shells alive and well in Brighton
A Baykeeper shoreline shell survey found a large Cart-rut shell (Thais orbita) at Holloway Bend earlier this year, suggesting the species may still live in the area. This species was central to the ban on use of Tributyltin (TBT) as an anti-foulant on vessels less that 25m in Victoria in 1989. [caption id="attachment_2362" align="aligncenter" width="512" caption="Cart-rut shell: worse for wear but there!"][/caption] International studies had shown TBT caused female shellfish to grow penises. A high incidence of the condition (known as imposex) had been recorded at Brighton Harbour in the early 1990s, but had reduced after the ban. We were ...
New designs for stormwater litter traps
One of the best things in a Baykeeper's day is meeting people who happily walk the talk. So it was quite a buzz this week to see Ross Headifen install a litter trap which he designed for the stormwater outfall at Albert Park beach. [caption id="attachment_2322" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="Ross installing his savvy solution to plastic pollution"][/caption] Better still, he'd already installed several other traps on City of Port Phillip foreshores; and negotiated with CoPP to have the traps maintained and monitored by the local beach cleaning crew. [caption id="attachment_2328" align="aligncenter" width="512" caption="A tailor made trap for a Port Melbourne outfall"][/caption] Ross ...
Surveys show – it’s raining butts!
Cigarette butts accounted for 37% of litter items removed from City of Port Phillip beaches on Clean Up Australia Day 2011. In search of a positive solution, Baykeeper has teamed with Ormond College (Melbourne Uni) students and the City of Port Phillip’s Community Pulse program to better understand where and why butts are dropped. [caption id="attachment_2292" align="aligncenter" width="518" caption="Buttbusters: Adam, Neil, Seb and Loraine with the story so far "][/caption] During August and September local volunteers and Melbourne University Ormond College students collected and recorded the location of cigarette butts found in a 500m section Blessington Street St Kilda and a ...
Wild Things
Cart-rut shells alive and well in Brighton
A Baykeeper shoreline shell survey found a large Cart-rut shell (Thais orbita) at...
Thresher shark on Hampton beach
Beachcombers at Hampton scored a rare treat last week with a dead Thresher Shark...
Stray sea lion lobs in Brighton
You don’t expect to see a sea lion in Port Phillip Bay these days, let alone...
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Education
Summer by the Sea 2012 – your chance to connect with the coast
For anyone looking for kids holiday activities and keen to connect with the coast...
Sand crab at Holloway Bend
We’re so lucky to have such a beautiful Bay with all its fascinating critters....
Cart-rut shell found at Middle Brighton
Year 9 students of Shelford Girls’ College conducted shoreline shell and litter...
Read more posts from Education
Advocacy
More toxic mud to be dumped in the bay
Over the past 70 years millions of tonnes of contaminated mud have been dredged from the Port of Melbourne and dumped in Port Phillip Bay. Meanwhile, the sand flathead population has declined 80% since the 1960s and we don’t know why. Toxic mud bound for the Bay The Port of Melbourne Corporation is currently seeking Commonwealth and state government... [Read more of this review]
A fresh approach to ciggie litter
Cigarette butts accounted for 37% of litter items removed from City of Port Phillip beaches on Clean Up Australia Day 2011 by the Port Phillip Clean Beaches Coalition. Apart from the fact that ciggie filters don’t biodegrade and are laced with a range of toxic substances, these little suckers are so small they scoot straight through most litter... [Read more of this review]
Sand flathead & mud ghost shrimp – why have they gone?
Populations of sand flathead (once considered the most common fish in the Bay) and mud ghost shrimp (once the most common benthic organism in the Bay) both declined dramatically between the 1970s and 1990s. Although a study is underway to investigate if overfishing caused the flathead decline, there appears to have been no attempt to explain why the... [Read more of this review]
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