I had no idea it was on till I arrived for a shoreline survey. The festival organisers very kindly allowed us shell snoops in without paying.

You gotta hand it to these people! Hot music with food and creature comforts laid on….. a massive volunteer effort to deliver a great fund-raiser for local projects. But wait! There’s more!!

I had the great pleasure to meet some wonderful people who came to learn about shoreline surveys, including young Cameron who got right down to business. Within seconds of hitting the beach he’d found half a dozen ‘bubble’  shells which I hadn’t met in any other previous surveys around the Bay.

'Can-Do' Cam investigates Point Cooke

He and his folks had surveyed McCrae Beach a couple of weeks ago and filled out the sheet perfectly. I was SSSOOOO HAPPY to see the survey method works… and that people would actually go to the trouble of mailing the results to me.

Nathan’s a natural at finding rare shells. He found a paper nautilus when I met him at Dromana in January 09. Now he’s followed up with this one….

Nathan's rare find at McCrae

I haven’t come across one of these on any of the 25 other beaches surveyed so far.

Dunno what it’s called. Maybe someone out there has the answer?

Pic by Raymond V Lewis

The program will record which shell species live in Port Phillip Bay, on which beaches they’re found, and if  they’re common or rare.  Surveyors will also note litter, erosion, seaweed, dead fish and birds in order to gather an overview of the bay’s coastal condition.

The first goal is to survey every beach in the bay by May 2009 and recruit people to regularly survey their local beach over the next 12 months.  A longer term goal is to produce a book on the shells of Port Phillip.

Photos taken of shells at each location are to be forwarded to the EcoCentre for identification and compilation of local posters which will be sent to schools to encourage study of the Bay.  The surveys are great for maths out of the classroom, creative writing and desktop publishing, and are an introduction to marine ecology and classification of species.

So far we’ve surveyed:  Sandridge, Middle Park, St Kilda West, St Kilda, St Kilda South, Elwood, Mordialloc, Seaford, Frankston, Dromana, McRae, Rickett’s Point, Rye, Portsea, Williamstown (Gem Pier), Point Gellibrand, Altona, Werribee River, Port Arlington, Saint Leonards, Point Lonsdale.

Rickett’s Point has by the far the most number of shell species with Gem Pier in Williamstown having the least. Despite the low result for Gem Pier, the population at Point Gellibrand (less than a kilometre away) was reasonably diverse.  Saint Leonard’s and Mordialloc were notable in that they each had a species not found in any of the other surveys to date.

Each beach is different, reflecting the environmental conditions in their locale.  Along with local weather, wave and tidal patterns, conditions are influenced by proximity to stormwater drains, offshore reefs and breakwaters, piers and shipping ports, and beach cleaning and renourishment programs.  Ongoing surveys may well show seasonal differences.