Sunday 19 January 2014

Clean the Bay Day

On Saturday 14th December 2013, a group of likeminded people came together to take part in the first annual ‘Clean the Bay Day’. They participated in a much needed cleanup of a local, seemingly pristine beach. Volunteers from several wildlife and conservation organisations spent around 4 hours cleaning up Long Beach North, located in Beecroft Peninsula, Currarong. Despite heavy rain and strong winds, 11 enthusiastic people came together to show that organisations can and will work together to protect our environment.

With 11 sets of hands, they collected close to 35kg of rubbish, in approximately a 2km stretch of beach. This rubbish included 29 plastic cups, 23 aluminium cans, 103 foam fragments, 341 plastic fragments varying from under 2cm to 1m in size, 144 plastic food wrappers, A squid lure, A pair of undies, 2 beach towels, A beach umbrella frame, 6 pack of chicken thigh fillets, a loaf of bread and a massive clump of balloons 39 balloons with strings and plastic clips attached!



The volunteers come from all walks of life, but all have one common goal and passion – to keep our ocean and coastline beautiful, and to protect our precious wildlife. Members from Responsible Runners Jervis Bay, Australian Seabird Rescue South Coast, ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) and Marine Mammal Research participated in the clean-up day. They are hoping to raise awareness of the issues surrounding our local areas, and show what a small collective of people can achieve when they all have a common goal.

Jervis Bay and surrounds is a haven for wildlife species and people need to be aware of the consequences of these huge build ups of marine debris. Even a beach that looks clean and pristine will often have a huge deposit of pollution, either from beachgoers, or carried in on ocean currents. People need to be educated that lazily throwing out a piece of rubbish can have disastrous effects on a species. Australian Seabird Rescue South Coast members are all too familiar with the devastating effects of marine pollution to wildlife. Members regularly partake in patrols of their local areas to look for entangled birds. Particularly pelicans that often have fishing line entanglement and hooks embedded in their bodies. Many people believe that a hook will simply rust and fall out of a bird, this is completely untrue. The hooks can cause massive infections and ultimately lead to a bird having to be euthanased.

Members from ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) also attended, with two members traveling from Sydney on the day to show their support. ORRCA is the most experienced and successful whale rescue organisation in Australia. They assist with, monitor, and give advice on marine animal entanglements, strandings and collect data on marine mammal species. Jervis Bay based members of Marine Mammal Research also attended. MMR is a collective of researchers and volunteers who are passionate about the marine environment Their objective is to conduct sound scientific research on marine mammals and to educate the public on these animals.

Responsible Runners Jervis Bay is a local group who integrate running/walking with weekly cleanups to reduce marine debris, build stronger communities, and raise awareness about the health and environmental dangers of singleuse disposable waste, particularly plastic, to effect positive behavioural change. They submit data on all hauls to Tangaroa Blue's Australian Marine Debris Initiative. The Responsible Runners group meets at Ocean Street beach car park, Culburra Beach every Sunday at 4:00PM and various beaches in Jervis Bay on the 1st Saturday of the month. They have an active Facebook page members can request a beach that needs some TLC. Everyone is welcome and it’s also a great way to exercise.


Shari

Sunday 5 January 2014

A little story about Princess Penguin Penelope

Princess Penguin Penelope was found by a concerned beachgoer in November, who was walking her dogs. The sub adult Little Penguin had scrambled up onto the rocks at MM beach in Port Kembla and was looking a bit sad and sorry. Lucky for her Candice ,the lady who found her, called Betty at Australian Seabird Rescue and we arranged to go pick her up.

Princess Penguin Penelope recovering from her ordeal.

When I got her home I noticed that she was covered in dry feather sheath and was incredibly itchy. She was constantly preening at herself and hardly noticed when I came in to change her bedding or pick her up for her fluid administration. Betty kindly called Taronga Zoo to ask about known skin conditions but we were told it would pass and she'd be back to normal once the old sheath had fallen off.
After a few days on a regal diet of pilchards, seatabs and spark she started to look wonderful. As Penelope was underweight I kept her for a few days to fatten her up to give her the best chance of survival at sea. She quickly stacked on the grams and we released her on a gorgeous sunny, wind-free day. She was quite hesitant to leave her cage but once she felt that saltwater on her feet she knew exactly what to do and swam out into the ocean. Old mother hen (as Betty likes to call me) was very worried and kept watching until she was out of sight, I'm sure she looked back to say thanks! Let's hope Penelope stays out of trouble and lives a long, healthy life where she belongs.


Shari