Thursday 5 November 2015

All Creatures Great and Small

Australian Seabird Rescue team member Gillian and great friend of ASR Peter, recently attended a family orientated day in Moruya on the NSW South Coast.

This annual event the "Feast of St Francis" or endearingly known as the "Blessing of the pets" is held by St John's Anglican Church.
A lovely sunny day - this community event saw lots of people bring their pets to the church grounds to be blessed at the altar and font by Rev. Linda Chapman. After a lovely morning tea Rev Chapman asked Peter to give a talk.

It was a great opportunity to spread the word about ASR. Peter, an ex member, is very well versed on birds and the problems they encounter and is still very active on the South Coast; never hesitating to assist birds in trouble. Highlights of his very informative talk were how locals could help by being the "eyes" for ASR and reporting any problems whatsoever to the ASR hotline as we can't be everywhere and do rely on this help from the general public. The never ending problem of plastic in the ocean was also discussed. In particular balloons which are mistaken for food by most sea creatures and birds, a devastating impact is occurring with all washed up birds having plastic in their gut.
As rescue coordinator I always tell people we would rather attend 10 false alarms than one tragedy so never hesitate to ring.
A big thank you to Gillian and Peter for attending this event and handing out lots of brochures and cards.

Footnote: Next time you are planning a party of promotional event please consider paper streamers instead of balloons. They really are just as effective and less destructive.


Betty