Original story by Josh Bavas, ABC News
An Australian invention is dramatically improving the marine health of one of Queensland’s busiest waterways, Moreton Bay.
Boat mooring invention helps save south-east Queensland’s dugongs. Dugong feeds on seagrass in Moreton Bay. Photo: South-east Queensland Catchments
Newly-designed boat moorings are protecting endangered seagrass habitats, bringing native marine animals like dugongs back in herds.
Moreton Bay is home to the largest population of dugongs living near an urban centre but about 15 per cent of their food source in the bay has been scratched away from boat chain moorings.
That is similar to an area roughly the size of 90 football fields.
Joel Bolzenius from environmental group South East Queensland Catchments says the threat to the food source of hundreds of species is ever-growing.
“Boat moorings we’ve seen over the decades – the number of moorings and the number of boats – actually increase,” he said.
About 1,000 dugongs call Moreton Bay home.
Dr Janet Lanyon from the University of Queensland has been studying Australia’s dugong species for 30 years.
She says maintaining a stable food source for the mammals is paramount.
“Maintaining good, healthy seagrass beds, and of the species that dugongs like to feed on, is absolutely critical for their survival,” she said.
Australian invention wins top award
Australian boat mooring invention that helps save south-east Queensland’s dugongs. Photo: South-east Queensland Catchments
The invention by Des Maslen, a boatie from New South Wales, won a top award on ABC’s The New Inventors program in 2007 for developing an environmentally friendly boat mooring device.
The mooring works by replacing mooring chains with a floating plastic rope, connected to a floating suspension buoy.
A series of the new devices were installed at more than 100 sites in Moreton Bay last year, thanks to about $450,000 in federal funding and about $50,000 from the Queensland Government.
That is allowing sea-grass to grow back across an area of about 120 hectares.
Dugong population increasing
Macleay Island resident Lindsey Rusbatch says he is now seeing dugongs at locations near the island for the first time in years.
Boat using new mooring invention in Moreton Bay. Photo: ABC News: Josh Bavas
“We’ve lived here for 12 years and we’ve never seen a dugong until about three or four months ago,” he said.
“We’ve seen a lot of female dugongs we think with young ones with them.”
Scientists have also been studying the impact of floods in the last three-and-a-half-years on local marine life.
Dr Lanyong says alarming levels of heavy metals have been found in Moreton Bay dugongs.
“There was a loss in body condition and dugongs need to maintain good body condition to get into reproductive condition,” she said.
About a fifth of boats moored in seagrass habitats in the bay are using the new devices.
Environmental groups are now trying to source the money to install the remaining 400 moorings in seagrass zones at a cost of about $2 million.
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