waterways/wetlands – Page 25

Study finds increased acidity in Antarctic waters

environment, waterways/wetlands

Aug 112013

Original story at ABC News

A Tasmanian study has found the ocean's chemistry in Antarctica is rapidly changing.

A study has found increased acidification in Antarctic waters. Photo: Miguel De Salas

Hobart PHD student Nick Roden spent ten months at Australia's Davis Station in east Antarctica.

He took sea water samples every two weeks to test acidity levels.

He says the results were surprising.

"The change in the level of acidity in the sea water was actually nearly twice as large as what we were expecting," he said.

Professor Tom Trull from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic studies says ocean acidification can have adverse affects on marine animals like plankton and krill.

"I think there will be winners and losers but we won't know who they are," he said.

The study has been published in the Journal of Marine Chemistry.

Native water rats return to their former range

waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Aug 102013

Original story by Rogini Moorthi, ScienceNetwork Western Australia

WA CONSERVATION organisations have undertaken the first translocation of native water rats in Australia, with the goal of returning the species to areas within their former range.

Dr Rafferty says water rats are key indicators of a healthy wetland system, and if they are struggling to obtain a plentiful supply of their primary food source (invertebrates and fishes), chances are that there is a change in water quality. Photo: Perth Zoo

Australia’s largest native rodents, the water rats (Hydromys chysogaster) were once common throughout Western Australia but are now considered to be extinct in some regions.

The reintroduction project by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), Whiteman Park and Perth Zooaims to re-establish secure populations of the animal on the Swan Coastal Plain and across the Darling Scarp, in the long-term.

As part of conservation efforts, a group of native water rats were translocated from Perth Zoo to the islands of Mussel Pool based at Whiteman Park and AWC’s Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary in Chidlow.

Whiteman Park’s land and environment team leader Christine Rafferty says while native rats were historically part of the wetland ecosystem in Mussel Pool, they have become quite rare within the region because of an increase in predation and habitat loss.

“But, now that the land is being cared for, we believe that new populations of these animals can be reestablished,” says Dr Rafferty.

“The reintroduction of water rats can work towards increasing local biodiversity of our parkland.”

There are currently two water rats – one male and one female – at the park, whose movements are being monitored by cameras located near the Mussel Pool area.

“We would like to monitor the animals into the summer months before implementing any further translocations, as it is during this time that the water temperature starts heating up and implications of the changes in water quality on the rat can be observed.”

Meanwhile, AWC’s Chief Executive Mr Atticus Fleming says, the reintroduction of the three water rats – one male and two females – in Karakamia can help restore the food web, which currently lacks these aquatic predators.

“Comprising of both natural riparian habitats and a dam that creates a permanent water body, the wildlife sanctuary provides an ideal habitat for these animals,” says Mr Fleming.

“As Karakamia also has vermin-proof fences surrounding the property, it keeps out feral predators such as fox and cats that can threaten the success of any translocation of these animals.”

The three water rats will be closely monitored, and if the reintroduction is a success, Karakamia is likely to get another female and male rat.

Koala habitat to be rehabilitated

waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Aug 102013

Original story ABC News

A crucial koala habitat in the Hunter is set to be rehabilitated with a $100,000 [NSW] State Government grant.

Koala habitat to be rehabilitated. Photo: Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital

Wetland Care Australia will rehabilitate 40 hectares of forest near the Hunter estuary, which is part of the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens.

The project will also benefit a number of threatened species including the Grey Headed Flying Fox and the Swift Parrot.

Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann says the area is part of the Tomago, Stockton, Tomaree sand beds and connects with surrounding bushland allowing the movement of fauna.

"There is a dense blanket of lantana in this particular 40 hectare site and that is inhibiting other trees and of course those other trees is what the koala needs for food," he said.

"This is an extension of that and will try to turn it back into pristine wilderness."

Ice work if you can get it

waterways/wetlands

Aug 102013

Original story by Anthony Dennis, Sydney Morning Herald

Spectacular views are on offer on a Antarctica sightseeing flight, from the comfort of a Qantas 747 jumbo jet.

Something doesn't feel right. I'm about to leave for Antarctica but I have with me nothing warmer than a light summer cotton jacket as I sit at Gate 8 of the domestic airport awaiting the call for my flight. A man in a penguin suit (hope he's not the captain) is trying to strike a note of gaiety as the passengers form a long line to receive their boarding passes. At least the penguin is dressed properly for the South Pole.

If this was a normal scheduled flight, the hours we're about to spend in the air would take us roughly as far as Tokyo. But no, we're heading completely in the opposite direction. This is one of the world's greatest and longest-running joy flights and I've scored a precious Qantas business class seat, as a guest of Antarctica Sightseeing, on a 9500- to 10,500-kilometre round-trip day tour to the polar icecap with the only scheduled landing (please Lord) being when we touch back down in Sydney later tonight.

King penguins inhabit the Antarctic continent. Photo: Getty Images

To say it feels surreal is an understatement. I've been issued two boarding passes: Sydney to Antarctica and Antarctica to Sydney. In my "expedition notes" are the instructions on the essential etiquette required to make such a flight succeed: "All passengers except those who have booked economy centre or business class centre seats will be asked to move to the seat indicated on the Antarctica-to-Sydney boarding pass at a nominated point, which will be approximately halfway through our sightseeing time 'over the ice'."

It's a condition of travel on the flight that passengers move seats when asked to do so in order to ensure everyone has good views and can take photographs (damn those pesky wings and engines that get in the way). The aviation geeks aren't forgotten as the passengers are allowed to eavesdrop on the conversation between captain and control tower during take off as we head as due south as we can possibly get.

En route to Antarctica, it's time to sit back and relish the bonus relaxation time and the Qantas business class service afforded by the three hours' or so air time before we reach the first iceberg. Elsewhere in the cabin, one of my fellow passengers is so laid-back he's changed into his grey Qantas business class-issue jammies (though he looks like the man in the penguin suit who is back in his civvies).

There's certainly a convivial atmosphere on the chartered Qantas 747 that signifies we're all on a trip of a lifetime, of sorts, even though these Antarctic sightseeing flights have become almost routine. Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of Antarctica Flights, which has introduced thousands of travellers to the white wasteland. Travellers who, like me, would not have otherwise experienced it. Phil Asker, our Antarctica Flights manager, thinks this is his 46th flight and confides to me that his wife has been on so many trips over the years that she will no longer accompany him.

Spectacular views are on offer on a Antarctica sightseeing flight, from the comfort of a Qantas 747 Jumbo Jet.

Even by just flying over Antarctica we have joined an elite group, with only 4000 or so people paying for the privilege each year. More than 25,500 tourists visited the continent in 2011-2012, according to the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators. Only about 200,000 people have ever been to Antarctica, and the first time a human set foot there was a relatively recent 1821.

Of course, the dream of Antarctic sightseeing flights was dealt a devastating blow when in 1979 an Air New Zealand jet crashed into Mount Erebus, one of the continent's tallest mountains, killing all aboard. There was a long interval before such tours resumed, with the disaster still casting something of a pall over the South Pole joy flights that have followed. Pilots have since developed multiple flight plans to deal with any weather situation that may arise and to maximise sightseeing conditions, with jets carrying a reassuring 360,000 litres of fuel for any eventuality.

By the time we reach Antarctica there is an understandable excitement in the filtered cabin air, with Sydney now 4000 kilometres or so behind us across the vast Southern Ocean. When the coast (or is it just one massive iceberg?) finally comes into view, our hearts aflutter, it resembles a slice of ice-cream cake cut with a blunted knife. At its thickest, the ice-sheet below us is more than four kilometres deep and there are icebergs that could be the size of the Australian Capital Territory (no Canberra jokes, please).

We are told Antarctica is the coldest, most windy and driest continent on Earth, with only 2 per cent of the land not covered in ice. As I gaze down, during my designated window time, it's sobering to note that if the Antarctic ice-sheets were to melt, the seas everywhere would rise by 60 metres to 65 metres. From my window, the shadow of our expeditionary 747 is a tiny black ball tracing its way above what is effectively white desert. Ironically, our aircraft is called the "City of the Nullarbor", named after another expanse of nothingness between Adelaide and Perth.

Here and there are cracks across the barren landscape like the fine shatter-line on a broken mirror. It's an eerie, utterly uninhabited world above which we spend hours of compelling and companionable cruising. Although the world below us is essentially a monochrome one, there are bursts of dazzling colour with the combination of sun and ice throwing up shades of stunning deep purples and soft blues. The unimpeded view from the cockpit must be even better.

Pilots, I'm told, love these flights because they get to fly the aircraft in a unique and spectacular environment. At times, our 747 flies half its normal speed so the passengers can see as much of the white continent as possible.

We cross the South Magnetic Pole where we view the rugged mountains of the Antarctic mainland, with the aircraft flying figure-of-eight flight patterns over the various points of interest so they can be viewed on both sides of the aircraft. We fly at about 3000 metres above sea level, which brings us within 600 metres of the highest ground with this altitude. We are told the flight provides excellent viewing opportunities while "still respecting the wildlife habitats at sea level".

It's only when we fly low over the French Antarctic base called Dumont d'Urville, the loneliest cluster of buildings imaginable, that we encounter the first sign of humanity at ground level since we left Australia. Soon after, our jet climbs back up to 11,000 metres as we begin our journey back to Australia. It's time to chill out, as it were, and to reflect on an extraordinary experience. Dinner is about to be served in the business class cabin. Now, I wonder whether it's too late to request a pair of those cozy Qantas pyjamas.

Anthony Dennis is national travel editor. He travelled as a guest of Antarctica Flights.

FROZEN MOMENTS

FIVE MORE FACTS ABOUT ANTARCTICA

1. Due to its icecap, Antarctica is the highest continent, averaging 2300 metres above sea level.

2. Antarctica has no government and no country owns the continent as it's governed by the international Antarctic Treaty.

3. The average annual temperature ranges from about minus 10 degrees on the coast of Antarctica to about minus 60 degrees on the highest parts of the interior.

4. While ice comprises about 98 per cent of Antarctica's surface, there are areas of bare rock, the greatest being in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Transantarctic Mountains.

5. There are about 120 fish species known to live in Antarctic waters and birdlife is abundant, from tiny storm petrels to albatrosses.

TRIP NOTES

GETTING THERE

The Antarctica Flights season begins on November 10 from Sydney, with flights from Melbourne on December 31, and February 16, 2014. There are additional flights from selected capital cities. Seats start from $1199 (economy class centre) to $7499 (ice class) a person.

SIGHTSEEING THERE

The full-day Antarctic experience includes sightseeing over Antarctica aboard a Qantas 747, two full international Qantas meals including drinks, information kit and Antarctica experts on board.

MORE INFORMATION

1800 633 449, antarcticaflights.com.au

Turtles eating record amounts of plastic

threatened species, waterways/wetlands, wildlife

Aug 092013

Original story by AAP at news.com.au

GREEN turtles are swallowing plastic at twice the rate they did 25 years ago, according to a new study.

The finding is based on data collected across the globe since the late 1980s and analysed by researchers at the University of Queensland.

Green turtles are swallowing plastic at twice the rate they did 25 years ago, a new study shows.

Study leader and PhD candidate Qamar Schuyler says green and leatherback turtles are eating more plastic than ever before and more than any other form of debris.

The ages of turtles and their habitats are also factors.

"Our research revealed that young ocean-going turtles were more likely to eat plastic than their older, coastal-dwelling relatives," Ms Schuyler said on Friday.

Amazingly, stranded turtles found adjacent to heavily populated New York City showed little or no evidence of debris ingestion.

But all stranded turtles found near an undeveloped area of southern Brazil had eaten debris, Ms Schuyler said.

"This means conducting coastal clean-ups is not the single answer to the problem of debris ingestion for local sea turtle populations."

But she said it was an important step in preventing marine debris input into the ocean.

Ms Schuyler said an estimated 80 per cent of debris comes from land-based sources.

That fact showed how critical it was to manage man-made debris at every point, from its manufacture to the point of a product's consumption.

Port Stephens fish studies expand

fisheries, government, waterways/wetlands

Aug 092013

Original story by Matthew Kelly, Newcastle Herald

OUT OF WATER: Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson and research scientist Dr Nick Otway examine a whaler shark at Port Stephens Fisheries Institute. Photo: Natalie Grono

A $1.2 MILLION extension to Port Stephens Fisheries Institute's tank and aquaria system will allow it to expand its world-leading marine research projects.

The institute's library has also been refurbished to house extra resources from the Cronulla fisheries centre and offices have been built for transferred staff.

The new works were officially opened yesterday.

The institute is a multi-disciplinary centre with staff from five divisions in primary industries.

Its units include science and research, aquaculture, conservation and marine parks, fisheries compliance and biosecurity.

Current research projects are being undertaken in the habitat of the Eastern King prawn, Sydney rock oysters and threatened sharks.

Three of the four fisheries research leaders are based at Port Stephens, as well as the Director of Fisheries Research, Bob Creese, and the executive director of Fisheries NSW, Geoff Allan.

"This enhancement of the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute is great news for the region and the international marine community," Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann said.

Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said Fisheries NSW now had a critical mass of scientists and managers based at Port Stephens.

"These staff are leading the field and specialising in aquaculture and aquatic ecosystems research and aquatic biosecurity," she said.

"Scientists at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute are involved in a number of internationally renowned research projects and enjoy a stand-alone reputation as the best in their field."

Hunter River erosion project creating ‘fish hotels’

community, fisheries, government, waterways/wetlands

Aug 092013

Original story at ABC News

The Department of Primary Industries says the fifth stage of a project to stop erosion in the Hunter River is now complete.

A fish "hotel" being swung into position in the upper Hunter River, near Muswellbrook. Photo: : NSW DPI

With funding from the State and Commonwealth Governments, the Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority has strategically placed more than 140 logs in the river near Muswellbrook.

The logs help stop erosion and provide native fish with shelter, a place to hide from predators and somewhere to breed.

Senior Fisheries Conservation Officer Kylie Russell says the log structures are known as 'fish hotels'.

"They're essentially like a big constructed pile of logs, a bit like how you use to put matchsticks or paddlepop sticks together," she said.

"They're bolted together and then put into the river.

"They do a number of different jobs - the main thing is to actually protect the bank from erosion but along they way they also provide really good fish habitat for the native fish."

Ms Russell says the project has been underway for five years and will continue if federal and state funding is available.

She says the logs are taking the place of trees that were removed many years ago.

"And really, in hindsight, that was a fairly poor decision so we really need to try and put that vegetation back in to help stop the erosion," she said.

"Of course those trees would have fallen in and created these kind of log structures naturally, and so we are really just trying to help replaced what's been lost naturally."

Decision looms over Qld reef dredging

community, government, waterways/wetlands

Aug 082013

Original story by Cleo Fraser, AAP at The Australian

FEDERAL Environment Minister Mark Butler is expected to decide on Friday whether to allow the dredging of millions of tonnes of soil in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

View Larger Map

However, Mr Butler may decide to extend the deadline.

North Queensland Bulk Ports want to dredge three million tonnes of seabed at Abbot Point, near Bowen, to make way for proposed expansions at the coal port.

Green groups have been campaigning for months - via television ads, public meetings and rallies - urging the minister to reject the plans.

They say dredging will damage coral and other marine life.

Felicity Wishart, of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, says if the plan is approved it will pave the way for construction of a mega-port at Abbot Point.

"We'd obviously be delighted if the minister did recognise the foolishness of approving this dredging proposal," she told AAP.

Ms Wishart says the plan should be rejected as Bulk Ports has not identified a specific site where the soil will be dumped.

Bulk Ports boss Brad Fish has previously said dredging could possibly make the water cloudy over a short period and may damage seagrass, but was unlikely to affect other flora and fauna.

A spokeswoman from Mr Butler's office told AAP the minister wouldn't comment until a decision had been made.

Applications to dredge the seabed are considered separate to the port expansions which have been proposed but not approved.

Earlier this year the World Heritage Committee told Australia to present a plan on how to protect the reef from increasing coal and gas extraction and shipping.

If improvements aren't made the reef would be listed as "in danger" when the committee meets in June next year.

Thousands of people are expected to march through Brisbane in two weeks to demand better environmental protections for the reef.

Strangers invade the homes of giant bacteria

waterways/wetlands

Aug 082013

Media release from the University of Southern Denmark at EurekAlert!

Life is not a walk in the park for the world's largest bacteria, that live as soft, noodle-like, white strings on the bottom of the ocean depths. Without being able to fend for themselves, they get invaded by parasitic microorganisms that steal the nutrition, that they have painstakingly retreived. This newly discovered bizarre deep ocean relationship may ultimately impact ocean productivity, report researchers from University of Southern Denmark now in the scientific journal Nature.

This photo shows a sample of giant bacteria Thioploca retrieved from the researchers research cruise in the Pacific. Photo: Loreto de Brabrandere

At the bottom of the eastern Pacific off Mexico we find one of the largest bacteria in the world: Thioploca. It is so large that it can be seen with the naked eye, and it lives together with other family members in bundles of long fluffy white cell strands that look like Chinese noodles. Thioploca feeds on nitrate, which it absorbs from the water, and when it has gathered a portion of nitrate, it retires to a dwelling site under the seabed. The bacteria withdraws through an up to 20 cm long sheath to its dwelling site, and when it is again ready to feed, it returns through the tube to the ocean water.

"We have long thought that a surprisingly large amount of nitrate disappears here. When we investigated the case, we saw that Thioploca is not solely responsible for all nitrate removal. Inside the tubes we found some smaller cells, so-called anammox bacteria that steal nitrate from Thioploca when it retires through the sheath with its harvest of nitrate", explains Bo Thamdrup, bio-geo-chemist at the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (NordCEE), University of Southern Denmark.

Along with colleagues from Pomona College in California and other American institutions, he describes the newly discovered symbiosis in the journal Nature.

The discovery is now helping to explain why in some parts of the oceans large quantities of nutrients disappear.

"The newly discovered symbiotic relationship increases nitrogen metabolism in the sea. This leads to fewer algae in the water and thus less food for marine organisms. The consequence is that there is less food for the fish", explains Bo Thamdrup.

It is often an accelleration rather than a reduction of algal growth that worries marine scientists, because algal blooms can lead to poor and potentially deadly conditions for marine animals, including fish, particularly in coastal waters. But in some places in the world - as in the area, that Bo Thamdrup and his colleagues have studied - it is not increased but reduced algal growth, which leads to poorer living conditions for the fish.

The research team studied the seabed off Mexico, where a large area of the ocean is extremely low in oxygen. Only bacteria that feed on nitrate instead of oxygen can live here.

"We have previously believed that nitrogen removal occured mainly in the open ocean and in the water column rather than at the bottom. However, if oxygen-depleted regions and Thioploca and anammox-bacteria spread over the seabed near the coasts, it could have implications for fish life and fisheries" explains Bo Thamdrup.

Reference: M. G. Prokopenko, M. B. Hirst, L. De Brabandere, D. J. P. Lawrence, W. M. Berelson, J. Granger, B. X. Chang, S. Dawson, E. J. Crane III, L. Chong, B. Thamdrup, A. Townsend-Small, D. M. Sigman. Nitrogen losses in anoxic marine sediments driven by Thioploca–anammox bacterial consortia. Nature, 2013; 500 (7461): 194 DOI: 10.1038/nature12365

Might of a magic forest

Interest, waterways/wetlands

Aug 082013

Original story at the Sydney Morning Herald

The sudden forces of nature in the Daintree are an inspiration, writes Sue Williams.

Fishing on the Mossman River.

We're standing in driving rain beneath the dripping canopy of the oldest rainforest on Earth. It's muddy underfoot, drenching overhead and the river nearby, coursing its way through the thick undergrowth below, is rising rapidly. The guide can't conceal a note of alarm in his voice as he watches how fast the water is rushing and how quickly it's inching its way up the banks.

"We've had such a lot of rain here this year," he says. "But these are quite unseasonal conditions. We'll have to keep an eye on the river."

Under the forest canopy. Photo: Corbis

Yet it's hard to share his unease. Breaking storms on a four-day trip away can prove a dampener anywhere else but in the middle of a rainforest. Here, deep within the World Heritage-listed Daintree in far north Queensland, north of Cairns, the rain has the power to turn the experience into a magical one.

In the filtered light, the leaves of the giant eucalypts and ferns of the ancient cycads glow a deep, verdant, glossy green, and everything is wreathed in haloes of mist. The smells of fresh peat and damp moss fill the warm afternoon air. Apart from the drumming of the steadily falling raindrops, there's an almost eerie, hushed silence.

A room at Silky Oaks Lodge.

It's a stark contrast with even half an hour ago when we arrived, peered over the Mossman Gorge from the lookout on the edge of the steep escarpment and started off down one of the many hiking trails, the Dreamtime gorge walk, with our Aboriginal guide.

Awash with antiquity: the Daintree.

Then, it was overcast but bright, and the air was filled with the screeching of birds - about 430 species live here at the last count, including 13 species found nowhere else in the world. We were looking forward to a traditional smoking ceremony along the way, bush tea and damper, and a swim at the "beach" fronting one part of the mighty Mossman River. Something tells me won't be happening. Our guide picks up his pace. He's been telling us stories of his old Kuku Yalanji culture, stopping to identify bush food - sometimes holding branches down so we can pick it fresh from the source - and explaining the medicinal value of plants along the way.

A cassowary at the Daintree Wildlife Zoo. Photo: Alamy

When the rain starts, the 135-million-year-old rainforest really comes alive. Myriad creatures - it contains 20 per cent of Australia's bird species, 65 per cent of its bat and butterfly species, nearly one-third of its frogs, marsupials and reptiles, and more than 12,000 species of insects - scurry, fly and buzz for cover.

The river starts rising before our very eyes. "I think we should get back," our guide says. "The river's rising so quickly, it could cut off the road later."

It's a reminder that some things in this comfortable, modern, technologically advanced world are still beyond our control.

Our base for this jaunt is Silky Oaks Lodge, overlooking the Mossman River, on the edge of the wilderness. Bought four years ago by a new owner, Dutchman Paul van Min, it's undergone a $4 million renovation to upgrade the suites and tree houses, build other cabins overlooking the rapids, rebuild the pool, improve the large spa treatment centre and create a restaurant with 180-degree rainforest views.

It is now included in the Luxury Lodges of Australia group.

There is no TV or mobile reception, just the sounds of birds, the creaking and rustling of the forest and the river gurgling over the rocks below.

On the second day, I tried out a mountain bike then had a snorkel in the billabong at the front of the lodge, seeing jungle perch and freshwater turtles, although searching in vain for the resident platypus.

The next day, I took a yoga class then a kayak for a meander along the river.

But right now, we're walking fast to get back to the vehicle that dropped us at the start of our walk at the new $20-million Mossman Gorge Gateway Centre. The bustling indigenous tourist business at the entrance to the gorge has an art gallery, cultural exhibits and activities.

We pick up our pace, and the guide thanks us and then steers us on and finally out through a clearing and watches us as we pile into the bus. "I'm so sorry," he says, "but you never know with the rain."

No need for apologies - seeing the forces of nature so vividly exercised is a luxury for any visitor to the Daintree in itself.

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