Archive: 2004

Clearly much to learn from muddy waters

The Courier-Mail, Saturday, November 13, 2004

BOY, have schools changed. In Southeast Queensland's steamy weather this week, about 30 children got to squelch about in ankle-deep mud- all in the name of education. There were no boring blackboards, rotten maths or hot classrooms; just the Wellington Point beach on Moreton Bay and a squadron or two of unusual marine creatures.

The Year 5 pupils, from Mary MacKillop Catholic School in Redland Shire, as taking part in the community based Seagrass-Watch program that started in 1998. The State Government -supported scientific program has been a great success since it started. School children, mothers and fathers from the Torres Strait to Victoria and the Asia-Pacific have joined in.

Survey data is used by organisations to asses the health of southeast Queensland rivers and bays. As well, children such as Mary MacKillop's Demika Gilroy,9, and Danielle Hindmarch, 10, get to learn interesting things about creatures such as mud whelks, an animal collected in April 1770 on James Cook voyage to Australia. "And we're learning all about our planet Earth," Danielle said.

And was was absolutely the best thing about the excursion? "Not getting into trouble for getting muddy," the Year 5s told teacher Bernadetter Williams and assistant principal Kerry Webber.

Picture: All about Panet Earth..Demika Gilroy and Danielle Hindmarsh from Mary MacKillop Catholic School explore the mangrove flats at Wellington Point. 

Survey success

Whitsunday Times, Thursday, December 16, 2004, page 7.

THE SUCCESS of four years worth of surveys on seagrass in the Whitsundays has now opened the door to a new program in Mackay.
The surveys are a part of the Seagrass-Watch program, conducted quarterly at various locations in the Whitsunday’s such as Hideaway Bay, Dingo Beach and Cid Harbour. CoastCare facilitator and spokesperson for Mackay Whitsunday Natural Resource Management Group (MWNRM), John Woodworth said that due to the success in the Whitsunday’s, the program will kickoff in Mackay and Sarina in the new year.
With more than 5,500 hectares of sea grass in the Whitsundays region it is becoming more important than ever to conserve it.
Fields have increased by 40% since 1980 but without regular mapping and more funding to create a regular monitoring program experts say the future for seagrass is still in question.
Senior research scientist at Seagrass-Watch HQ, Len McKenzie, said the Whitsunday’s are a good example of seagrass conservation."It is definitely an active participant in Seagrass-Watch, with more than 12 sites surveyed, in fact the area has not neglected one site at all in the entire time of its operation."

Picture: Akila Barkus and Jared Turner from Thursday Island High School and Margaret Parr, the local Seagrass-Watch Coordinator are out at one of the sites monitored by the survey in the Whitsunday’s.

Seagrass symposium

ABC North Queensland, Monday, September 6th, 2004

Presenter: Nicole Dwyer

Local volunteers are an integral part of North Queensland's seagrass monitoring program

The edge of the sea is home to some of the planet’s most productive and sensitive ecosystems.

While most Australians know our coral reefs are amongst the most spectacular on the planet, few realise that our tropical seagrass beds are also the envy of scientists throughout the region.

Like corals and mangroves, seagrass beds perform a critical role in our marine ecosystems by providing habitat and refuge for plankton and juvenile fish.

Without these underwater meadows the survival rate of these juvenile fish would be greatly reduced and our fisheries less productive.

Seagrass is also the primary source of food for the most mysterious creatures of our tropical seas, the dugong.

In North Queensland, a network of local groups form a "Seagrass Watch" program, which monitors the health of seagrass beds in the Townsville region and reports on damage or stress the beds may be experiencing.

Global warming, urban and agricultural run-off are all real threats to the survival of sea grass and monitoring is essential if any damage is to be contained and rectified.

This month, Townsville will host marine scientists from across the globe for the International Seagrass Conference, Seagrass 2004.

It is only the second time the international conference will be held in Australia, and Seagrass 2004 is expected to be the biggest in its 30 year history.

Source and article: Click Here

Natural born thrillers

Townsville Bulletin, Friday, February 20, 2004, page 26

galleries> >mandy wildeheart

Some art is hard to understand, while other art speaks for itself. Queensland Seagrasses - art and science at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery falls under the latter category.

This is a small exhibition of 17 watercolours by Ruth Berry in one of the project spaces and as the title implies, the images are of different types of seagrass found off the Queensland coast. All of the specific seagrass paintings are of uniform size and portrait format, with a similar colour palette, and are double mat mounted in timber frames The exception is the single habitat painting that is in landscape format and mounted slightly differently.

This exhibition is on show now as part of the North Queensland Wetlands Festival and was initia11y commissioned by the Marine Plant Ecology Group within the Department of Primary Industries to raise awareness about the importance of seagrasses. Now, if like this reviewer you don't know much about seagrasses (let alone their importance), then it is fairly certain you will absorb some knowledge when you visit the exhibition. For instance, did you know that Syringodium isoetifolium is the only Queensland species in the genus Syringodium and that it is different from the others because it has cylindrical leaves?

While Thalassia hemprichii isn't all that noteworthy for being different or unusual scientifically, this painting does stand out from the rest for its colour and subject matter. Unlike the other paintings, this one has been executed with a little more brown than green and has quite a lot of extra detail of flowers and seedpods within the frame. This creates a pleasant change from the predominantly mid- green paintings.

Thalassadendron ciliatum is quite a rare specimen and is interesting because it has a strong, woody stem to ward against wave action as it grows on exposed reef crests that get battered by tides. Despite this explanation, it doesn't look very woody in the painting and the leaves look like delicate little tassels at the end of slender stems.

This may have something to do with Ruth's ability to capture a sense of fragilely and translucency in these detailed paintings. Ruth has established herself as a natural history illustrator and has been involved with a number of publications, like The Slater Guide to Australian Birds and others of this ilk So it is no wonder that these watercolours are very accurate renditions of 16 different species in eight genera, with some paintings having extra details of the flowers, seeds, and leaf tips included.

The only thing missing in these paintings is an indication of scale, but one of the six didactic panels subtitled 'The Artwork" provides a general indication of plant size. It explains that most of the grasses are quite small at about 20cm maximum, and that the largest is Enhalus acoroides, which grows to several metres tall and whose fruit was sometimes eaten by traditional communities in Northern Australia.
If viewers don't want to find out more about the actual subject matter, then just avoid these didactic panels and take in the paintings on their own merit, as the paintings only have the botanical names on them. Or perhaps just read the one subtitled “The Science" as it has some intriguing background information about seagrass - such as they are more closely related to gingers and lilies than to grasses.

The 17th painting is a cross section of an underwater scene entitled Seagrass Habitat. It actually takes a second for the viewer to realise this is an underwater scene rather than a terrestrial scene as there is an absence of watery indicators like hazing or bubbles.
This makes it easier for the viewer to take in the detail that Ruth captures in the animals as they take their place in the watery environment. She has even enlarged some microscopic creatures to draw attention to their presence within the marine ecosystem.
For art lovers who are particularly taken with these images, or for those who have an interest in supporting ecological marine research, there are line art reproductions of these images for sale in a beautifully presented set. Prospective buyers need to contact Jane Mellors from the Department of Primary Industries.

Queensland Seagrasses - art and science is only on display until Sunday, February 29, 2004.

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