|
Mer Island (Torres Strait, Qld, Australia) 20 - 22 July 2010
We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners on whose sea areas we are monitoring
|
|
|
The ranger program on Mer has started. So for Ses Salee it was his first monitoring, Sabs Wailu has volunteered in the past and Moses Wailu is an experienced seagrass-watcher. We were joined by John Tabo who has also regularly monitored over the last two years. All three sites were monitored though taking photographs proved difficult because of the strong south-easterlies, Sager rippling up the water. We were very surprised by a pair of ducks that flew into MR2. After watching them for a while we discovered they were after the crabs that were in the seagrass meadow. We will be adding this to our list of animals that utilize the seagrass meadows around our beautiful island home. Text Ses Salee, Moses Wailu and Jane Mellors
|
|
|
Mer Campus Year 6&7 got to try out Seagrass monitoring this week. We started the week off by having talks in the classroom, learning to identify the different seagrass species that are found at Maad. The next day we had a talk on methods for monitoring the seagrass using transects and quadrats. We also learnt how important seagrass is for our way of life. On Thursday we then put into practice everything we had learnt in the classroom. We monitored MR1. It was a great day and being outside and learning is more fun. Text Jane Mellors
|
|
|
Broome (WA, Australia): 14 - 16 July 2010
I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the dozens of volunteers who attended our recent seagrass monitoring events - especially to those who turned up for the earliest start time - at 5am - at the Port site so that we could catch the low tide. There's no doubt that the pre-dawn hour down at Roebuck Bay is a magical time of morning - there's nothing quite like gazing up at those bright quivering stars and breathing in the fresh cold air blowing up from the gaping darkness of the bay - but even so - who would have thought that so many members of our local community would be so committed as to wake up that early to come seagrass monitoring? The dedication of our volunteers has again amazed me, and it means we can continue to collect the very important scientific data. Thank you!
At the Port site, the seagrass was sparse but we were rewarded by a stunning sunrise and recorded some interesting creatures and algae. At the Demco and Town Beach site the seagrass cover was more substantial. With very little of the the murky-coloured blue-green cyanobacteria Lyngbya to be seen, the meadows looked bright and green. There were plenty of dugong trails and lots of crabs, cucumbers, featherstars, anemones, tiny fish, mudskippers and brittlestars. Text: Fiona Bishop
|
|
|
Singapore: 16 - 17 July 2010
|
|
|
We had arrived a little too early to land. The tide was still high so Cyrene Reef was still submerged, and the sun hadn't risen yet. After we land on Cyrene, we had to slog through high water to the sliver of sand bar that has just emerged. And set up for our monitoring. Despite Cyrene's location in the 'industrial triangle', it has great seagrass meadows and lots of marine life! Cyrene Reef has lots of Syringodium isoetifolium which is rather rarely seen on our other shores. We finished monitoring just before the day got too hot. For more pictures and interesting facts visit Team Seagrass Click Here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pulau Semakau
17 July 2010
|
|
|
|
|
We all woke up to a pre-dawn deluge of biblical proportions, sheets of rain falling to the thunderous accompaniment of constant lightning.To those who wonder whether we ever cancel a monitoring trip for bad weather: No, we go when it's low. While we may not eventually monitor if the weather is still bad when we arrive, we never cancel a trip and will make our way to the shore regardless. As long as the seagrass is out there. So perhaps only a tsunami will lead us to cancel a monitoring trip!
There's still some bleaching on the shore. But not all the corals are bleached. And the seagrasses are still doing fine.
As we reached Site 2, we saw that Cheng Puay and his team there were dealing with a huge driftnet that had been laid over the shore. Sadly, driftnets are very commonly seen on this shore. Unless removed, these nets continuously trap and kill marine life.
Since we had so many hands, we decided to remove as much of the net as we could. While some Team members released the trapped animals. Others hauled out the net. For more pictures and interesting facts visit Team Seagrass Click Here
|
|
|
Far North Qld (Australia): 09 - 12 July 2010
|
|
|
|
Green Island
09 July 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Correct citation: McKenzie, LJ., Yoshida, RL. & Coles, RG. (2006 - 2010). Seagrass-Watch. www.seagrasswatch.org. 228pp. Disclaimer: The views expressed on this site are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Queensland Government. Website designed by McKenzie, LJ., Yoshida, RL. |
|
|
