The white varity of the Pink Wax-Flowereriostemon austrasius is begining to bloom. Is this early, the books say it is a springtime flowerer?
Other news from the dunes of Beach Five, Pipi hunters have cut part of a wire fence so they have easier access into the dunes for their clandestine enterprises.
A sole wedge-tailed eagle [Aquila audax] was circling high above the dunes between beach one & beach two for approximately 20 minutes. Then suddenly it was gone.
The wedge tail is darker and has a longer wedge shaped tail than the white-bellied sea-eagle [Haliaeetus leucogaster] which also can be seen occasional over Venus Bay.
Those brown sludges that re-occur from time to time (more often in the cooler months april to july) along the clean sand beach at Venus Bay are normally due to "blooms" of surf diatoms, and they are not due to pollution. These diatoms are not toxic, although they may cause some skin irritation. So it is advisable to avoid swimming in dense patches or at least shower after swimming or surfing.
These diatoms are small marine plants that have a silica casing (and are therefore heavier than water). The diatoms mainly live in the sand but use the foam in the surf zone as a means to stay afloat and spread. As the foam washes ashore, the diatoms slide off and/or the bubbles of foam burst leaving a characteristic ring pattern in the sand. Large accumulations of diatoms are naturally occurring and the diatom themselves are a major food source for prawns, fish and filter-feeding molluscs (such as pipis).
The EPA (see link below) suggest these "Blooms" of surf diatoms may be related to weather conditions, particularly onshore winds. Similar blooms on the pacific coast of USA are linked to upwelling in cold water currents (the suggestion is that the change of temperature precipates iron from the sea water and feeds the bloom).
So a nice side observation project for us is to record when the blooms are visible and how extensive they are, also the wind conditions and temperature (hot, warm, cool, cold, very cold is probably sufficient for now, but there is a link to the Pound Creek weather station over on the right-hand column of this blog). The most important observation is to distinguish them from other sludge/pollutants such as oil spills, untreated sewerage or other effluents.
They have a distinct golden coffee colour
They do not smell (of oil fumes or in fact any distinct smell)
No iridescent (rainbow-coloured) slick on the water surface
They are not sticky and if you collect them just on the stained surf foam it feels gritty
Frontline.SMS is an open source award winning application by Kiwanja.net. It is a simple to use "not requiring the internet" way to interact with the others in the project, that will allow any of us to use simple SMS text messaging from a mobile phone to submit observations and recieve news and warnings. All at a minimal cost.
You can Submit an Observation to be recorded in our database and posted on the website by starting your message with the Keyword VBOP. This means you will be able to send in things as you see them on the beach or wherever you are. It will just work of text messages, not photos.
You can also join a special Warning and Alert Group. Just send JOIN to the SMS Number (041 730 6986). Those Joining up will only recieve occasional messages related to specific VBOP alerts such as expected king tides, possible flooding or important beach news (such as the toxic chemical drums being washed ashore)
You can also choose to leave the group and stop warnings by sending LEAVE to the SMS number(041 730 6986).
Finally the small print. Please note the service is not online continuously but will be cleared daily. There is no charge for these messages, other than the normal SMS charges imposed by your telephone carrier (eg Telstra or Optus)
Those brown sludges that re-occur from time to time (more often in the cooler months april to july) along the clean sand beach at Venus Bay are normally due to "blooms" of surf diatoms, and they are not due to pollution. These diatoms are not toxic, although they may cause some skin irritation. So it is advisable to avoid swimming in dense patches or at least shower after swimming or surfing.
These diatoms are small marine plants that have a silica casing (and are therefore heavier than water). The diatoms mainly live in the sand but use the foam in the surf zone as a means to stay afloat and spread. As the foam washes ashore, the diatoms slide off and/or the bubbles of foam burst leaving a characteristic ring pattern in the sand. Large accumulations of diatoms are naturally occurring and the diatom themselves are a major food source for prawns, fish and filter-feeding molluscs (such as pipis).