Bad weather for Sailors, but good for Diatoms

Beach One was the location of a mass stranding of Velella lata, more commonly known as by-the-wind-sailors. These little blue creatures are no more than 5cm long and are related to jellyfishes and anemones. Their natural habitat is on the surface of the open ocean, where the Velella feed on plankton.



They move across the ocean with their distinctive transparent "sail" catching the wind, visible in this first picture.

Every now and again a change of wind direction (like the cold blast we are currently experiencing) blows thousands of Velella helplessly towards the shore.
This second picture shows the underside of the Velella where its feeding tentacles are visible.


The same sort of weather that was responsible for the stranding of the Velella brought waters rich in nutrients that has allowed the Diatoms to bloom along the surf of Beach One.

This picture taken this morning at Beach One showing the characteristic browny-green "stain" of a Diatom bloom.

Alone at last!

WEEDS WEEDS EVERYWHERE!

There is no set definition of what a weed is, other than that they are always undesirable. In the context here I am referring to plants that are not endemic to an area, and that escape into our natural areas to become weeds.



This is undesirable for two main reasons;

• It changes our natural areas from being natural, which is the reason those areas are valued in the first place.
  



• It alters the balance in the ecosystem. The weeds out compete the native seedlings, so natural regeneration gets hampered. The native animals are all linked to the native vegetation and start to struggle, and pest animal species often displace them.

What can we all do?

Learn to recognise a few of the weeds, and which ones are particularly nasty. Below are a couple of useful links,

South Gippsland Weeds;

http://www.southgippslandweeds.com.au/

and the DPI's weed site;

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/agriculture/pests-diseases-and-weeds/weeds

The weeds pictured are from top to bottom; Ragwort Senecio jacobaea, Inkweed Phytolacca octandra & Spear Thistle Cirsium vulgare.

Celebrating Australia Day

What better place to celebrate Australia Day than on Beach One. Good job all you nippers and dedicated surf club patrols.

Death on the Beach

The Life Cycles of the Natural world play out daily along the coast at Venus Bay. Sometime you are confronted by the site of dead birds, like the albatross below, penguins, seals, dolphins and even whale. Unfortunately such deaths happen, frequently related to storms at sea. If you come across such birds, particularly penguins, it is a good idea to check for leg bands, its is import to note which leg is banded and the order of colours and any letters or numbers. Also if the cause of death is clearly not natural (eg the bird, fish is tangled in a net, line) they probably should be recorded. We don't need to be forensic experts or act as" the wildlife police", but significant changes in our environment may be signaled by other species.

Even Natural deaths when in larger numbers are worth recorded, for example our site was probably the first to note the large number of mutton birds that died and washed up in beaches all along Australian beach last year.

BUT please inspect these animals and birds with respect, a very rare and endangered species may need to be the subject or further scientific study.