Liz Morris -Melbourne University

The Quiz

A big news session today !

Letters to the Editor recently have criticised scientists for not speaking up, and for spending too much time with limpets.

Anth had a dolphin research rant - taking about research in NSW that indicated that swimming with dolphins and the dolphin sonar was helping depression and non-verbal children. Unfortunately, there were a number of possible alternative hypotheses that were not discussed. It could leave people thinking that dolphins alone were responsible for the results. Anth commented that the report could either be irresponsible or not very good science. Dolphin researchers need to be careful not to allow themselves to be shown as crystal-carrying dolphins huggers. It is hard enough for dolphin researchers to get credibility without stories like that on TV.

In Scotland, a gent is using scarecrows to try and prevent seals from eating all the smelt that are released from his hatchery.

Tasmania is using sniffer dogs to hunt abalone poachers. Thanks to the caller who commented that this was also happening in South Africa.

Liz does crappy research - into sewage to be precise. Liz was involved in beach and river quality monitoring in the UK - particularly looking at the larger organisms rather than E.coli.

In the UK, the majority of sewage is discharged to rivers and estuaries, and it is no longer practical to assume that dilution is the solution.

The impact of treatment depends on whether it has had primary (removal of chunks), secondary (biological treatment) or tertiary (nutrient removal).

The hard part of monitoring is deciding what to monitor, as it is critical to know that the organisms you are working with are impacted by the sewage.

Impacts include increased oxygen demand, smothering of organisms because of the solids, impact on assemblages, or even just the effect of the freshwater impact from the plant.

The key point for discussion on impact related around whether the community is prepared to accept a zone of impact - a sacrificial zone.

We won't tell you all the answers here, but we will tell you that all the answers can be found scattered through this site - so happy surfing, and congratulations to Andrew the winner of the family pass down to the Phillip Island Nature Reserve. First time in Radio Marinara's history that our first caller made it all the way through 20 questions.

" Frozen Lake "

" Gathering Storm "

" Stuck in Melbourne"

Buffalo Tom

Paul Kelly and Uncle Bill

Warner Brothers

It is calm and beautiful down at Mornington