Coastings - Lynda Avery

Wendy Roberts - Reefwatch

Bron is flying solo today as Anth is off sleeping - and gave a quality weather report.

There were two collective nouns this week - a mustering of storks and flight or a gulp of cormorants. If you want more information head to the following link

The Marine and Coastal Community Network has recently had its funding reduced and it is threatened to have it reduced even further.For more information, contact Tim Allen

There is a 1 day workshop on Corporate Environmental Responsibility at RMIT on 9 May. The workshop looks at accountability and planning outcomes, and the variety of strategies employed to achieve this. It is $70 at the RMIT City Campus, and call 1800 067 117

The friends of Bay of Islands (not in NZ) - The park is from Peterborough to 10 km east of Warrnambool - like the 12 Apostles but some say it is better. The Friends of group looks at revegetation and weed control, as well as talking to Government orgnaisations such as VicRoads for when they put inappropriate signs up. The group has 4 project days a years - including cleanup the park day, replanting and the removal of weeds.

While the group is not large (ages 5 into their 80s), they are having an impact, and seeing increases in the native flora and fauna. If you want to take part in their next event, head to the Bay of Islands Carpark on June 1 at 10am. Wear sturdy shoes and bring sunscreen if needed.

Over 120 people are registered as Reefwatch observers. The geographical spread is from Portland to Cape Conrad, and the majority of people are divers. Most of the surveys done to date have been in Port Phillip Bay.

Wendy went though a couple of the surveys, and it was clear that people knew a lot of about the environment - spotting the differences between juvenile and adult scalyfin, noting new growth on brain coral, and where algae were being grazed heavily.

There were even some night dives covered - 8:30 pm in April. Wobbies and the Southern Gobbleguts were present along with the giant cuttlefish - one of the contenders for the Marine emblem last year.

Reefwatch can be contacted by calling Wendy on (03) 8341 7446 or heading to their website.

Looking for Antibiotics - in flies. As part of the process of the search for new chemicals to start the production of new drugs, the fly was a good place to start. The marine environment is also seen as a good place to look, as the marine biofilms that might develop on the red seaweed Delisea pulchra are similar to the biofilms that can develop on medical applications - ie stopping the fouling on catheters.

Basically the seaweed sends a chemical messenger to the passing bacterial warning them no to land and settle. The big advantage is that is does not kill the bacteria, so it does not put a selective pressure on the bug - so no resistance to the chemical messenger develops - potentially a major innovation.

Lead poisoning is a real problem in the crocs in Kakadu National Park. A simple equation is man shoots Magpie Geese with lead shot. Geese fall down dead and lay about on the ground. Crocs eat dead geese (easy prey), and digest the lead, and promptly die of lead poisoning.

" Lost Cause "

" Souvenirs"

" Good times "

Beck

Architecture in Helsinki

The Beautiful Girls

Brett was underwater, but Bron though it would be OK in a couple of places.