Habitat to Habitat
Pier Pilings

Migration
On the Move

Bron and Anth were in the studio for the first time for a while. Bron's weather report was up to the standard of the weather, clear and fine.

There are 3 collective nouns for porpouses: a pod, a school and a turmoil (why are they in turmoil ?). Anth also liked the party of Rainbow fish. Thanks to Duncan for his other nouns: a bale of turtles, a charm of goldfinches, a gam of whales, a knot of toads and a streak of tigers.

The ABC reported that trout feel pain after a UK study that injected bee venom and vinegar into the lips of the trout, and observed their behavior. Issue 1 - seen any underwater bees lately ? Issue 2 - pain is an emotion, they observed discomfort and a reaction to that. Fish feel discomfort so be nice to them. Check out our interview with Dr Jim Rose from the University of Wyoming.

Most pier pilings are wood, and you get different organisms on concrete ones. The stuff that ends up colonising them is floating about in a larval form amongst the algae, and they attach when they see a new surface.

Pier pilings have a vertical zonation, pretty much the same way as a rocky shore. At the top - the intertidal bit - has limpets and mussels as you would expect on the rocks.

Further down, in the subtidal bit you get the blennys, the small fish that are totally dependant on the pier. This attracts the pelagic fish - the pier is a buffet for them - all types of food in the one place.

What you get at different heights is dependent on what is in the water column. Some research in teh 1980's in California showed that the different larve are at different depths in the water, and this can determine where up the piling the organisms will attach.

Divemelbourne.com.au has a good list of the creatures you will see on certain local piers.

Rye pier was Brett's favorite pier of all time. It is not just that it is 1 min from is front door. It has really got everything, and is becoming the pier of choice for dive instructors.

Bretts next fav is the woodchip pier at Eden in NSW. Water depth is down to about 15 m, and there are layers upon layers of fish - all living at different depths - including Kingfish. Bron has dived nearby - a spot named nudibrank city (for obvious reasons)

The Navy pier at Exmouth in WA - Volkswagon sized grouper - is magnificant, and the Bussleton jetty is also a ripper - a couple of km long.

Norlunga bridge (just south of Adelaide) is great, as is the Rapid Bay pier further back towards Melbourne.

Tasmania - don't really need the piers on the east coast

The RRR's are on the move - what does that mean in the marine world. Translocation on the marine world can happen in ballast water, introduction of bait species, escapes, the museum trade and the introduction of new food species.

Looking at the parallels with RRR moving, the marine impacts can include the establishment of a colony of pests, destruction of the ecosystem, and diseases could be introduced at the same time. While we don't expect that any of them to really take place unless we move to Toorak or North Balwyn.

We will be keeping you up to date with the move as it comes to hand.

" Charlie Owen's Slide Guitar "

" Sad but true "

" Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"

What I done to her

Hayseed Dixie

Yesterday the wind blew its little ring out, but today it is only around 5 knots. The water temp is good and the vis is about 8 m. It will be great once the ice breaks.