Marine Discoveries - Alex Giannuzzi

Bron, David and Anth are all in the studio - to celebrate our win in the media section of the Victorian Coastal Council and Coast Action/Coast Care). The award is a wonderful watercolor of a gannet (they eyes follow you around the room), and we would love to hear from the person who nominated us. And it has provided us will lots of material for the next year. On the same day all the Marine Parks and Sanctuaries came under full protection.

The weather seemed good - but a bit of an anticlimax to the award.
Did we mention our award ?

Where have all the snapper gone (long time passing) - PIRVIC have started a project to track the fish by analysing the bones of the inner ear (called otoliths). As the fish grow, they lay down rings like trees in the otolith and by analysing the chemicals in each ring (using laser ablation mass spectrometry) you can track where the fish have been.

It turns out that the most important nursery is good old Port Phillip Bay.

And who are recreational fishers - well it turns out that they are male between the ages of 5 and 59. The female participation rate in Vic is pretty low, probably because they are not as easily amused as men, and less likely to sit in the cold and get bored.

The Marine Discovery Centre at Queenscliff has its holiday program starting tomorrow and running for the next 2 weeks during school holidays. For more info ring 5258 3344.

The whole community including the Red Cross and SES are involved in the attempt to rid WesternPort of sea stars. The first week pulled out 69, the second week 34 and hopefully the numbers will fall to nothing. The aim is to get them out before they get a chance to spawn.

Even the Tasmanians are getting involved - sending camera equipment to allow surveys to be done further up inlets.

The next few weeks will bring a great mix of marine stuff to the tube.

Tonight (4th) Polar Bear Battlefield at 7:30pm on the ABC the life of a young bear learning to fend for himself.

This week at 4pm it is Jasper the little Penguin on ABC.

Tuesday 6th sees two shows in a row on The National Geographic Channel. At 9:30pm Seamonsters: Search for the Giant Squid, followed by X-Force Sailing at 10:30pm.

Wednesday 7th at midnight on the ABC its The Sharkcallers of Kontu - about a PNG culture where they call sharks then kill them with their bare hands.

Thursday 8th at 3:25am (ouch) on the ABC is Destination Space:Mission to Europa - looking at the ocean that is expected to be there, perhaps with life.

Sunday 11th on the ABC at 5pm its The World at War:Wolf Pack: U-Boat in the Atlantic 1939-1944. You can guess what that is about.

Tuesday 13th on the ABC at 3am it is Atlantis Reborn Again - looking for the lost ancient global civilisation.

National Geographic Channel rounds it out with a couple of rippers:
8:30pm on the 15th and 7:30pm on the 18th is Science of Waves, and Tuna Cowboys will be on at 8:30pm on the 22nd and 7:30 on the 25th. If you want to see people diving to remove sharks from nets full of live Tuna, wrestling the sharks out, then fix the nets where the got in, then this is for you.

Eco Finprint is the start of a new segment where we provide information on what you can do to reduce the impact you have on the environment, especially the marine environment. The name is a variation on the concept of the eco footprint that was coined by Mathis Wackernagel. Our eco footprint is the amount of land and sea space it takes to support our lifestyle.

" Fishin' Blues "

" I'll be glad when you're dead and gone"

" Just like it is"

Taj Mahal

Dr John

Robben Ford