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MARINE Life

Features and Creatures

Our Goal To educate, inform, have fun and share our Climate Treaty in Paris 3 enjoyment of the marine world with likeminded CO2 can be beaten 5 people. Coal and Coral do not mix 8 Sea snails clobber cancer cells/ White Rock Shell 9 The Crew Darwin’s wrecks in 3D 11 Michael Jacques, Editor Amphipods, freaky jelly raiders 13 SA Advisor – Peter Day Media Monitor – Alison Triffett Twilight of Sail, “Aldebaran”, “Fairy Rock”, “Wild Wave” 14

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not Undersea Vents/ Vent mining 21 necessarily the views of the editorial staff or associates of this Dumb Sharks 26 publication. We make no promise that any of this will make sense. Blue-Eye Trevally 27

“James Craig” back from the Dead 28

Cover photo, Mike Jacques, Sea Daisies Solomons Inundation, lost islands 29 Christmas Island naturally, coral bleaching 30 Wanted, - Dead birds for research 35 Jellies, new books and photos 36 \ We are now part of the wonderful world of Facebook! Check us out, stalk our updates, and ‘like’ our page to fuel our insatiable egos.

A Triumph of Diplomacy in Paris . Each country that ratifies the agreement will be required to set a target for emission reduction, but the amount will be In case you missed it, the world has agreed to roll back voluntary CO2 emissions, the sceptics said it could never happen. Who made it happen? “Inevitably, the compromises of the Paris Agreement make it both a huge achievement and an imperfect We did, by giving support to the idea, and showing in polls that solution to the problem of global climate change.” we would accept compromises. “The post-Paris regime implies a significant role for civil society organizations. However, in many Summary countries the ‘safe operating space’ both for these organizations . The Paris Agreement was adopted by all 196 parties and is and for the media is shrinking.” Meaning, we need to support therefore the first truly global climate deal. the deal to give our politicians the political capital to make it work. This newborn can easily die in our arms unless we shift off . It’s a “messy” deal, to satisfy all the countries the system is our backsides and take hold of the new opportunities. unstandardized and the contributions do not currently deliver the agreement’s stated long-term goal of keeping the rise in Others who helped get the Paris deal working were, global average temperature to ‘well below 2˚C’  ENGOs for keeping the issue in the media when we forgot to . It gets better over time. The deal has a ratchet mechanism care, even though many of the slogans and proposed that requires bigger contributions every five years. solutions were unachievable.  World leaders who put their credibility on the line, . The next five years are critical for keeping the below 2˚C particularly in the USA and China. “As long as policy makers goal within reach. in Washington and Beijing didn't put all their political capital . The agreement will become legally binding only if joined by behind the adoption of ambitious carbon-emission capping at least 55 countries which together represent at least 55 targets, the laudable efforts of other G20 governments often percent of global greenhouse emissions. Such parties will remained in the realm of pious wishes.” Since 1990, China’s need to sign the agreement in New York between 22 April CO2 emission tonnages have been skyrocketing, way more 2016 (Earth Day) and 21 April 2017, and also adopt it within than India or the United States, many other countries have their own legal systems had stable emissions or only slight increases in terms of tonnage, although emissions in most countries have been . the parties will also "pursue efforts to" limit the temperature growing dramatically in percentage terms (EU Edgar increase to 1.5 °C database). On 12 November 2014 when President Obama . The agreement calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse and General Secretary Xi Jinping agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions to be reached during the second half of the gases emissions.” The Paris ‘talkfest’ was no longer a 21st century. talkfest.  Leaders of faith, Pope Francis published an encyclical . It would reduce global warming from an estimated 4–5 °C called Laudato si' intended, in part, to influence the Paris (by 2100) to 2.7 °C, and reduce emissions per capita by 9% conference. The encyclical called for action against climate by 2030. Scientists are hopeful for more. change.

 Civic leaders - Al Gore, insisting that "no agreement is What Didn’t help perfect, and this one must be strengthened over time, but  Ranty bloggers and hard dry right commentators with groups across every sector of society will now begin to paranoia problems, or some other issue with civil society. reduce dangerous carbon pollution through the framework of  Thousands of anarchist demonstrators who had violent this agreement." clashes with police,10 policemen were injured and 317  Politically influential groups. The International Trade Union people arrested. Confederation has called for "zero carbon, zero poverty", and

its general secretary said there are "no jobs on a dead planet". On the Wrong Side of History Awards 2016  Industry – The Conference cost $200M and 5 major French companies tipped in 20% of the cost. They also came looking And the award goes to…Tony Abbott. Now to list his for the opportunities it created for long-term investment. achievements, take it away Peter Hartcher of the Sydney  Countries showing the way. France was the perfect host. It is Morning Herald, one of the few developed countries in the world to decarbonize electricity production and showing that you can “Australia had a bipartisan consensus on climate change under still have a high standard of living. As of 2012, France John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull. generated over 90% of its electricity from nuclear (granted- not for us), hydroelectric, and wind. The consensus was that climate change was real and that pricing carbon through an emissions trading scheme was the best way Challenges – We have to stick to it for Australia to respond. Abbott shattered the consensus. He The Paris Agreement is “predicated upon an assumption – rode to power on a conservative reaction against climate change that member states of the United Nations, including high action. He used it to destroy Turnbull's leadership and then polluters such as China, the US, India, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Rudd's and, finally, Julia Gillard's.” Indonesia and Australia, which generate more than half the In accepting this award world’s greenhouse gas emissions, will somehow drive down Tony Abbott will repeat their carbon pollution voluntarily and assiduously without any his earlier statement, binding enforcement mechanism to measure and control CO2 “Let’s be under no emissions at any level from factory to state, and without any illusions the carbon tax specific penalty gradation or fiscal pressure (for example a was socialism carbon tax) to discourage bad behaviour.” masquerading as environmentalism” . Runner Up – Kevin Rudd for failing in the “greatest moral, economic and social challenge of our time”, then destabilising the only alternative government on the altar of his own ambition. Only pipped thanks to a readiness to apologise, never an Abbott affliction.

Climate Change – Resistance is futile? largely ignored the extremists shouting about conspiracies, they were just a loud minority with no qualifications or credibility. Changing the world’s atmosphere for the better is not impossible, we have done it before The main source of these halogen atoms in the stratosphere were innocent and much beloved fridges, hairspray cans and Even I sometimes go ‘yeah, yeah’ when another prediction of other wholesome household items charged with CFCs, a chemical doom comes out on the TV about climate change. It seems so far that had helped make these products affordable. How could we off, and even if we do worry about it, what good does it really survive without cans of fly spray, this is Australia after all! do? Not only do we have to get our own politicians to take notice and get serious about it, we need consensus across the world. CFC effects Even harder, when you drive up to people in developing on the countries in a new car shouting about restraint, when most of atmosphere their citizens don’t even have were linked enough to eat. to increases in cancer, The amazing thing is that this cataracts, isn’t a new problem, we have damage to already tackled and defeated plants, and one global atmospheric reduction of catastrophe. Because we plankton have beaten it so quickly and populations decisively, it has rapidly causing huge faded from our memories. ecosystem Remember the hole in the effects. ozone layer? The scientific warnings generated worldwide concern, as well as In the late 1970s we started storms of protest that industries would shut down, to notice a steady decline of unemployment would rise (it was high in the 70s already), goods about 4% in the total amount would go up in price, and none of the developing countries in SE ozone in the atmosphere and Asia would have the sense to buy into a solution anyway. a much larger springtime However, if anything, it was the developed world industry decrease in ozone around the leaders that were the keenest to protect the ‘old way’ of doing polar regions. business. We didn’t really understand it, couldn’t see it, but believed our The science was just as confounding and even less well explained scientists when they told us about “catalytic destruction of ozone than it is today. The causes of ozone depletion weren’t that hard by atomic halogens”. We didn’t get too many tirades from to a chemist, bloggers with alternative theories (there was no internet) and we

 Cl· + O successors were also conservative, but stopped bagging 3 → ClO + O regulation as leftist overkill, and pushed for an international 2: The chlorine atom changes an ozone molecule to ordinary approach to halocarbon regulation. The EU shifted its position as oxygen well when Germany gave up its defence of the CFC industry.  ClO + O In 1985, 20 nations signed the Vienna Convention for the 3 → Cl· + 2 O Protection of the Ozone Layer. The U.S. aerosol ban worked for a 2: The ClO from the previous reaction destroys a second while, but by 1986 rising consumption had returned ozone ozone molecule and recreates the original chlorine atom, depleting chemical use to nearly to its 1976 level. In 1987, which can repeat the first reaction and continue to destroy representatives from 43 nations signed the Montreal Protocol. At ozone. Montreal, the participants agreed to freeze production of CFCs at Got It! Eeeasy! 1986 levels and to reduce production by 50% by 1999. After a series of scientific expeditions to the Antarctic produced We got doomsaying claims of endless chain reactions. “On convincing evidence, the Montreal Protocol was strengthened at average, a single chlorine atom is able to react with 100,000 a 1990 meeting in London. ozone molecules before it is removed from the catalytic cycle”. Intuitively that all sounded like alarmist b******t, but it wasn’t. With potentially big economic rewards for anyone inventing It was largely true. substitutes, a hydrocarbon refrigerant was developed in 1992. The participants agreed to phase out CFCs and halons There were some disputes about the impact of volcanoes, and entirely. For less developed countries, and phaseout in these the atmospheric modelling was primitive, the UNEP 1994 countries was delayed and was supported by transfers of Assessment badly overestimated ozone loss for the 1994–1997 expertise, technology, and money. Seeing the writing on the period. Industry leaped on these uncertainties, but we all trusted wall, the halocarbon industry shifted its position and started in the science and were skeptical about the claims of big industry supporting a CFC ban. interest groups. (in the 70s they were polluting our bays big time and were on the nose, literally if you had to drive over mudflats CFCs were being replaced by the less damaging near any factory like the Bridgewater causeway in Tas.). hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), although concerns remain regarding HCFCs also and reform in the USA in reducing CFCs Continued resistance from the halocarbon industry and a has been slow. But the adoption and strengthening of the generally negative attitude towards environmental regulation Montreal Protocol was enough and led to reductions in the during the first two years of the Reagan administration slowed emissions of CFCs. Atmospheric concentrations of the most- down reform in the world’s biggest market, but Americans significant compounds have been declining, since peaking in voluntarily switched away from aerosol sprays, resulting in a 1994. 50% sales loss even before any restrictive legislation was in place. Manufacturers and politicians sat up and took notice. A 2005 IPCC review of ozone observations and model calculations concluded that the global amount of ozone has now The U.S. Government's attitude also began to change in 1983, approximately stabilized. The ozone layer is expected to begin to when just one bureaucrat resigned, a particularly resistant recover in coming decades. conservative in the US Environmental Protection Agency. Their

However, we had long since stopped being interested. As soon as pages. It was all double Dutch but we trusted the scientists that the regulations were advertised the problem was “fixed” in the told us it was important and that something had to change. public’s eye and we all got back to raising kids and work Today global warming enjoys a broader scientific consensus than drudgery. The media completely ceased their reporting on the the theory of evolution, but everyone from the local conservative ‘hole in the ozone layer’. It isn’t all fixed even now, we have political leader, to Uncle Ted’s blog knows better. We don’t want done some damage that will take quite a while to come right. to know the emerging data that deoxygenation in deep ocean Ozone levels in the Antarctic ozone hole are still as low as 33% krill nurseries might potentially make some whale species extinct of their pre-1975 values. in 300 years, that doesn’t fit the length of a Tweet. We wouldn’t In about 2006, I was actually questioned aggressively about trust the preliminary analysis even if it did. It’s too far away whether the climate change issue was going to be another crisis anyway. that wasn’t a ‘real’ crisis, just like the Y2K and CFC issue. That Instead we search out sites that agree with our ingrained was from a very well respected senior science teacher! I confess prejudices. ‘Leftie green pot smoking do-gooders’ log in to the that even I had forgotten completely about the CFC issue. This doomsaying sites and ‘dry conservative/redneck gun ice and total loss of public memory is quite amazing as CFC treaties ammo aficionados’ log in to the denialists websites and cry “tax, stand as one of the great triumphs of international diplomacy, as tax, tax”. It’s not a scientific or policy problem anymore, its well as of environmental advocacy. There are countries that become a culture war. won’t stop the immigration of a notorious war criminal, but they will stop you from importing a CFC fridge. It has saved unknown We need to get together, those of us in the rational centre on millions from cancer deaths. both left and right, and get this sorted before we are all toast. I was told by quite a calm but authoritative person that we MIGHT Why is the CO2 debate so much more tortured? Firstly, CFC’s have a decade left to fix it before things really go south. were a compound that had economic impacts only on some industries rather than whole economies. The CFC chemical processes were fast acting, affected voters personally right now. Cutting CFC led to an immediate response, offering a quick and p.s. while looking for images easy solution. on CFC fly spray, I found Global warming isn’t so easy. The amounts of CO being emitted ‘dead fly art’, where there is are vast. They come from every industrial process we want for humour and goodwill there is modern living. The fix is hard. Even if we stopped now, the hope, damage would still be felt for thousands of years. It is a far bigger and more daunting task. However, we have access to even better science now and even more clearly know what needs to be done. I also think CFCs were an issue that came at us in a pre-internet age. Newspapers would put out a well-researched background article once a month and Dad would try to read the whole three

Coal dust kills coral "While the likelihood of a major spill on a coral reef or seagrass meadow is low, we are now beginning to understand the likely consequences," Dr Andrew Negri said. This result is hardly a surprise, what would benefit from being dusted with coal? The surprise was the speed and extent of the dieback. This was latched upon by commentators as damning evidence of the dangers of shipping coal though the reef, in case there were wrecks. I have to agree with the Qld Environment Minister who said that the research was useful, but coal shipping was not the main threat to the Great Barrier Reef. "The main localised threats are sediment and nutrient run-off from the land and the big long-term threat is climate change," he said. "Shipping is something we need to very closely regulate but we shouldn't let us distract us from what the main threats are." Coal dust released into seawater kills corals and slows I take that to mean that the real risk is when the ship arrives at seagrass and fish growth. a coal fired power station in Perth or Peking (it doesn’t matter where) and we burn the cargo. Research led by scientists at James Cook University in Townsville in north Queensland added fine coal particles to coral samples That then begs the question ‘Well what are you doing about and measured their responses over time. those threats?’ It has found corals exposed to the highest concentrations of coal We don’t really need to picket coal ships, we need to actively dust died within two weeks. lobby the public to support an emissions trading scheme that will meet our international emissions commitments into the future. "Corals exposed to lower concentrations of coal lasted longer, Coal will then cost what it truly costs, including the but most of them also died after four weeks of exposure," environmental damage it causes, and renewables will quickly researcher Kathryn Berry said. become the power plants of choice. Like France we will just "The coal didn't kill seagrass or fish, but it stunted their growth adjust to having 90% renewables, admittedly at some initial by half compared to clean water." cost, then wonder what the fuss was all about.

Sea snails enlisted in cancer fight "They're essentially little chemical factories - like powerhouses of chemical production." Chemicals from sea snails can kill drug The therapeutic value of this sea snail has been talked about resistant cancer cells. since at least 2009. I take it from this short report, that the new technique is that they have enhanced the chemical's potency Source UOW 1,000 times. That is the right mix to target drug resistance within the cancers. The molecules found in the eggs of White Rock This is great news, but not much help if the patient also dies. sea snails - called N- The next step is making sure the molecules are safe for injection alkylisatins -are potent into humans. "We are looking at putting them into nanoparticles killers of chemotherapy- so they become non-toxic and safe for injection," Dr Perrow said. resistant lymphomas "It could be five to 10 years before the drugs are available for and uterine sarcomas, use, but it would depend on funding and the success of the drugs researchers say. eventually in human trials." Researchers from the

University of Wollongong (UOW) believe the class of molecules will also be effective in fighting breast, prostate and colorectal cancers. Dr Kara Perrow found the chemicals killed 100 per cent of drug resistant cancer cells in the lab in just 48 hours. "When we compared that to a clinically used anti-cancer drug Doxorubicin, we found that that drug could only effectively kill 10 per cent of those cells," Dr Perrow said. Drug resistance is one of the biggest problems facing scientists - particularly when it comes to chemotherapy. White Rock snail egg formula have surprising medicinal properties. "They can't run away from predators, they can't run after their prey, and so many of them use chemical communication and defence to a lot greater extent than larger organisms," UOW medicinal chemist Danielle Skropeta said.

The White Rock Shell Neothais scalaris This snail is plentiful in the intertidal zone and sublittoral zone on rocks and among seaweed around the coasts of Australia, New The white rock shell is Zealand and Lord Howe Island.[3][4] large with a strong shell The white rock shell is a predator, cannibal and scavenger. It usually about 6 uses its radula to bore a hole in the shell of a barnacle or mollusc centimetres (2.4 in) and then sucks out the contents. Prey species include smaller long, but occasionally sea snails and mussels. As the tide rises, the white rock shell growing to twice this makes foraging expeditions up the beach, travelling far away size. It shows great from the sheltered niches to which it retreats at low tide. variation in its shell sculpture across its The sexes are separate in the white rock shell. The eggs that range. develop in the female gonoduct are wrapped in a number of membranes to form an egg capsule. Several of these are joined In Eastern Australia together in an egg mass and attached to the substrate. there are 7 to 9 deeply indented ribs in each Early development of the larvae takes place inside the capsule whorl. which contains yolk granules on which they feed. When they have developed larvae emerge from the capsule and become The Western Australian planktonic. After drifting with the currents for a while, these form has a row of well settle on the seabed and become juvenile snails.[8] marked nodules rather than ridges and an unindented lip. The Southern Australian form has much less distinct ridges and a nearly smooth lip. At one time it was thought that these were distinct species but it has now been established that the variations in sculpture are a function of different living conditions. Specimens gathered from New South Wales with deep ridges were kept in a still water aquarium for three years during which time the new shell growth was at first shallowly indented and later was smooth.[2]

Technology reveals Darwin's harbour project. It is a side benefit of an otherwise not uncontroversial dredging program in the harbour for a new pipeline. A new marine survey of Darwin Harbour by Geoscience Australia, shows up the dark depths in colourful 3D

"These images are a great contribution to our continuous efforts to better understand our marine archaeology, and to manage these historic Geoscience Australia said the collaborative four-year project, with the shipwrecks in Darwin Harbour," said David Steinberg, senior heritage Australian Institute of Marine Science and the NT Government, brought officer with the NT Government. Navy and merchant shipping sunk by together "over 50 years of experience in sea-floor mapping and has Japanese air raids in enhanced efforts for better estuary and coastal management in the 1942, as well as the area". Beginning in May this year, the research ship Solander operated wreck of a ship lost 24 hours a day over a month mapping Darwin's northern beaches and during Cyclone Tracy in northern coastline of Cox Peninsula, using "multi-beam echo-sounder 1974, have also been technology".The results of the survey, which Geoscience said revealed captured. " "relicts of Australia's ancient geography in the form of sub-marine sand dunes, ripples and sand waves. Scientists say new survey means harbour is the "best-mapped tropical macro-tidal system in the world". New bathymetric Geoscience said the mapping helped understand the area's geography imagery was made of as far back as "the last ice age, some 20,000 years ago", to a time the Booya, a ship which when a land bridge existed between northern Australian and New took shelter in the Guinea. The project was funded by Inpex, operators of the Ichthys LNG harbour as Cyclone Tracy approached but

11 was sunk, with five lives lost. Official records list 25 vessels, including fishing trawlers, ferries, yachts and naval craft, as wrecked or missing after Cyclone Tracy in 1974, with 16 people dying at sea.

Also mapped was the World War II American transport ship USAT Meigs, which was torpedoed and bombed during the Japanese surprise attacks of February 1942. The US Navy destroyer USS Peary, US transport ships Meigs and Mauna Loa, Royal Navy tanker British Motorist, cargo ship Neptuna and other shipping were caught by surprise in Darwin Harbour when over 200 Japanese planes attacked in two raids. Official records list the death toll of the two raids numbering "at least 243 people", with between 300 and 400 wounded. Over 60 subsequent attacks on Darwin would take place during the conflict. In a final irony, the salvage rights to the scrap metal of many shipwrecks were sold to a Japanese company in 1959.

The Peary was reportedly hit by at least five Japanese bombs as it attempted to make for the open sea, with a hit on its ammunition store the final blow. The Mauna Loa is reported to have sunk after being hit by two bombs that went through an open cargo hatch. Now sitting in about What you can just see above the mud 18 metres of water, the twisted deck of the Mauna Loa is littered with ammunition, motorcycles and gun carriers.

The photos are a great way for most of us learn more about these wrecks. I recently had the privilege of diving the Mauna Loa with Grant Treloar of the Darwin Sub Aqua Club. I very memorable experience run a bit like a night dive, with a guide rope to ensure you are still on the wreck. I’d heard about bikes sitting upright on the wreck in the 70s, but now they remains are slowly being blanketed in silt and slowly becoming a sealed ‘time capsule’ of the era.

What lies under the mud

Amphipods - Terror for jellies in a pouch, then seeks out jellies, lays her eggs, then looks after Most amphipods are little things sedately grazing on the young, something not seaweed, but some are very specialised parasites, with a common in the planktonic world. taste for jellyfish flesh. Members of the hyperiid family Phronimidae and Oxycephalidae Most species of hyperiids have a have been seen providing this worldwide distribution, many care. The mother feeds the larvae species found in the northern and as they grow, then swims hemisphere also occur in over the salp constantly to make Australian waters. They go sure they don’t swim off. Mature wherever jellies go, in the males are rarely found on jellies. shallows and at great depths. They seem to do their bit then take off, and leave the There are about a 100 species childminding to the female. known from Australian waters. The Hyperiidea are a suborder of marine amphipods, small crustaceans related to sand fleas

and distantly related to shrimp. They range in size from very tiny to more than 175mm long. Hyperiids are distinguished by their large eyes amongst other things. They usually have two pairs of fly-like compound eyes, looking above and below. Some have retinas with mirrors that boost light collection in the 200-100M twilight zone depths where they are sometimes found. Some have a single giant pair of eyes and others lack eyes altogether.

Most species of hyperiids live on and in salps, comb jellies and jellyfish in the plankton. Hyperiids are seemingly born onto these different kinds of gelatinous zooplankton and are assumed to be Sources; strict parasites. The relationship is nearly always detrimental to http://videnskab.dk/sites/all/files/hyperiid_amphipod.jpg the host. It is assumed that most hyperiid amphipods are not https://whyevolutionistrue.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/pelagic-amphipod- biologically suited to a pelagic free-living existence and their phronima-008.jpg; Associations between gelatinous zooplankton and hyperiid larvae are generally born without swimming appendages and amphipods Crustacea: Peracarida) in the Gulf of California Rebeca Gasca1,3 & adult females do not produce a large number of eggs. They Steven H.D. Haddock; Hyperiid amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyperiidae) collected recently from eastern Australian waters. Records of the Australian would have a very little likelihood of encountering a host jelly by Museum 44(1): 85–133. [28 May 1992]. Zeidler, W., 1992.Smithsonian themselves, so mum has to help them out. She keeps her young http://nmnh.typepad.com

The Bitter End By the end of the century, steamers were beginning to drive sailing ships from the seas. In 1897 she was sold again for the After WWI, all the surviving sailing vessels were largely very low price of £1350 and renamed “Aldebaran” (the brightest retired. Except for the South Australian grain trade, large star in the Taurus constellation) by new owner John M. Eklund, sailing vessels virtually disappeared from the high seas. of Åbo, Finland. At that time Finland was part of the Russian The only remaining merchant sailing vessels were a few Empire. They had built up a large fleet of older vessels that plied smaller old coastal craft that had lingered on in niche around the world, especially to Australia. trades in outlying regional areas. Soon they too were to be hulked or broken up for scrap. In 1899, the “Aldebaran” turned up in Sydney on a voyage from Mauritius. At anchor in Neutral Bay, a fight broke out amongst the crew and able seaman John Kuns had to be taken to hospital Aldebaran with knife wounds. A seaman named Gustave Schmihs was then locked up at the Water Police Station. The barque was already loaded for Mauritius under charter to the Pacific Islands Company. The voyage was held up while sale negotiations commenced. She was sold to Captain Harrison Douglas. He sent her instead on voyages to the Pacific Islands and New Zealand, going as far away as Honolulu. Sailing ships now had to seek less time critical cargoes to compete with steamers. Not all voyages made a profit. In 1900, she spent 4 months off Baker’s Island trying to get a cargo of guano, thanks to the primitive mooring and loading facilities. Eventually they ran out of food and water and the ship set sail only part full. There were regular sailmaker’s

bills to pay after storm damage, The 463 ton iron barque “Concordia” was built at the Oswald & especially while crossing the Co. yard, Sunderland, for French owners in 1869. She operated rough Tasman Sea. In May out of Dunkirk until she was sold to to J.N. Rodbertus of Barth, 1901, she was forced to shelter Germany. Much of her working life is a mystery, as all the under Cape Liptrap with a full records would be in France. load of NZ kauri for Melbourne.

The captain spent an anxious night hoping she wouldn’t go ashore but they made it through the night. In June 1903, huge storms paralysed shipping and caught the barque out at sea on a voyage from Hokianga, New Zealand. According to the captain it was the roughest Tasman Sea weather he had seen for 14 years. Her cargo shifted and she limped into port listing dangerously. In 1904, she had to jettison deck cargo off Sydney during a similar storm. In 1911, she almost came to grief again while being towed out of Sydney by a steam tug. The tow line went slack and sank for a moment. It got tangled on the sunken wreck of the collier “Currajong”, off Bradley's Head. Part of the wreck was ripped off, but the tug halted. The barque surged forward and nearly collided with the tug. The “Aldebaran” had her last encounter with Tasman Sea gales in January 1912, when it took 29 days to get from Auckland with 400,000 ft. of timber. She had to be tacked against the wind constantly, while huge seas broke over her. The topgallant mast crashed onto the deck and she had to be towed in to Sydney. That was enough for her owners, J. Smith &Co. She was laid up and put on the market. By 1912, steamers were complaining that there wasn’t enough coal storage space at the Hobart wharves. In March, the Union Steam Ship Company purchased the obsolete “Aldebaran” for conversion into a hulk at Hobart with space for 600 to 800 tons of coal. She was sailed to Hobart and taken to the Domain slip to be dismantled. She was then moored at the Hobart wharves, with her masts now serving as winch posts for the unloading of coal. She served in this role for another 30 years before becoming too rusty to carry on. On 13 April 1948 she was beached in Norfolk Bay near Dunalley, Tasmania, as a breakwater. Her hull was later cut up for scrap, and today only the peak of her bow can still be seen.

The Brig “Fairy Rock” and Captain MacFie merchant service since 1860. He had started out sailing small ketches out of southern ports. One of the world’s last commercial wooden sailing vessels lies ruined and forgotten in Recherche Bay. As master of the small 27 ton ketch “Stranger”, McFie had already made voyages through some of the roughest seas in the world. In 1868, on leaving Port Davey, the little ketch encountered heavy weather. The sails were progressively ripped to shreds and waves broke over the little two man craft. He sought shelter under Bruny Island but the ketch dragged her anchors and he had to abandon her. The ketch was wrecked on The Pineapples, but without loss of life. The ketch was uninsured and Capt McFie probably held shares in her. Needing work, he signed on to the “Fairy Rock” as master. As this command was a step up, his decisive conduct during the storm must have impressed the owners, even though he had lost a vessel.

In 1868, he took the “Fairy Rock” on a long trip from Hobart to Dunedin then on to Australian ports. It sounds like he was proving his metal to the new owners. The 101ft long 192 ton brig Fairy Rock was launched in 1859 at Rye, in England. She was entirely made of wood and should have The “Fairy Rock” then settled succumbed to woodworm and overuse 40 years later, but the into a routine, as a pretty Fairy Rock kept going well after all others has been burned or anonymous inter-colonial scrapped. trader. She spent much of her career plying between Hobart Her first voyage was to Sydney where she was purchased by a and Adelaide. Mr Smales. In 1864, the vessel was then bought by Mr H F Armstrong and went to Hobart in the command of Captain Darby. Getting to South Australia After making a couple of voyages to Batavia the vessel was against the prevailing winds engaged in the intercolonial trade. was slow going. Their best time was Southport to The vessel’s best known skipper was Captain Edward McFie. Adelaide and back in 24 days. Captain McFie was born in Hobart in 1840, and had been in the The vessel once took 50 days just to reach Hobart.

Captain McFie probably preferred a regular coastal run as he was the rate of 10 inches in four hours. She just made it to a family man. He married Susan Crisp in 1865 and they had 7 Devonport in a leaky condition. At Devonport the lower hold children. He could be engaging and charming, but he was a frames were replaced and the vessel re-lined with Tasmanian tough, opinionated fellow who made a living from managing hardwood to above the load line. The repairs took five months tough sailors. and the bill came to more than £1000, causing her to be sold. Capt McFie seems to have retired at that point. Marriage didn’t tone down his sailor lifestyle of heavy work interspersed with binge drinking. The death of his wife, and his remarriage in 1883 didn’t slow him down either. In 1879, 1884 and again in 1889, he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Arrests were always resisted, and were followed by another charge of assaulting police.

He was also intelligent and resourceful, following the Victorian passion for invention. In 1884, Captain McFie created an anti-fouling paint for ship’s hulls, a solution he went on to patent. No stranger to trouble herself, in 1883 the “Fairy Rock” rammed into an uncharted rock off NE Tasmania. The mate was thrown onto the deck by the force of the collision. The keel was damaged in two places, but she made port safely. No-one believed there was Not long after the “Fairy Rock” was repaired, she was damaged any uncharted rock there, but we now again in a gale while on a voyage from Mercury Bay to Dunedin, know that this was probably Salamanda New Zealand with a cargo of timber. All the deck fittings were Rock, or Eucalytpus Rock. swept away and several sails blown to pieces. The vessel had 3ft. In 1890, on a voyage from Southport in Tasmania, she ran into a of water in the hold. Her new master, Captain Bissel, decided to huge storm off King Island. The brig was tumbling about so run before the gale and managed to reach Wellington. severely in the heavy sea that the deck load of timber had to be jettisoned. By 1907 she was back in Hobart, at a time when all other windjammers had been retired in favour of steamers. The old By 1898, she was a rotten old vessel in need of maintenance. On hulls were still valuable as barges and coal storage hulks. The another voyage from Southport with a cargo of hardwood timber “Fairy Rock” was sold to the Sandfly Colliery Company at Hobart, for Adelaide, she ran into more trouble. The weather was fine, who cut down her rigging and tied her up to the wharves with a but the brig was been leaking badly. The water was entering at

17 hold full of coal. Now she served the steamships that had displaced her. When the coal ran low she was sent to sea again, only as a battered old barge being towed by a steam tug down to the company’s rail head at Margate. In 1911 she sank in NW Bay but was refloated.

Seeing the old vessel in such dire straits must have been distressing for Capt McFie, who was now a Warden on the Marine Board of Hobart. He died pretty much the same time as the “Fairy Rock”.

1920

The struggling Sandfly coal mine sold the hulk to the colliery at Recherche Bay. Between 1907 and 1921 costly attempts were made to mine the coal at Catamaran, boosted by a report in 1936 1912 which predicted over two million tons of coal from the lease. A wharf and large coal bins were constructed, kilometres of steel tramway was laid down. The ‘Fairy Rock’ was loaded with about 900 tons of coal per trip and towed between the mine and Hobart. The coal quality was very poor and the venture struggled to stay open. The scheme’s finances collapsed, with the wharves later destroyed by fire.

When the mine closed, the “Fairy Rock” and later the old hulk “James Craig”, were dumped in Recherche Bay to rot. In the 1970’s, the James Craig was refloated and lovingly restored and still survives today. Shipworm went to town on the small wooden brig and the “Fairy Rock” slowly fell to pieces. By 1936 her rotting remains had virtually completely disappeared.

Wild Wave By 1908 she changed hands again, being bought by an Adelaide firm. In 1920, despite her obsolescence the new owners spent some money on a partial refit. However, orders were drying up. Her last voyage was made from Hobart in 1923, when she sailed to Esperance (Tas), and loaded timber for Adelaide. Then she was laid up for nearly twelve months. The Wild Wave, was finally purchased for £400 by the estate of Mr Henry Moss, of Melbourne, and it was intended to dismantle her and convert her into a lighter. Before she was to be dismantled, she had to take a cargo of barley to Melbourne from Adelaide. Captain Nicholson also intended that it should be his last voyage before retirement. Before leaving Adelaide, the vessel waited for a fortnight due to bad weather. As soon as she was clear of the passage, bad luck was encountered. She struck a heavy northerly gale halfway to Cape Otway. The heavy swell caused the ship to heel over and the cargo shifted. Water was taken aboard and it was feared that the vessel would founder. The captain squared away and ran before the gale until the weather slightly abated. After another attempt, Cape Otway was reached. Another strong westerly gale struck, which blew the barque nearly to Wilson's Promontory. The captain estimated the force of the wind to be 150 miles an hour. The fore lower topsail was lost. The weather then abated a little and the vessel made Stanley for shelter. The vessel lay safely in the bay when in the early hours of the The wooden barque Wild Wave was built at Birkenhead, morning the wind changed to the east, and began to blow hard Lancashire in 1875. She was a small vessel of only 258 gross once more. tonnage. Captain John Fisher, of Hobart went to England to buy The second anchor was let go out to the full length of both her. He was sent by his brother William of the firm of Fisher and cables. However, the wind still increased. At about 2 p.m., she Facy, of Hobart. In England she loaded for Mauritius and after started to drag her moorings. Ultimately the starboard cable discharging there came to Hobart in 1876. His brother was so broke. The captain and crew of nine managed to get the lifeboat unhappy with the purchase that he reportedly refused to speak out, and made ready to abandon the vessel. The boat was time to John for some time. They quickly sold the vessel, and the new after time driven back against the ship. Finally, they got clear, owners went on to trade with success around Australian ports, and attempted to land at the jetty. The boat swamped but they Mauritius and with New Zealand. Around the end of the century, made it to safety. she had her rigging reduced, probably to save on labour.

Volunteers provide a window into the future of fisheries With help from volunteer surveys the Smithsonian Institution has found that biodiversity will be the key to keeping global fisheries going as sea temperatures rise. The Smithsonian research included data provided by the Reef Life Survey — A Tasmanian initiative that organises surveys by volunteer divers from 10 countries. “This study is based on more than 4500 underwater surveys,” said Reef Life Survey co-leader Rick Stuart-Smith, from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.

The idea that biodiversity can offer practical value in combating There have been a couple of notable wrecks on Tatlows Beach fisheries decline as oceans warm has been controversial. The Stanley – including the brig Valiant in 1868 and the Wild Wave in Smithsonian study, published in Proceedings of the National 1923. The shifting sands come and go and sometimes reveal the Academy of Sciences, confirmed that biodiversity was a key last remains of the wrecks, both quite close to each other. They factor needed for fish resources to thrive in coming decades “as lie almost directly below the vehicular entry track to Tatlows communities with more fish species are more productive and Beach, at the more resilient to both rising temperatures and temperature Showgrounds swings”. entrance. Wild Wave has just a “Preserving biodiversity is not just an aesthetic or spiritual issue few of her iron — it’s critical to the healthy functioning of ecosystems and the ribs protruding important services they provide to humans, such as seafood,” from the sand. said lead author Emmett Duffy. But a separate Swedish-led study involving UTAS research fellow Timothy Clark found that while fish could adapt to slowly rising temperatures, they could only adapt so far. Dr Clark said ever- increasing water temperatures and added stresses such as heatwaves could be catastrophic. “There’s been a lot of speculation about what fish populations will look like in 100 years, but this is the best evidence to date that fish are not going to be able to adjust indefinitely — which is why we have to manage greenhouse gas emissions and try to limit global temperature increases,” he said.

Undersea Vents There are two types of vents. If the water is not too close to a pocket of magma it will seep back to the surface only partly warmed. Usually, life has to adjust to deep sea temperatures of about 2oC, but at the ‘cold seeps’ the water is between 10 and 20°C. Where the water seeps down to a superheated pocket of magna, it will dissolve a slush of minerals before becoming overheated and gushing to the surface in a forceful jet. The superheated vent water is at temperature from 60°C up to over 450°C. The water is extremely acidic, often having a pH similar to vinegar. The minerals precipitate out of the plume of hot water and grow into a “chimney” or “smoker”. Vents can grow up to 30 cm per day and consist of many minerals including calcium sulphate and sulfides of copper, iron and zinc. Vents have been located at depths varying from 1.5 to 4.0 kilometres. A vent will remain active for usually one or two years. The first hydrothermal vent was discovered in 1977 by geologists on a research expedition in the Galapagos Rift off the coast of Deep in the darkness of the ocean depths there is South America. No-one was imperceptibly slow movement. Cracks in the Earth’s crust really looking for them and they allow cold seawater to seep into the hot interior of the were expected to be lifeless. Earth, to gush back up as superheated vents. After all, it is superhot, dark, the Tectonic plates are pressures are enormous, and it’s floating across the crust raining acid. These are of the earth, pushing up conditions found on alien worlds, ridges where they and now we think maybe life collide, opening massive exists everywhere and we are trenches where they pull not alone in the universe. Prior apart. In some places to finding vents, we had a pretty there are large active limited idea of what life could volcanoes, and in other tolerate. sites less dramatic In fact, vents may have been activity. where life began. Hydrothermal vents have a 10,000 to 100,000

21 times greater density of life than the surrounding sea floor. They (often a few decades) so scientists aren’t sure how these use chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis to survive. specialised animals find new vents. Vent organisms have a free- Special bacteria produce energy without using sunlight. swimming larval stage and they might follow chemical traces in Dissolved chemicals escape through hydrothermal vents and the water. combine with oxygen in the seawater. In cold seeps methane is converted to sulfides then other bacteria convert the sulfides to organic materials (e.g. carbohydrates). In the hotter hydrothermal vents there are plenty of sulfides already present so bacteria use carbon dioxide to manufacture carbohydrates and other organic molecules. The carbohydrates produced become the energy source for all the other organisms in a hydrothermal vent community. The chemosynthetic bacteria are found as large, thick mats around the vent. The bacterial mats are grazed by other microorganisms such as amphipods and copepods. These provide for a food web containing other animals including limpets, shrimp, crabs, tube worms, fish, and octopi. Other animals found in vent communities can include dandelion-like animals, mussels, anemones and species of shrimp. The side of the vent chimneys are often covered with tube worms and giant clams. The giant tube worms have no digestive system and rely solely on the bacteria for their nutrition. The plumes at the top of the worm's body are red because they contains haemoglobin, the pigment found in human blood. It combines with hydrogen It was soon found out that massive onshore ore bodies were part sulfide and transports it to the bacteria living inside the worm. In of old extinct vent fields that were once on the ocean floor, such return, the bacteria oxidize the hydrogen sulfide and convert as the Mount Isa ore body. Recently, mining companies have carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, the energy source for the begun to look at the extraction of mineral resources from worm. Similar to the zooanthellae that feed living corals. hydrothermal fields on the seafloor. At present, costs for this are prohibitively high. In some regions, vent fields can be a few kilometres apart from each other, but in other regions it can be several hundred Sources,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent,www.botos.com/marine/v kilometres from one vent field to its nearest neighbour. So ents01.html,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosynthesis,www.onr.navy.mil/focu s/ocean/habitats/vents1.htm www.ceoe.udel.edu/deepsea/level- overall, vent fields are rather like “islands”, dotted around the 2/geology/vents.html , University of Southampton ocean floor. In some regions a vent field can remain active for thousands of years – and go through cycles of activity, for several millennia at a time. Mostly, vents don’t last for long

Mining at deep-sea vents: what are the impacts disperse from a pipe in mid-water and disperse across a wide on marine life? area of the seafloor. Source Dr. Jon Copley The plume of waste water from seafloor mining could have an impact on “normal” deep-sea animals. Many deep-sea animals Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are being targeted for still use light to communicate, hunt, and evade predators, even mining because the “chimneys” that form at vents are at depths beyond on the reach of sunlight. But those kinds of particularly rich in metals such as copper. animals usually have very wide distributions and are not particularly at risk from mining at vents. It is argued that mining just simulates a natural disturbance process at an individual vent field. Animals can recolonise that site from other vent fields in the region, because they did so when venting at that site first began. Chimneys grow back several metres in a year between visits to some sites. At the bigger “island-arc” vent fields, it is possible to mine just one part of the vent field, while creating “reserves” within the same vent field. “The word “sustainable” is even sometimes bandied about to describe it”. Canadian-based mining company Nautilus Minerals proposes to do at the Solwara-1 vent field near Papua New Guinea, and they have worked extensively with scientists to work out what should be effective reserve areas as sources for recolonisation. Dr Copley’s says, “Looking at those plans as an independent observer, I think they will work in terms of mitigating the impact on “vent” animals. The mined area should recover, with chimneys regrowing and “vent” animals recolonising them. But – and it is a very big “but” – the vent fields on mid-ocean ridges are not like the “island-arc” vent field”. What is involved in mining at vents? At mid-ocean ridges, would-be seafloor miners are targeting vent fields on ridges, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and SW Indian Machines on the seafloor will scrape up and pulverise vent Ridge. Vent fields on a slower-spreading ridges are much less chimneys and the rubble around them. The seafloor is scraped extensive in size than “island-arc” vent fields, and each vent field back to bare basalt with hot fluid still gushing out of it. is typically active for several millennia. This will be pumped to the surface, where the metals will be The TAG hydrothermal mound on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is one of extracted. The remaining matter will be turned into a slurry to the largest, but its main active mound is only ~200 metres

23 across, unlike the chimneys spread over kilometres at ‘island arc’ Creatures of the Mariana Trench sites. At the smaller vent fields on mid-ocean ridges, it is not feasible to create “reserve” areas: “it will be “all-or-nothing” for The Mariana Trench bottoms out at 11 kilometres depth. that particular vent field”. The natural rate of vent-field-wide The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's disturbance to which their marine life may be adapted, seems to Okeanos Explorer has recently been there looking for be once every few millennia. hydrothermal vents and mud volcanoes. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research “If mining “resets” vent fields in a region Each day the team broadcasted the expedition live from the at a much higher rate Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated vehicle that can travel than they “reset” down 6,000 metres. naturally, then we could see overall habitat loss for some “vent” species particular to that region”. If mining goes ahead at active vents, it is therefore essential that it is carefully controlled. It will take considerably more research and exploration to manage each region. There is also an alternative. For every “active” vent field, there are probably at least ten inactive vent fields. The “vent” Dr Glickson said the high-resolution cameras on the Deep animals have already moved on. Discoverer could zoom in on creatures as small as a centimetre. The species found there are “normal” deep-sea animals, with "We've seen some really incredible things really," she said. typically with wide distributions. Inactive vent fields aren’t "We've seen fish with modified fins that are like legs ... we've popular with miners as they are harder to find. also seen sponges which are actually predatory and sort of in the

24 shape like a fence so they stand up in the water column and catch any animal floating by.

shrimp with a parasite on its back Scientists were unable to identify the parasite living on the back of this shrimp. Parasites remain one of the most poorly described groups of animals in the world. Sponge grows on a parapagurid hermit crab

. The anemone living on this parapagurid hermit crab (likely Strobopagurus gracilipes) actually secretes a "shell" for the crab.

anglerfish living within the pillow basalts

Dumb sharks At least two fishing companies are eager to fish the Trevally that is also found there. They want to use ‘Minor-Line’ techniques. If only sharks had rights to sue for defamation. The Dumb This uses hand-tended lines deployed with hydraulically powered Shark, or Harrison's dogfish Centrophorus harrissoni, isn’t reels. Their claim is that they specifically target Blue-eye with stupid. It is a rare and endangered deepwater dogfish or high accuracy. Blue-eye are often caught in a different depth gulper shark, found on heavily fished seamounts along the range to Harrisson’s Dogfish, depths greater than 550 m in the east coast of Australia and isolated spots in New Zealand. daytime, and 280‐550m at night. C. harrissoni A study group recently went out to the seamounts to trial the inhabits the method. In four surveys they set 9306 hooks to catch 2,413 continental Blue‐eye Trevalla (est. 23 tonnes). A total of three Harrisson’s slope off Dogfish were captured. When this was tried in other places the eastern results varied. A total of 96 Harrisson’s Dogfish were captured Australia, from 4620 hooks set on the Fraser, Recorder, Queensland and mainly Britannia Seamounts. All Harrisson’s Dogfish captured were between returned to the sea in a vigorous state (although we don’t know southern how many actually survived being caught). Queensland and north- The survey discovered that Fraser seamount might be the eastern northern distributional limit of this species as catches were very Tasmania but low. Britannia Seamount was found to be especially important for also including a number of adjacent seamounts. The species maintaining breeding populations because of high numbers of mainly occurs in upper slope depths (300-700 m) with smaller females found there. numbers recorded to about 1000 m. Hopefully, these more selective measures will keep fishing going, In 1996-97, trawl surveys off New South Wales found that the while preserving vulnerable species like dogfish. numbers of Endeavour, Harrisson’s and Southern Dogfishes, had Source; Williams A, Green MA, been reduced by more than 95% by trawling. In 2003 Upston J, Graham K, Barker B Harrisson’s and Southern Dogfishes were assessed to be and Althaus F (2012). ‘Critically Endangered’, and the Endeavour Dogfish as Determining the distribution of gulper sharks on Australia’s ‘Endangered’. eastern seamount chain and the selectivity of Minor Line In response, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority fishing in regard to seamounts (AFMA) implemented stringent trip limits on commercial landings populations of Blue‐eye and also closed small areas off Sydney, eastern Bass Strait and Trevalla and Harrisson’s South Australia. The Taupo and Barcoo Seamounts to were Dogfish, closed to all forms of fishing.

Blue- Eye Trevally Female blue-eye reach reproductive maturity at 11-12 years of You’ve all eaten one. Did you want to know if it is age, with males maturing at 8-9 years of age. Spawning occurs sustainably caught? in summer and autumn. Mature fish are thought to move into shallower waters and aggregate over specific areas for spawning. Many Most spawning activity occurs in waters from central New South common Wales to north-eastern Tasmania. Eggs are released in 3-4 names have batches. Females produce 2-11 million eggs per spawning been used season. for this Commonwealth fisheries do not consider the fish to be overfished species. although there are some concerns about localised depletion. The These catch is controlled in Australia and New Zealand. The populations include the are patchy and not well understood. There is currently no full Big Eye, Big- age-structured model for the population dynamics of this eye Trevalla, species. Blue-eye, Blue-eye Recreational Cod, Blue- fishermen are nose, believed to get Bluenose Warehou, Bonita, Bream Trevalla, Deep-sea Trevalla, about 20 tonnes Griffin's Silverfish, Sea Trevally, Stoney-eye and Trevalla. per annum. It is considered fully It grows to 1.4 m in length and a weight of 36 kg. It is fished in NSW. commonly found at about 60 cm in length and 3 kg. It occurs globally in southern temperate marine waters. In Australia it is This one is known from off south-western Western Australia and off relatively “safe” to southern Queensland to the central coast of Victoria and eat, but pay a bit Tasmania. extra for fresh, local fish and ask Blue-eye trevalla are bottom dwelling (benthic) species that are in restaurants to associated with rocky ground on continental slopes. H. antarctica make sure that are usually found at depths of 200-900 metres. Juvenile H. this is what you antarctica can be found in surface waters, sometimes in are getting. association with floating debris. H. antarctica generally remain close to the sea bed during the day and move up into the water Source: DPI NSW, AFMA, Qld column at night. They feed on salps, squid, molluscs, DAF, NIWA and crustaceans, and fish. They may be eaten by sharks and orcas in http://australianmuseum.net.au/blue-eye-trevalla-hyperoglyphe-antarctica-carmichael- some areas. 1818#sthash.ruFVSlTB.dpu

James Craig – The Ultimate Survivor Holes in the hull were made with gelignite in over a dozen places and an arsonist destroyed the decking; the above water iron The doyen of all old Australian windjammers is the James plates rusted into a maze of holes. A Sydney group of historic Craig, the only one to come back to life after being left to ship lovers knew of the James Craig and feared that she might rust in peace. be refloated and taken to the San Francisco Maritime Museum. James Craig was built at In March 1972, Sydney and Sutherland in 1873 as the Clan Tasmanian volunteers patched Macleod. During the first the holes and made a sandbag quarter century, Clan Macleod coffer dam near the stern to sailed the world’s trade routes negate the 3 metre wide hole carrying coal or general cargo. blasted in the stern. The long Her first voyage to Australia in task of pumping out the water 1879 carried general cargo to from this leaky hull Brisbane. commenced. By May 1973, the As the years passed, hull was in a sufficiently competition increased from repaired condition to stand the faster and more reliable coal driven steamships. An Auckland strains of towing. The tug Sirius merchant ship owner, J. J. Craig, bought the vessel in 1899 and Cove nudged the ship out of in 1905 he renamed it after his son, James Craig. She made 34 Recherche Bay and towed it to trans-Tasman voyages until 1911, when she was purchased by Hobart. the British New Guinea Development Company and converted There was no money locally to into a storage hulk in Port Moresby. During shipping shortages perform a restoration and she sat brought about by World War 1, she was purchased in 1918 by for a while moored off the Hobart Henry Jones and Company, of IXL food. Refitted and re-rigged, Domain. Eventually, the James her normal trading life resumed. Craig was towed to Sydney and Once again out of work after the end of the war emergency, the restored to sail at a cost of $12.5 Catamaran Coal Mining Company purchased the James Craig. In million. So much of her had to be late 1925 they towed the hulk to Recherche Bay to serve as a replaced that it is arguable bunker for the coal being whether she is still actually the brought from local mines to same ship. the wharf. Within two years To pay her way she still takes to the vessel was found to be the sea, but with tourists. Spend unsuitable for this function. some pennies, as this is the real These coal mines soon closed deal (well sort of). and she was abandoned.

Small islands already disappearing as sea levels will happen to low lying areas within our children’s lifetimes. rise Natural climate variations and geological movements can be added on top of that average increase in some areas. Source: The Conversation The coastlines of 33 reef islands were studied using aerial and satellite imagery from 1947 to 2015. This information was integrated with local traditional knowledge, radiocarbon dating of trees, sea level records, and wave models. Areas exposed to high wave energy have gone first. These rapid changes have led to the relocation of several coastal communities. There was no government plan, people just evacuated with what they could carry. This has disrupted traditions and upset the local land tenure system. In addition to these village relocations, Taro, the capital of Choiseul Province, is set to become the first provincial capital in the world to relocate residents and services in response to the impact of sea level rise. Solomon Islands National Disaster Council chair Melchior Mataki this "ultimately called for support from development partners and international financial mechanisms" "This support should include nationally driven scientific studies to inform adaptation planning to address the impacts of climate change in Solomon Islands," he said. In a recent study of the Solomons, it was found that 21 islands are exposed to high wave energy aggravated by Last month the Solomon Islands government joined 11 other rising seas, five have already disappeared, and six have small Pacific Island nations in signing the Paris climate eroded substantially. agreement in New York. There was a sense of optimism it would signify a turning point in global efforts. Nuatambu Island lost more than half of its habitable area, 11 houses washed into the sea since 2011. The islands lost to the sea range in size from one to five hectares and supported dense tropical vegetation that was at least 300 years old. Some studies examining the risk of coastal inundation in the Pacific have found a low risk based on the average sea level rise across the globe is 3mm a year. The Solomon Islands have been a hotspot for sea level rise due partly to natural climate variability, rising 7-10 millimetres per year since 1993. This is similar to the expected sea level rise in the latter half of this century, and shows what

The Other Coral Bleaching Story It also shows how readily an awareness of environmental damage can affect tourism. When the big bleaching occurred during the recent El Nino event, it may impact on tourism to the GBR, but it also affected the Indian Ocean and we may not be aware of the full damage bill yet. Between 70 and 90 per cent of coral in the water around Christmas Island are bleached due to rising ocean temperatures. Sea temperatures around the island rose from 28 degrees to above 31 degrees. It has pushed corals to expel the algae that feed these organisms and much of the reef has been bleached stark white. Coral bleaching does not necessarily result in coral death; in many cases the algae that reside in corals are able to recover. Tourism is one of the major employers on the island, and the coral bleaching could threaten the livelihood of the island's 1,500 residents. Linda Cash from the Christmas Island Tourism Association said, A "Without these natural resources I don't think those in policy Divers assess bleaching in the waters off Christmas Island. (Curtin Aquatic Laboratory) understand the impact that it has on a place like Christmas Island, who are pretty much going to be relying on tourism for There is now an enormous focus on the bleaching event in its future," she said. In 1998, Christmas Island suffered from the GBR, ironically it has just started as the temperatures another major coral bleaching event. On that occasion much of cool for winter and the immediate problem eases. the reef recovered. Ms Cash said residents were hoping for a However, the warm seas have also bleached other similar outcome. localities, including beautiful Christmas Island (Yes it is still beautiful despite the big refugee camp). Dr Jean Paul Hobbs and a team of divers from the Curtin Aquatic Laboratory said, "This is about as bad as it gets bleaching-wise," One of my work colleagues planning a trip to Cairns was he said. "The coral extends down 60 to 70 metres and there is convinced that bleaching had ruled out visiting the GBR. That bleaching all the way down to those depths," he said. "It isn’t correct, the damage is patchy and many areas are still indicates what we are seeing is a widespread event, rather than worth seeing. I also hope that people will go there to understand the patchy event they had in the past." the issues for themselves. However, the reality is that we are so worried about jobs and families that we turn away when Dr Hobbs has started laying marks across the reef to measure confronted with things we would rather not know about. what percentage of coral dies because the previous warm water was just too much for too long."

Visiting, Walking, Diving and Snorkelling rain, warm days and sunny skies. Sites on the north and west Christmas Island coasts are more accessible during the dry season and this time is less busy for tourism. www.christmas.net.au The wet or "swell" season from November to March is noted for winds coming from the north west. Sites on the east are only accessible in the Christmas Island is the tip of an ancient volcano surrounded by a wet. This period narrow tropical reef which plunges into the 3000M deep Java can have regular Trench. Christmas Island is around 360 kilometres south of Java tropical storms, in Indonesia and 900 kilometres north-east of the Cocos rough seas with heavy mists and dense cloud cover. Rainfall is (Keeling) Islands. Christmas Island is only 22 kilometres long around 2000 millimetres and it is hot and humid. No cyclones with few beaches. The majority of the coast is sheer rocky cliff have ever reached the island. Underwater visibility remains in with few safe landfalls. The main sheltered harbour and the 20m range. This is also the time the whale sharks and settlement is at Flying Fish Cove. mantas visit. Because of the northern hemisphere holiday season, this time tends to be busy. The island is largely national It is a small island but offers over 40 dive sites. Large stretches park and is teeming with bird life. It is very picturesque with of wall diving offer pristine coral gardens, giant sea fans and plenty to do. plenty of pelagics including tuna, trevally, white tip reef sharks, dolphins, mantas and occasionally whale sharks (November through to April). The corals are rich with fish life big maori wrasse, velvet surgeons, Indian triggers, double-headed parrotfish, yellow-tail basslets, squirrelfish, ribbon eels, soldierfish, Indian Ocean wrasses, fusiliers, angelfishes, damsels, and butterflyfish. Visibility often reaches 50m. Large sea caves can also be found in area of limestone reef. Most of the dive sites have a slow current and are done as drift dives. There is only one dive operator on the island. There are two distinct seasons in the tropics, wet or dry. The dry or "trades" are from April to October with winds coming from the south and south east. It is often very calm and the water is still a warm 26 degrees and the visibility is excellent. There is little

Whale Sharks & Mantas

Their arrival coincides with the spawning of the red crab population during the wet, a natural marvel in itself. The larval stage of the crab provides a food source for these plankton feeders. Their arrival and departure times can vary from year to year. Like Ningaloo Reef, whale shark visits the island in large numbers. A fascinating experience well worthwhile.

Flying Fish Cove This site is a popular beach offering easy and shallow snorkelling a few metres from the shore. The fish and corals are excellent and its makes a good night dive. Further offshore there are deeper coral gardens and a drop off alive with fish.

Wreck of the “Eidsvold”

5-18m Crab migration The Norwegian phosphate ship Eidsvold Many people visit just for a single natural spectacle, the mass arrived Christmas Island spawning of red land crabs, usually in October or November at in 1942. She began the start of the wet season, at the turn of the tide on the last loading a part cargo of quarter of the moon. The crabs migrate in their millions from the phosphates for Fremantle high plateau, blocking roads and railway tracks to the sea. but a storm came up and

32 she had to head to sea and anchor off Margaret Beach. At 2:30 p.m. on January 20, a seaman saw the wake of a torpedo pass Winifred Beach the ship, but the local pilot said it was probably a whale. To be on the safe side he advised them to stay close to the local fort A 4WD is needed and and the lifeboats were now swung out and all the rescue it is a 45 minute drive equipment checked. At 6:15PM, the captain spotted a periscope through rainforest and shortly after a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-159 and a 30 minute walk struck forward of No. 4 hatch, breaking her almost in half. The to the beach. crew of 31 managed to get to shore, which was only about 500 Snorkelling off the meters away. The sub came up shortly afterwards, but a few beach is possible at salvos from the gun at the fort made it disappear in a hurry. In low tide. the course of the following night Eidsvold broke completely in Pig Rock two, and both parts drifted towards shore and settled in shallow water. The wreck was later dragged around to the west of Smith Point and scuttled. Half of the structure is accessible, the rest 10-40M went over the edge of the reef and lies somewhere in the depths. The overgrown and broken up wreck is now home to a healthy A 45 minute boat ride along the northern and western coastlines coral garden and has plenty of tropical fish. will take divers to an exposed rock along the cliffs that resembles a pig's head. Starting on a shallow coral platform the wall West White Beach plummets, and can get as deep as 80 metres, well beyond air diving limits. The sheer wall is covered with invertebrate growth and giant gorgonian fan corals. Further along the wall the current This is one of the largest and most difficult to reach beaches on becomes stronger and pelagic fish can be seen like barracuda, the island. While troublesome for beachgoers, it’s an easy boat tuna, shark and schools of fusiliers. Visibility often exceeding ride for divers. Off the beach it is home to the islands best hard 40—50 metres. coral reef, including tabletop corals 3 metres in diameter. The shallow reef is noted for coral patches scattered among white sand patches. The area is alive with colourful fish. Egeria Point

20-25M

This exposed dive site is located not far from Pig Rock on the south westerly corner of the island. A shallow fringing reef slopes away gradually until it reaches a ledge in 20M. Near this ledge a pinnacle appears from the depths and reaches to within 25M of the surface. This area attracts plenty of reef fish and also schools of pelagics, including reef sharks.

Thundercliff Cave The Morgue 10-25M Here wave action has eroded the limestone A field of coral heads on white sand can be found on a gentle cliffs and large caves slope. At the edge of this slope there is a nice coral garden with have formed. plenty of blue ribbon eels, nudibranchs and fish. Thundercliff cave is home to schools of Ryan’s Ravine bullseyes and plenty of This site offers one of the few vertical walls on the Eastern side interesting marine life. of the island making it a popular wet season dive. Ryan’s Ravine In calm weather and is a small formation with large seawhips, gorgonia fans and soft suitable tides, divers can corals. It is known for having plenty of turtles. enter and ascend into a large air filled dome adorned with stalactite and stalagmite formations. The reef Ethel Beach outside the cave is also worthwhile with a nice coral garden, patrolled by friendly batfish. In the wet season when the waters are too rough at Flying Fish Cove, a snorkel can be had at Perpendicular Wall Ethel Beach. After the dive take a walk along the coastal trails and admire the seabirds. The track is rough but accessible by 2WD.

A drift dive along this deep wall offers large fan corals, big schools of butterflyfish, as well as pelagic sharks and rays.

Wanted: dead seabirds for research on dangers of marine plastic An IMAS researcher has an unusual request for Tasmanians – please report dead seabirds that you see washed up on the beach. As part of her PhD research, Lauren Roman is studying the impact on seabirds of plastics and other marine debris that they ingest. Lauren needs to collect dead seabirds to study There is no hiding the other side of Christmas Island, but the their stomach contents, preferably before scavengers get there detention centre is totally isolated from the rest of the first. community. No need to avert your eyes, by law, you aren’t able She's started a Facebook page - to know what happens there even if you wanted to. https://www.facebook.com/seabirdsdebris - to spread the word about her search, and has already had a positive response. "I can't patrol all the local beaches all the time and need to find birds that have washed up before the gulls start scavenging. "If you see a dead seabird in the Hobart area, or multiple birds beach-wrecked anywhere in Tasmania, please report it on the Facebook page with information about its species, location and, if possible, a photo so that I can collect the bird if it's appropriate for the study." The seabirds Lauren is studying include shearwaters, prions, petrels and albatross, and she's already amassed a large collection of plastic recovered from dead birds.

Fish and Jelly Combo New Jelly Book Byron Bay photographer Tim Samuel spotted a fish inside a Lisa-Ann jellyfish. "He was trapped in there, but controlled where the Gershwin’s jellyfish was moving." latest book is out now The fish could have been a juvenile trevally, which are known to hide among the stingers of some species of jellyfish, according to “Jellyfish, A Associate Professor Ian Tibbets from the University of natural history” Queensland. "It's difficult to tell whether disaster has just struck, could happily or whether the fish is happy to be in there". co-exist on any bookshelf but "Although by the photographer's description of the fish would be most swimming, my guess is that it is probably quite happy to be at home with a protected in there." beachcomber, Dr Tibbett added that the jellyfish looked like a type of stinging diver, or general jellyfish called a cubomedusan, a group which includes the box marine jellyfish. enthusiast. It is a great entre into this underdone subject, covering general anatomy, life history, evolution, everything. It is written in accessible language and comes with a splash of humour. It also describes a few of the better known types of jellies, so you can have your ‘I’ve seen that one too’ moment. An excellent book for self-proclaimed know-alls like me. It follows her book “Stung!” which described the incredible adaptability of jellies in an ailing environment.