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Feather Stars Page 2 Autumn 2020 VOLUME 21 Supporter Newsletter CREATURE FEATURE Feather Stars Page 2 Imagine: Carbon Threatened Protecting Free Future Species: Sharks Ningaloo Page 4 Page 6-7 Page 12 With Thanks to YOU Humpback Whales Humpback On the cover: Feather star (Crinoid). This page: Feather Star, Coral Sea © Steve Parish. Sea © Steve Coral Star, This page: Feather (Crinoid). star Feather On the cover: Creature Feature Protecting amazing sea life thanks to you... Reflecting On Summer 2019/20 Together we fight for healthy oceans and planet… The ocean is our planet’s Feather stars life support system. are plant-like marine animals Crisis Southern Ocean Fabulous Feather Stars Summer Whales Win Feather stars look like feathery plants, but they Australia is uniquely vulnerable to the This summer was a historic time for the whales are in fact marine animals. impacts of global warming. of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. These creatures hide in plain sight among bright This past summer we have experienced For more than a century, whaling fleets have corals and anemones. extreme weather events across our beautiful hunted the Southern Oceans each summer, They get their name from their long branched country, which climate scientists have warned but now - at long last - Antarctic whales are arms, which have a feathery appearance. about for decades. While our land has free from the harpoons. Feather stars can have as many as 40 arms, been ravaged by fires and droughts, our Thanks to you, and whale lovers around our which they wave around catching small food oceans are suffering from escalating marine blue planet taking action, Japan’s whaling fleet particles that float by. heatwaves. withdrew from the Southern Ocean last year. Many feather stars start life with stalks to attach Our hearts and thoughts are with our fellow Australia played a leading role to drive themselves to the sea floor as juveniles, which Australians and our wildlife affected by these the International Whaling Committee’s they lose as adults to become free-swimming extreme fires, droughts and heatwaves. conservation agenda. This is a deserved win for Australians, as years of leading the fight organisms. The species that keep their stalks It’s not too late. We can turn things around against whaling have paid off. through adulthood are called sea lilies. but we need to act fast to decarbonise our Sadly, commercial whaling still takes place in Feather stars are usually found attached to rocks economy. At the same time, we need to the northern hemisphere. or seaweed using sticky appendages known protect and restore our coastal ‘blue’ carbon as ‘cirri’. When they want to move they simply ecosystems, which are superheroes in the Did you know! detach and swim, float, or crawl away. These fight against global warming for their ability to elegant creatures move slowly and have been absorb and store carbon. Facts & Figures The recovery of humpback whale recorded moving at up to five centimetres per Now is a time to rally our collective energy, COMMON NAME: Feather Star populations is an example of what can second – which is fast for a feather star! heed the collective wisdom of science and be achieved when people work together. TYPE: Crinoidea repair our beautiful planet. A species of crinoid, feather stars are related Humpback whales were hunted to to starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea DIET: Plankton the brink of extinction in the southern cucumbers. AVERAGE LIFESPAN IN THE WILD: Unknown Healthy Oceans For hemisphere. In Australia, feather stars are found everywhere SIZE: 12 cm A Healthy Planet AMCS has played a key role in protecting from Tasmania to the Great Barrier Reef, and on HABITAT: Coral reefs and rocky our beautiful giants and helped secure the commercial whaling ban in 1986. the west coast. subtidal reefs The ocean is our planet’s life support system. It nurtures us, inspires us, and Humpback whales have made a regulates our climate and weather comeback in Australian waters, with their patterns. numbers blossoming to 90% of their pre- Did You Know? Fun Fact: whaling population along our west coast Our beautiful blue oceans are crucial and 63% along our east coast. They are a Feather stars can regenerate their limbs. They are marine animals not plants! to a healthy future for our planet. true conservation success story! 2 Turning The Tide With Thanks to YOU 3 Green Turtle, Great Barrier Reef © Greg Sullavan © Greg Reef Barrier Great Turtle, Green Clownfish & Anemone Climate Change Together we’re fighting for a cleaner, safer future… Fight For Our Reef You’re standing up for our precious reefs… It’s not too late to save our Reef, but time is critical. Solutions Imagine a Carbon Your Australia’s Not Pollution Free Future Reef Win Reef Report Our beautiful Great Barrier Reef is in grave Acclaimed artist Bernard Fanning and his Thanks to you, new laws will slash water Our beautiful Great Barrier Reef is a World danger. seven-year-old son are the stars of a short pollution in our Great Barrier Reef! Heritage wonder. Global warming impacts like marine animation to inspire hope and change. Our Reef needs to be strong in the face of Australia, as custodian of our Reef, is heatwaves and escalating ocean acidification Set in the year 2030, a father and son reflect on warming oceans but for decades it has been responsible for addressing its threats and mean our Reef’s future is on the line. how Australia and the rest of the world turned weakened by sediment and chemical pollution. making sure it can be passed on to future The science is blunt. If the world reaches 2°C of away from fossil fuels, how political leadership Agricultural runoff has been a major threat to generations. In June this year the World warming, extinction of the world’s coral reefs is grew out of the school climate strikes, and how our inshore coral reefs and seagrass meadows. Heritage Committee (WHC) will review Australia’s management of the Reef and look guaranteed. the Great Barrier Reef was given a lifeline. With your support, we’ve worked tirelessly to at how well we’re protecting our global icon. As the highest carbon-emitting state in The short film was inspired by our Reef Safe give our Reef the clean water it needs to restore In December, the Australian Government Australia and custodian of our glorious Reef, Carbon Budget Report, which outlined a its health. delivered its Great Barrier Reef report to Queensland has an important role to play in roadmap for the Queensland Government And there is good news, new farm pollution UNESCO’s WHC. It found the Great Barrier cutting carbon emissions and giving our corals to help limit global warming to 1.5C above laws were passed by the Queensland industrial levels. Government in September last year, to give the Reef’s ecosystem had declined from ‘poor’ a fighting chance. to ‘very poor’ and clearly stated that climate Reef and its corals and turtles a cleaner future. Thanks to your generous donations, AMCS Bernard, a long time AMCS supporter, said: change is the biggest threat to our Reef. “I was moved to play this small role in the Because of thousands of submissions and commissioned Climate Analytics to determine Thanks to your generous donations, AMCS animation because it’s obvious we’re at a petitions from Reef-lovers like you the what Queensland needs to do (and by when) produced a joint report “World Heritage turning point where the decisions we make Queensland Government has enacted new to play its part to limit warming to 1.5C. Status of the Great Barrier Reef: Avoiding an today on our energy systems will have a major regulations that will apply to farming, urban In October last year AMCS launched the Reef ‘In Danger’ Listing in 2020” to outline action influence on our childrens’ lives.” and industrial activities within Reef catchments. Safe Carbon Budget Report in Brisbane and required by the Australian government to avoid met with Members of Parliament to convey the an “In Danger” listing by the WHC this year. clear plan to decarbonise our economy. With Thank you! your support, we’re working hard to make sure our Reef gets the climate policies it needs in the You’ve done something very special Read More: supporting our Fight For Our Reef Read our report at countdown to Queensland’s 2020 election. campaign. Our Reef’s future looks amcs.org.au/GBR2020 brighter with this win. Take Action! Please read the Carbon Our Reef Volunteers Rally Together Budget Report at Watch now! Thank you to our wonderful Cairns Reef volunteers who organised a amcs.org.au/CarbonBudget climate rally at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting. Urge the Queensland Premier to Inspire hope in the midst of the climate Our volunteers and passionate Cairns community members greeted choose solutions – not pollution! crisis engulfing Australia. the Prime Minister and premiers on their way to the COAG meeting in Sign at amcs.org.au/Pollution Visit amcs.org.au/imagine Cairns, demanding climate action for our Reef. 4 Turning The Tide With Thanks to YOU 5 Hammerhead Shark with Fish Shark Hammerhead Klempin pup © Charlotte Speartooth Threatened Species: Sharks Together we’re advocating for our sharks… Speartooth sharks are extremely rare and threatened Let’s FINish AMCS Watchdog: Scalloped Live-finning Hammerheads Failed Species Profile: Speartooth Shark But … “Isn’t live-finning illegal in Australia?” Globally scalloped hammerheads are Speartooth sharks are among the rarest and Historical fishing has nearly wiped them out Yes, but there are loopholes allowing it to recognised as “Critically Endangered”.
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