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Seagrass-Watch HQ
From: Seagrass-Watch
HQ
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Sent:
Monday, 5 February 2007 9:30 PM
To: Seagrass-Watch
HQ
Subject: SEAGRASS-WATCH BULLETIN - 05 February 2007
SEAGRASS-WATCH BULLETIN
05 February 2007
Seagrass-Watch's electronic news service, providing marine and coastal news of international and national interest.
Seagrass-Watch welcomes feedback on the bulletins, and you are free to distribute it amongst your own networks.
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NEWS
Lessen Reef risks by pooling data (Queensland, Australia)
Cairns Post, Saturday, February 3, 2007
SCIENTISTS could ward off environmental disaster by pulling together to create a Reef-risk
plan, a North Queensland-based marine expert said yesterday. Reef and Rainforest Research
Centre Prof Russell Reichelt said more than a dozen scientific institutes and universities at
present carried out research. Pooling data could pinpoint Reef sites in urgent need of
protection, Prof Reichelt said.
Prof Reichelt said the Reef would face additional problems in the future, including coral
disease, over fishing of sharks and rising acidity in the ocean. An Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change report, released in Paris last night, was expected to predict temperature rises
of between 2-4.5C by 2100........ more http://www.seagrasswatch.org/news.html
Scientist urges risk survey to help save reef (Queensland, Australia)
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
A leading scientist with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation says identifying the most resilient
areas of the reef could help save it from extinction. A leaked report that is due to be presented
to a global conference on climate change in Paris this week has predicted the reef could
become extinct within 20 years.
But marine scientist Russel Reichelt says climate change does not impact evenly across the
reef and some areas will survive better than others........ more
http://www.seagrasswatch.org/news.html
Barrier Reef could face extinction in less than 20 years - report
1:20PM Tuesday January 30, 2007
8/07/2007
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The Great Barrier Reef will become functionally extinct in less than 20 years if global warming
continues at its current pace, a draft international report warns.
A confidential draft of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
obtained by The Age, says that global warming will cause billions of dollars of damage to
coastal areas, key ecosystems and the farming sector without massive greenhouse gas
emission cuts. In a chapter on Australia, the draft IPCC climate impacts report warns that coral
bleaching in the Barrier Reef is likely to occur annually by 2030 because of warmer, more acidic
seas......... more http://www.seagrasswatch.org/news.html
Inside Reef!! (Bogor, Indonesia)
January, 2007
The Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesian Marine Program recently released the first
edition of it's quarterly newsletter "Inside Reef". The newsletter will keep readers informed of
the latest activities of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesian Marine Program and its
partners. WCS has been in Indonesia for 4 years now, and while relatively young, they would
like to communicate the many achievements and projects being undertaken by their group of
dedicated Indonesian conservation practitioners. You can visit their website at
http://www.wcsmarine-indonesia.org/ or if you would like a copy of their newsletter, please
contact Stuart Campbell s.campbell@wcsip.org
SOS Malaysia seeking research assistant (Malaysia)
January, 2007
Save Our Seahorses (SOS) Malaysia is seeking a part-time research assistant to be based in
the Pulai River Estuary, Johor. SOS Malaysia is a non-profit organization committed to saving
the seahorse and the Pulai River Estuary in Malaysia. SOS participants include young
scientists, students, public volunteers and local fishing communities. Interested applicant should
address his/her resume and inquiries to saveourseahorses@yahoo.com. There is also an
opportunity to do a Master project at KUSTEM on seahorse and pipefish genetics. For more
information, visit http://www.sosmalaysia.org/
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GALLERY
Tuas (Singapore): 01 February 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/gallery.html
"How exciting to finally meet all the volunteers from Schering Plough! Here we are, all ready to
check out the Tuas shore...and what a fascinating shore Tuas is! With lots of Halophila ovalis
and even a clump of long Enhalus acoroides. The Tuas shore is right next to reclaimed land but
is alive with a wide variety of marine life. The tide was too high to go to the best parts (which
are near the Merawang beacon). So we didn't get to check out the corals and sea fans there."
Text: Team Seagrass-Singapore. Text: Team Seagrass-Singapore. TeamSeagrass Website
http://teamseagrass.blogspot.com/
Green Island (Cairns, Qld): 31 January 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/gallery.html
Heavy rain, a less than ideal low tide and a low pressure system hanging around the coral sea
were the conditions the Seagrass-Watch monitoring team had to contend with on Green Island,
persevering they did manage to complete both sites, GI1 and GI2.
Chek Jawa (Singapore): 20-21 January 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/gallery.html
"It was a rather gloomy first field orientation for TeamSeagrass at Chek Jawa on 20 Jan 07.
And it was not just due to the weather. Adelle and Choon Beng had earlier updated
TeamSeagrass about the mass death at Chek Jawa. The carpet anemones seem to be bloating
up and then exploding. Those that are still intact had distorted tentacles. Many were in 'pieces.
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Ball sea cucumbers (Phyllophorus sp.) seemed to 'deflate' like bad ping pong balls. A similar
fate suffered by what seemed to have been Sandfish sea cucumbers (Holothuria scabra). There
were hundreds of these poor animals in various states of distress and death. The cause?
Possibly the huge influx of freshwater from the Johor River due to the recent massive flooding
there, following the highest recorded rainfall in 100 years. Chek Jawa lies just at the mouth of
the Johor River. Locally, Singapore has also experienced record rainfall. All that freshwater
probably affected the osmotic pressure of these marine animals. We're trying to find out more
about this. On a more cheeful note, Siti and Wei Ling found Dugong feeding trails!!. Amidst the
deaths, Chek Jawa still has a smiley dugong feeding trail! Indeed, we wish our favourite shore a
speedy recovery." Text: Team Seagrass-Singapore. TeamSeagrass Website
http://teamseagrass.blogspot.com/
Shelly Beach (Townsville, Qld): 20 January 2007 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/gallery.html
"With a low tide of 0.33m at 0306 on Saturday January 20th a band of 11 diehard Seagrass-
Watchers rolled out for a touch of early morning monitoring, at SB1. Lucky they were diehard as
we had to wait for the tide to drop and endure squalls of torrential rain. Valiant effort to those
who participated and thanks to TSVQPWS that allow this night time monitoring to occur."
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FROM HQ
Seagrasses of Australia - Giveaway http://www.seagrasswatch.org/shop.html#GIVE1
H Kirkham
CSIRO Division of Marine Research
Department of the Environment, 1997
ISBN 0 642 25275 0
Seagrass-Watch HQ has several copies of "Seagrasses of Australia Australia: State of the
Environment Technical Paper Series (Estuaries and the Sea), Series 1" by Dr H ugh Kirkman
to give away. Donated by CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Library in Hobart , this
paper describes the nature of seagrasses and explains their importance in the marine
environment and their relationships with other marine habitats. The body of the paper is split
into three parts: the state of seagrasses in Australia; the pressures that are put on to seagrass
habitats by people and nature; and the response that people can make to preserve and restore
seagrass meadows. The extent, diversity and abundance of seagrasses are described for
separate regions in Australia. There are about 51 000 sq km of seagrass meadow in Australia.
Although written in 1997, it is apparent throughout this paper that more research needs to be
carried out. Mapping, inventories of diversity and abundance and background data on
seagrasses need to be collected. Further research on ameliorating damage to seagrass
meadows and accelerating the restoration processes needs to be properly funded and carried
out. The legislation drawn up to protect seagrass habitats, relevant to each State, is listed.
Finally, some recommendations as to further research and ways that seagrass meadows can
be preserved are presented. If you would like a copy, send your request (including mailing
details) to hq@seagrasswatch.org .
Seagrass-Watch bookmarks - Giveaway http://www.seagrasswatch.org/shop.html#GIVE1
20 different bookmarks are available, featuring Seagrass-Watch sites, seagrass species,
marine life and water colour illustrations by Ruth Berry. To make your choice of bookmark(s),
download the PDF file, note the number of your selected bookmark(s), and send your request
(including mailing details) to hq@seagrasswatch.org.
Future sampling dates http://www.seagrasswatch.org/sampling.html
8/07/2007
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Many participants had sent their planned sampling dates to Seagrass-Watch HQ. These dates
have been posted on the website. If you haven't send you planned sampling dates, now is the
time to plan your sampling for 2007. Please send your sampling dates to
hq@seagrasswatch.org .
Please note: all sampling dates and times are provided by local coordinators and monitoring
groups. Seagrass-Watch HQ provides technical support and does not direct local on-ground
activities with the exception of Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan biological
monitoring (RWQPP).
For any other Giveaways (incl. Phytoplankton Guide, Manual for Assessing Fish Stocks on
Pacific Corral Reefs, Seagrass Biology) - http://www.seagrasswatch.org/shop.html#GIVE1
Seagrass-Watch News Issue 27 http://www.seagrasswatch.org/newsletters.html
Handy Seagrass Links http://www.seagrasswatch.org/links.html
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DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in this bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the
Queensland Government. News articles posted as a free community service for the purposes of non-commercial
education, research and study; review and the reporting of news; and archived for reference of students and researchers
as a 'fair dealing' activity under Australian Copyright Law.
Seagrass-Watch is supported by the Marine & Tropical Scientific Research Facility (Department of Environment &
Heritage), the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service (EPA), the
David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries.
Seagrass-Watch Bulletin is compiled by Len McKenzie & Rudi Yoshida.
8/07/2007