Marine
Life Society of South Australia Inc.
Newsletter
April
2005 No.
320
“understanding, enjoying & caring for our
oceans”
Next Meeting
This
will be held at the Conservation Centre, 120 Wakefield Street, Adelaide
on Wednesday
20th April commencing at
7.30pm.
Our
speaker will be David Muirhead who will be showing some of his new underwater
pictures taken in the last few months.
Contents
Hallett
Cove Reef Monitoring Report (Kevin Smith)
“Nutrition
in Relation to Aquatic Animals.”
(A. G. Edquist)
Cyclone
Tracy Shipwrecks (Steve Reynolds)
More
about the Ulonga and the Moorara (Steve Reynolds)
Recent
Diving Deaths – Lessons Learnt (Paul Macdonald)
Notable
Pipefish Sightings(Kevin Smith)
Western
Blue Groper Survey (Kevin Smith)
Reminder
Notice
Memberships
are now due. Could you please pay the Treasurer as soon as possible or let us
know if you will not be rejoining.
Newsletter
Articles
I
am again very short of articles. Could you please create one soon. Any marine
related subject will do.
This
Newsletter
The hardcopy of the Newsletter is in black and white as usual. If members prefer a colour PDF version then please email me.
Annual General
Meeting
Members wishing to stand for the Committee
are reminded they must get their nominations in to me by 8th April to
enable me to publish them in the May Newsletter. A proposer and seconder will be
needed by anyone who is not on the Present Committee and wishes to
stand.
Non Executive positions can be nominated
from the floor on the night or your wishes be made known to me asap.
Hallett Cove Reef Monitoring Report
by
Kevin Smith
The weather proved unkind to us for the winter reef monitoring in 2004.
After some judicious rescheduling which precluded most
participants, Steve Reynolds and myself decided to do our best despite the murky
looking conditions on Saturday the 28th of August. We gained
little in monitoring data but further developed our practical and philosophical
approaches to the activity. A comfortable six to seven minute walk along the
path best accesses the beach entry and new boardwalk and a high tide would
enable surface finning over the sand and rocks before the extensive sandflats
inside the reef are reached. In addition, if the water looks murky or muddy due
to rain and rough seas it probably is and monitoring is best left to another
day. We were doing well to see each other, let alone the reef and we aborted the
attempt. We commended ourselves on our willingness to give it a go but agreed
that if we needed to reschedule or indeed skip a date it would not be the end of
the world and we should not feel too badly about it.
In contrast, the November monitoring took place in very good conditions.
Steve Reynolds and Neville Skinner were able to complete some fish surveys while I
worked on one metre quadrats close by on the top of the reef. James Brook and
new Reef Watch instructor, Steve Leske, assisted Steve
and Neville with Line Intersect Transect training and Ginty, our guest, with
fish identification and a fish survey.
The skills
within the MLSSA membership are progressing well and a core of divers will soon
be able to independently perform all three types of survey. While the data
produced from our activities will assist in the assessment of the status of the
reefs along the metropolitan coastline members will become better acquainted
with the fish and benthic flora and flora in the region and the potential impact
of events such as the recent sewerage spills into the Field River will be
understood in greater depth.
The next
scheduled monitoring day is Sunday the 29th of May. We will meet in
front of the Hallett Cove Surf. Lifesaving Club at 9.30 am. Future dives will be held on August 28th with
a final dive for the year on November 27th
.
The following
article from the S. A. Aquarium Society is reproduced from the August 1930
Journal “The South Australian Naturalist”. This booklet may be borrowed from the
MLSSA library.
(Philip
Hall)
S.A. NAT.,
VOL. XI.
august, 1930.
S.A. Aquarium Society
S.A. AQUARIUM
SOCIETY.
A meeting of
the above society was held on July 1st, when Mr. H. M. Hale presided over a
large attendance of members and visitors.
Mr. A. G.
Edquist delivered an instructive address on “Nutrition
in Relation to Aquatic .Animals.” The lecturer explained that all living
organisms require food to sustain life, lack of suitable food ultimately
resulting in death. All living substance breathes, and in the process uses
oxygen, liberating carbon dioxide. The carbon of the carbon dioxide formed
during respiration is derived from waste tissues of the body and such waste
has its origin in food, so that in order to maintain life an organism must
ingest as much carbon as it loses in the process of breathing. From this we see
that carbon or charcoal is, a most important food, and that as a result of
breathing it is oxidized or slowly burnt by combustion. The process of
combustion produces heat which maintains the temperature of the body, and
thorough oxidation of the body is as necessary to growth as is an abundance of
food material.
Analyses
of Body Substance
Analyses of
the body substance of fish reveal the following facts: Water, 10.8 per cent.;
Carbohydrates, — per cent.; Protein, 44.1 per cent.; Fat, 10.3 per cent. of a digestible nature, and minerals such as lime, silica,
soda, iron, magnesia, phosphorus, sulphur, manganese, iodine, fluorine, etc. The
absence of any one of these substances means a cessation of growth and probably
breakdown in the health of the organism by food deficiency diseases. All living
organisms consist of water, carbon, nitrogen, and minerals, hence it is clear
that success is only attainable to the aquarist by careful selection of foods
containing the substances mentioned, and those substances must be given in
correct proportions. In other Words the food must represent a properly
balanced ration. By this we mean that the carbon must bear a definite ratio to
the nitrogen and the minerals. The ratio of the proteins to the carbohydrates is
44.1:23.2.
Constitution
of Foods.
Solid foods
are divided into groups according to their chemical composition and the
part they play in the economy of the organism.
Carbohydrates.
Typical
examples of carbohydrates are sugar and starch. Sugar consists of carbon plus
oxygen and hydrogen in the proportion in which they exist in water, i.e., two
parts hydrogen combined with one part of oxygen. (C12H22 C11) or (C12
H24 O12). Other carbohydrates are cellulose,
glucose, dextrine, maltose, caramel, etc.
Fats
and Oils.
Another group
of substances, very like carbohydrates in composition, contains the fats and
oils. In these compounds the oxygen and hydrogen do not always exist in the
proportions found in water. They may be looked upon as concentrated
carbohydrates. In this group we have lard, suet, tallow, butter, olive oil,
linseed oil, fish oil, cocoanut oil, cottonseed oil, and margarine. Some of
these fats are of a very complex nature, butter for instance containing stearine, clein, palmatin, butyrin, myristin, caprin, caprylin, caproin, and laurin.
Proteins.
Proteins are
more complex in composition than carbohydrates, having in addition to
carbon and the elements of Water, nitrogen, and mineral salts, including
phosphorus and sulphur. In this class of foods we have gluten, legumin, albumin, casein, globulin, myosin, fibrin,
etc.
Function
of Foodstuffs.
Food is
necessary to maintain the body and to produce a growth of body tissues. The
carbohydrates and fats supply bodily heat and heat energy which exertion
requires. The heat energy is derived from the oxidation of carbon in the
carbohydrates and fats, any carbohydrate ingested and not oxidized being
stored up as fat between the muscles and around the kidneys, nerves, liver,
etc., in the form of animal starch named glycogen. Too much carbohydrates is detrimental to general health and the
so-called lower animals, in their natural state, choose a correctly balanced
diet. Man, with his superior knowledge, gorges geese with food rich in
carbohydrates and eats the livers in the form of pate-de-foie-gras, which is considered a great delicacy in
France and other countries of advanced civilisation. The temperature of fish is that of the
water in which they live, hence they are classed as cold-blooded animals, so
that they do not require heating foods as do birds with a body temperature .of
103 to 108 degrees Fah. For this reason it is
inadvisable to provide fish with a diet consisting of breadcrumbs, oatmeal and
suchlike farinaceous foods. Fishes should have a diet very rich in proteins, a
ration of about 1 of carbohydrates to 4 of proteins being ideal, although a
ration as narrow as 1 to 3 would not be harmful. Proteins, on account of
the carbon content, maintain bodily heat, but they do more than this. The
nitrogen and minerals contained, particularly the phosphorus and sulphur, build
up flesh, bone, blood, nerve, brain, scales, and the elements of
reproduction.
Minerals.
Minerals are
necessary in the building up of bone, scales, blood and
reproductive organs. Without these fish may live for quite lengthy periods, but
growth is impossible. Lack of minerals leads, to lack of stamina and resistance
to disease, and fish so fed are very susceptible to fungoid diseases. Such minerals must be ingested with the
food, it being useless to add soluble minerals to the water excepting for its
beneficial effect on plant life. Nature provides foods rich in proteins and
minerals in the form of small aquatic creature? such as
daphnia, cyclops, esthena, cypris, branchipus, and other crustaceans, while for small fry
such organisms as amoeba, vorticella, volvox, diatoms, protococcus,
euglaena, paramoecwm,
larvae of mosquito and chironomous are
particularly good.
Methods
of Feeding.
Feed
regularly, and give little at a time. Provide living food as much as possible,
this is rich in vitamines. Never allow food to lie in
the tank after the fish have satisfied their hunger, such debris rapidly giving
rise to bacterial action with dire results. Weed eating fish get their minerals
from the plants, and in standing water these minerals are soon depleted, so that
soluble minerals should be added from time to time to counterbalance the
loss. Minute animal life is also attached to the weeds eaten and is of course
highly beneficial. Plant life becomes very scanty and attenuated when minerals
become depleted.
Conclusion.
Living tissues
are always preferable to dead matter as food for fish. Such food (living)
contains substances which undergo chemical changes immediately the protoplasm in
the tissues dies. In a battery of wooden tubs or ponds small animal life such as
that enumerated above may be successfully bred for the use of aquarists in
feeding their pets.
by Steve
Reynolds
Cyclone Tracy
destroyed most of Darwin in the Northern Territory over Christmas 1974. Many
ships were sunk during the cyclone. The locations of two of these ships were
unknown until recently. The sites of the Darwin Princess and the Booya in Darwin Harbour
were confirmed in 2003, some 29 years after the cyclone. The 75-foot ferry
the Darwin Princess was the most recent discovery. An exclusion zone
was placed on the wreck whilst police divers searched for the remains of its
captain or any of his personal belongings. The Booya was found in shallow water, just 5nm from shore
and close to the Darwin Princess. The Booya was one of Australia’s last commercial merchant
sailing ships. The crew of five is believed to have perished on her. She was
last seen about 8pm on Christmas Eve in 1974. Police divers investigated the
wreck in November 2003 to search for the remains of her five
crew. A diver described the wreck as being in pristine condition but said
that it was a mess with ropes and equipment everywhere. The Booya was sailing in SA waters under a different name
for some 20 years between 1923 & 1942, possibly longer. According to
“Ketches of South Australia” by Ronald Parsons, the Booya had been built by Gebr van Diepen at Waterhuizen, Holland as a steel-hulled three-masted
auxiliary schooner in 1917. She had a 130bhp engine and was given the name De
Lauwers. Her dimensions were 117 ½ X 24 ½ X 10 ½
feet. Her tonnage was 254 gross tons and 206 net tons. She became registered at
Port Adelaide as Argosy Lemal (Lemael?) in May 1923. Her first owner was a William L
McArthur. The Yorke Shipping Pty Ltd then became her next owner. In November
1942 she was requisitioned by the Commonwealth Government. She was sold out of
Government service in1949. She briefly became known as the Ametco. Reginald M Crouch of Adelaide became her new
owner in 1949 and she was registered in Melbourne as the Claire Crouch.
Reginald M Crouch was also the owner of auxiliary schooners such as the Ian
Crouch, the Jillian Crouch and the Milford Crouch. In 1950 the
Claire Crouch was re-engined with a 280 bhp Crossley diesel engine. This
decreased her net tonnage to 196 net tons but increased her gross tonnage to 256
gross tons. She then carried sulphuric acid in
specially constructed tanks from Port Pirie to Port Lincoln for several years.
She became laid up in 1965/66 until she was sold again. She then became employed
in Bass Strait trades until she was sold again in 1971. Her new owners took her
to Townsville, Queensland where she began operating as the Booya. Unfortunately for her, she was in Darwin Harbour when Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin on Christmas Eve in
1974. There is an article about the Darwin Princess in the July 2004
issue of
“Dive Log Australasia”. For more information about the wreck and
others around Darwin, such as the Booya,
keep an eye on the web site at http://www.coraldivers.com.au/
REFERENCES:
“Ketches of
South Australia – A record of small sailing ships on the coast of South
Australia – 1836-1970” (third edition) by Ronald Parsons (completely revised
& corrected). Printed & published by the author, July 1978. ISBN 0 9599387 9 6.
July 2004
issue of
“Dive Log Australasia”.
Web site at http://www.coraldivers.com.au/
More about the Ulonga and the
Moorara
by Steve
Reynolds
Further to my
article “Two Riverboats That Sank In SA’s Gulfs”
published in the March Newsletter, I have since found more details about both
the Ulonga and the Moorara in Captain James Gillespie’s book
“Traders Under Sail – The cutters, ketches and
schooners of South Australia”. Page 221 of this book features a great photo of
the Ulonga arriving at Port Adelaide as a paddlewheel vessel in February
1948. When she was converted to a three-masted auxiliary schooner she traded
between Port Adelaide and Stenhouse Bay, bringing Gypsum to Port Adelaide. She
went on to become a regular visitor to American River on Kangaroo Island, taking
general cargo and superphosphate there. It may have been about this time that
she ran aground on Kangaroo Island. There is a photo of the incident on page 222
of Captain Gillespie’s book. Apparently the Ulonga sustained no damage in
the incident. There is another great photo of the Ulonga “in her latter
days of trading” on the same page.
Captain
Gillespie’s book says that the Moorara was built by AJ Innes, not
“Inches” as given in both “Ketches of South Australia by Ronald Parsons and
“Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail” published by the State Heritage Branch
of the Department of Environment and Planning. There is a great photo of the
Moorara as a schooner in the Port River on page 162 of the book (The book
is full of great photos!). Captain Gillespie tells us that the Moorara
was chartered in December 1962 to take scientists and divers to Investigator
Strait. The divers examined parts of the seabed and also explored some of the
shipwrecks there. This was just prior to Mr G Price of Wardang Island becoming
the new owner of the Moorara.
REFERENCES:
“Traders Under Sail –
The cutters, ketches and schooners of South Australia” by Captain James
Gillespie, 1994.
“Ketches of
South Australia – A record of small sailing ships on the coast of South
Australia – 1836-1970” (third edition) by Ronald Parsons (completely revised
& corrected). Printed & published by the author, July 1978. ISBN 0 9599387 9 6.
“Wardang Island
Maritime Heritage Trail” published by the State Heritage Branch of the
Department of Environment and Planning, 1991. ISBN 0 7243 8629
7.
2005
Journal
I would be grateful for any
articles for the 2005 Journal to be given to me as soon as possible. It is much
easier to compile the Journal slowly over the next few months rather than in a
rush in October. Please make the effort to produce an article this year.
This is of course your
Journal and your opportunity to get into print.
Recent
Diving Deaths – Lessons Learnt
Paul
Macdonald-Dive Coordinator-NARCD
Dive Club
This article is
taken from the May 2004 issue of the NARCD Dive Club
newsletter.
Recently, the
SA Coroner released his findings in relation to 5 diving deaths that occurred in
SA. The full transcripts can be found at http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/
.
Lessons
Learnt
Do not hold
your breath while ascending and practice safe ascent
rates.
One diving
problem often compounds into further problems if it is not rectified. “She’ll be
alright” does not work underwater. Do not be afraid to terminate a dive because
of a problem or if you are not comfortable.
Observe the
buddy pair rules, especially if a partner demonstrates signs of anxiety, and see
each other safely back to the boat or shore.
Ensure you are
fit for diving and, if there is any doubt, consult a medical practitioner
trained in hyperbaric medicine – ensure case notes from your usual GP are
available. Do not dive against doctor’s advice.
Ensure your
equipment is serviceable.
Make sure you
understand the proper use of your buddy’s equipment. Don’t wait for an emergency
before you have to learn how to work it.
Do not modify
your equipment beyond its originally intended design.
Practice good
buoyancy such that you do not carry excessive weight on your weight belt and do
not be afraid to seek professional assistance from a qualified instructor if you
have buoyancy problems.
Ensure you use
a properly fitting exposure suit. How many times have we heard a buddy say my
wetsuit has shrunk since I last dived?
If you are in
trouble, dump your weight belt, you may save your own life and lead isn’t that
expensive.
Pre-dive,
consider likely hazards and plan your reaction should any
eventuate.
Consider
attaining certification to at least the level of rescue diver and, regardless,
undertake first aid training.
Regularly
practice your diving skills including locating your alternate air
source.
Your buddy’s
and your own life is worth more than any crayfish.
by Kevin
Smith
With more
activity on the pipefish front happening all the time it is great to be able to
report the following sightings.
24/10/04:
Sawtooth pipefish (Maroubra perserrata) seen by
Maggie Williams, Neville Skinner and Kevin Smith in a hole on Port Noarlunga
reef.
29/11/04:
Macleays Crested pipefish (Histiogamphelus cristatus)
seen and Briggs Crested pipefish (Histiogamphelus
briggsii) photographed over sand at Normanville by
David Muirhead.
16/12/04:
Knife-snout pipefish (Hypselognathus rostratus) seen over sand at Port Lincoln by Kevin
Smith.
21/12/04:
Hairy pipefish (Urocampus carinirostris) netted from Zostera by Robert Browne and Kevin Smith at Laura Bay near
Ceduna.
26/12/04:
Large numbers of Gulf pipefish (Stigmatopora
sp.) seen and photographed at Port Victoria by David Teubner.
29/12/04: Male
Ring-backed pipefish (Stipecampus cristatus) seen on the edge of a Posidonia bed at Edithburgh by Kevin
Smith.
23/1/05: Sawtooth pipefish (Maroubra
perserrata) seen by Simon Deane and Kevin Smith in
a cave at Second Valley.
23/1/05: Large
male Spotted pipefish (Stigmatopora argus)
with eggs seen by Kevin Smith and two visiting German divers and photographed by
Steve Leske in a Posidonia
bed 15m from Second Valley jetty.
by Kevin
Smith
The fourth of a series of surveys took place from the 12th to
17th of December 2004 in the waters near Port Lincoln on the Eyre
Peninsula. Under the direction of Senior Research Fellow with S.A.R.D.I and
MLSSA patron, Dr Scoresby Shepherd, this survey follows those on Kangaroo
Island, Southern Yorke Peninsula and the west coast of South Australia to
determine the abundance of the Western Blue Groper, Achoerodus gouldii,
in coastal waters.
A total of six divers carried out a programme of transects at nine
locations from Cape Donington to Point Drummond. Using
the visual census technique all fish encountered along a 100m long and 5m wide
swathe are identified and length recorded. Using this method the population
density of groper can be gauged in the sites tested and these results
extrapolated to give an estimate of abundance over the complete section of
coastline.
Juvenile groper were recorded at all sites but
adults were recorded only at some of the deeper water locations. A full report
of the expedition will be published in due course.
The exercise was blessed with excellent weather with low swell allowing
access to some sites which would normally be completely out of the question.
Participants Scoresby Shepherd, James Brook, Ali Bloomfield, Ben Parkhurst Janet Scott and Kevin Smith all enjoyed visiting,
diving and snorkeling in some of the state’s most beautiful and pristine waters.
Juvenile Western Blue
Groper Wrasse
Photograph by: David
Muirhead
REMINDER
MLSSA will have a display in the
Information Centre in the main street, as noted below. Please visit the display,
and as many of the other events as you can, during this time. It promises to be
a wonderful event.
Leafy Seadragon
Festival
The inaugural Leafy
Seadragon Festival will take place on the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula from 13th to 23rd
April 2005. The Festival will be a celebration of the arts and nature, and will
draw attention to the marine environment and, in particular, the rare and
endangered Leafy Seadragon found in the waters of
There will be a wide
range of activities occurring across the district. The festival will include the following
exhibitions, workshops, readings, music, competitions and demonstrations:
-
An exhibition of
facsimile drawings from the 1802 Baudin voyage entitled “Early French Voyages to
Australia”.
An exhibition of original
Norman Mitchell cartoon drawings published in the news from 1950s to 1970s.
(Both exhibitions are at the Links Lady Bay Hotel and Golf
Club.)
Landscape as art (to be
photographed from the air) including the creation of giant artwork such as a
Leafy Seadragon made of multi-coloured thongs on the beach at Carrickalinga,
artwork by a local artist and the students of Rapid Bay Primary School on the
hillside at Rapid Bay and artwork on the hills of Cape Jervis by a professional
artist working with the community.
An exhibition involving 3
dimensional art such as textile art, wood and stone sculpture, jewellery,
etc.. (with a People's Choice
Award).
A dragon (similar to
those used at Chinese new year) made in the shape of a
Leafy Sea Dragon.
An
environmental and underwater photographic display (supported by MLSSA) at the
Yankalilla Bay Visitor Information Centre.
Other activities include
skateboarding demonstrations, a skateboard decorating competition, a quilting
exhibition, a national short story competition (with a first prize of $1,000),
kite decorating and flying demonstrations, a photographic exhibition
at Second Valley, an art trail linking all the venues across the district,
story telling, poetry readings and a best-dressed business
competition.
The first three days of
the festival coincide with National Youth Week and the last 3 days of the school
term, enabling schools of the district to incorporate curriculum-based learning
with the Leafy Seadragon Festival. It then continues through the first week of
the school holidays with a number of activities to encourage participation of
young people and families, making this an event for all
ages.
Michelle Hales,
Economic Development/Tourism Officer,
District Council of
Yankalilla.
Ph: 8558 2999,
Email: tourism@yankalilla.net.au
.