Marine Life Society of South Australia Inc.

Newsletter

July 2006   No. 334

“understanding, enjoying & caring for our oceans”

 

Next Meeting

Our next General Meeting will be the July Meeting to be held at the Conservation Centre, 120 Wakefield Street on Wednesday July 19th commencing at 7.30pm.

 

Our guest speakers will be our Patron, Scoresby Shepherd and MLSSA member David Muirhead. They will be discussing their recent Investigator Expedition and David will be showing some of the pictures he took during the trip.

This is a MUST SEE AND HEAR talk!!

 

CONTENTS

Old Jetties Associated With

Lighthouses (Part 2) (Steve Reynolds)

British Marine Life Study Society news

The 2007 MLSSA calendar

Governor Wallen (Steve Reynolds)

A Talk “Using Genes to

Study Marine Invertebrates” (Steve Reynolds)

 

 

2006 Trophy Winner

 

At the June Meeting the Annual Trophy was awarded to Neville Skinner for his taking over the position of Secretary at very short notice and for the excellent job he has done since. Congratulations Neville.

 

Old Jetties Associated With Lighthouses (Part 2)

by Steve Reynolds

 

Althorpe Island

There are two lighthouses on Althorpe Island, the front light and the 20m high main lighthouse which is in the middle of the island. The 3m-high front light is 350m NW of the round sandstone lighthouse. In the bay on the NE side of the island is a 70m long jetty of wood pile construction. At the head of the jetty is a small crane with a lifeboat on davits. A cleft was excavated in a cliff face south of the jetty for the flying fox that carries goods and supplies from the jetty to the landing at the top of the near-vertical cliffs. The jetty and the flying fox were both built in 1878. The lighthouse was then built in 1879 at the highest point on the island. Cottages for three light keepers were built nearby. The limestone and sandstone for the lighthouse and cottages were both quarried from the island itself. The jetty and the flying fox are now both in poor condition.

Althorpe Island was named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 either in honour of the Spencer family or after yet another parish in Lincolnshire. Althorp (without an ‘e’) was the family name of the Spencers. The parish in Lincolnshire was a small one on the banks of the Trent River.

 

Penguin Island

A lighthouse was built on Penguin Island, near Beachport, in 1878. A 36.5m long jetty was built there in 1880 to service the lighthouse. The lighthouse was later moved to nearby Cape Martin on the mainland.

 

South Neptune Island

A 59m long iron screw piled jetty was built on South Neptune Island in Spencer Gulf in either 1901 or 1902 to service the lighthouse there. The lighthouse was the old light from Wonga Shoal, near Port Adelaide. A new lighthouse was built on Wonga Shoal in 1901. It was this new lighthouse that was struck by the Dimsdale in 1912. The two lighthouse keepers were drowned in the incident. The Dimsdale struck the lighthouse whilst trying to avoid the wreck of the Norma. The Norma sank in 1907 after a collision with the Ardencraig. The old lighthouse on South Neptune was re-located at Port Adelaide in 1985. A modern 8m tower on the island replaced it that same year. The jetty on South Neptune was in poor condition by 1999 and the army demolished it.

 

Cape Jaffa Lighthouse

A jetty was first built at Cape Jaffa in November 1868 to assist with the building of the Cape Jaffa lighthouse on the Margaret Brock Reef. It must have been only a small jetty as it was washed away within four weeks of the commencement of construction. It was, however, soon rebuilt, allowing work on the lighthouse to go ahead on the reef by February 1869. A great part of the jetty, however, was carried away on 1st June 1869 following a series of heavy swells, squalls and gales. Despite many setbacks, the lighthouse was still managed to be built on a platform with a jetty attached. It was lit in January 1872.

I don’t know the final fate of the Cape Jaffa jetty at this stage. The present jetty at Cape Jaffa was built in 1955. I didn’t realize this when I wrote my article “My Continuing “Encounter” Experiences” which was published in our 2004 MLSSA Journal. In that article I had said that the jetty had been built in 1868 (the year that the first jetty was built).

As I also said in the “My Continuing “Encounter” Experiences” article: -

The Margaret Brock Reef is named after the barque Margaret Brock which was wrecked there in 1852.

The old Cape Jaffa lighthouse was rebuilt at Kingston SE in 1975.

The former platform for the lighthouse at the Margaret Brock Reef was under threat due to safety issues.

 

The present jetty is 257m long after being extended a couple of times.

 

REFERENCES:

 “South Australia – What’s in a Name? Historically significant place names” by Rodney Cockburn, Axiom Publishing, 1999.

“A Cruising Guide to Historic Gulf Ports – Vol.2 (Investigator Strait and Kangaroo Island)” by Graham Scarce, Kingsley Publications, 1985.

“The Jetties of South Australia – Past and Present” by Neville Collins, published by the author, 2005. ISBN 0-9580482-2-3.

“The Navy in South Australia” by Ronald Parsons, published by the author, 1978.

“The Cape Jaffa Lighthouse Story” by Verne McLaren, published by the author, 2001. ISBN 0 9596883 0 7.

 

British Marine Life Study Society

MARINE LIFE NEWS

Email: glaucus@hotmail.com

(For full contact details please use our Links page on the MLSSA website.)

Reports of marine wildlife from all around the British Isles, with pollution incidents and conservation initiatives as they affect the flora and fauna of the NE Atlantic Ocean.

14 March 2006

A Deal Fish, Trachipterus arcticus, was captured in a trawl (by Swedish trawler GG 348) at a depth of 200 metres in the northern Skagerrak off the south coast of Norway. The fish weighed 12 kg and was measured with a total length of 177 cm. The photograph above shows Swedish fishmonger Svante Wedin with the elongate fish. 

Report and Photograph by  Kent Andersson

Fiske-Kent/American Fisheries Society

The Deal Fish is a rare deep water ribbon-fish with only a handful of North Sea coast reports of this fish on record. Most records have been in surface trawls or washed up dead on the beach. This fish swims vertically in the water rising towards the surface with the deep water plankton and their predators at night and descending during the day. It feeds on squid and small fish. 

 

 

26 February 2006

A two metre long Deal Fish, Trachipterus arcticus, was reported caught by 16 year old angler Vibeke Thomasson at Sørevågen, Utsira, Norway. The full report includes this photograph showing the red dorsal fin.

 

 

 

 7 January 2006

The Snake Pipefish, Entelerus aequoreus, photographed at a depth of 25 metres in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Isles near the wreck of the SMS Koln. There were three of these fish seen. 

 

 

  Report and Photographs by Kevin Wilson (Loganair Ltd)

NB: These pipefish have been caught by Puffins instead of their normal food of Sand-eels. The fish might be commoner this year, but more likely the Sand-eels populations have collapsed causing starvation amongst the Puffin chicks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


This is the rear cover of the 2007 MLSSA calendar. It shows the main pictures used in this edition.

The 2007 MLSSA calendar is now available.

Please contact Philip Hall on 82704463 or Chris Hall on 82947273. They cost Au$10.00 + Post and packing at cost.

 

Governor Wallen

by Steve Reynolds

Whilst I visited the Cape Borda lighthouse on Kangaroo Island in August 2004 I discussed the naming of Harvey’s Return with the guide there. When I mentioned the names of Harvey and Whalley he thought that I was talking about “Governor” Wallen. I suggested that there was no connection whatsoever between Whalley and Wallen but there seems to be some confusion over this. It seems that Wallen became known as “Governor Wally” and this was possibly, at some stage, spelled as “Whalley”.

Henry Wallen

As I explained in my 2001 Journal article “Nicolas Baudin’s Scientific Expedition to The Terres Australes”, Henry Wallen arrived (on the brig Sophia) on Kangaroo Island in 1820. This is precisely what was written by Neville Cordes in his article “The Discovery”, an extract from “Discovering Kangaroo Island” in the June 1986 issue of “Kangaroo Island – Nature’s Pleasure Island” produced by the KI Tourist Association. Cordes says that Captain John Hart recorded during a visit in 1831 that Wallen “ruled” over a colony of about 16 men. He then said that a Captain J Jones reported in 1834 that Wallen’s subjects were seven white men and five black women. At some stage Wallen is said to have moved from Cygnet River to the area now known as Penneshaw. He apparently soon dominated the small community there due to his wisdom and leadership and he became affectionately known as the “Governor”. The area around Penneshaw became known as Hog Bay. One of the reasons given for this name is because Wallen’s pigs would wallow in the springs of water discovered there by Matthew Flinders in 1802.

 

(The spot is now known as “Frenchman’s Rock” following the writing of an inscription on a rock there by a member of Nicolas Baudin’s crew in 1803 (NOT 1802 as suggested by Rodney Cockburn in his book “South Australia – What’s in a Name? Historically significant place names”. The rock has since been removed and replaced by a replica. The original rock is now located in the Gateway Information Centre at Penneshaw. The replica rock is now covered by a dome.

The dome covering the replica rock at Frenchman’s Rock

(Photo by Philip Hall)

 

 

The original Frenchman’s Rock in the Gateway Information Centre

(Photo by Philip Hall)

Whalley

As discussed in the previous article “Old Jetties Associated With Lighthouses”, someone with the surname Whalley is said to have kept watch for the boat of his friend with the surname of Harvey who went out to sea on a sealing expedition in 1834. Whalley is said to have walked to Cape Borda where Harvey tried to land his boat. The cliffs at Cape Borda are 400 feet high and landing there was impossible. The two men searched the coastline for a spot where Harvey could land his boat. They found a cove 2 ½ miles east of Cape Borda where Harvey managed to land.

 

Whalley, Wallen, Warland, Worley or Wally?

 

According to “A Cruising Guide to Historic Gulf Ports – Vol.2” by Graham Scarce, several men participated in the seal hunt in 1834. These included a Mr Harvey who led the boat crew and “Governor” Wallen who led the supporting ground party.

One thing that I have tried to work out to determine whether or not Whalley and Wallen may be the same person concerns the given dates and locations. Scarce says that a (Robert?) Wallen arrived on KI with three other men in 1806 (Henry Wallen is said to have arrived there in 1820). Wallen’s name could even possibly be either Warland, Worley or Wally. Scarce says that (Robert?) Wallen was still there in 1836 when the first settlers arrived. He apparently had a five-acre property at Cygnet River. Officials are said to have “purchased” his property and possessions from him. He then moved to Hog Bay for a while and then on to Adelaide where he died on 2nd May 1856. His body was taken back to KI and buried in the Reeves Point cemetery. It is the oldest cemetery in SA.

Most of the settlers had followed Colonel Light to the mainland. Most of them had moved to Glenelg within months of the arrival of the HMS Buffalo there.

According to “South Australia – What’s in a Name? Historically significant place names” by Rodney Cockburn, “Whalley was from (near?) Kingscote (Cygnet River?) in 1834. If that is the case, then he probably didn’t move on to Hog Bay until after that.

 

REFERENCES:

“Old Jetties Associated With Lighthouses” by Steve Reynolds, MLSSA Newsletter June/July 2006, Nos 333/4.

“The Discovery”, an extract from “Discovering Kangaroo Island” by Neville Cordes in the June 1986 issue of “Kangaroo Island – Nature’s Pleasure Island” produced by the KI Tourist Association.

“South Australia – What’s in a Name? Historically significant place names” by Rodney Cockburn, Axiom Publishing, 1999.

“A Cruising Guide to Historic Gulf Ports – Vol.2 (Investigator Strait and Kangaroo Island)” by Graham Scarce, Kingsley Publications, 1985.

“Nicolas Baudin’s Scientific Expedition to The Terres Australes” by Steve Reynolds, MLSSA  Journal 2001.

 

The Talk “Using Genes to Study Marine Invertebrates”

by Steve Reynolds

 

The guest speaker at our September 2005 meeting was Lauren Johnstone who spoke about her research and role as a research assistant. The main focus of her work is the use of DNA to study featherstar relationships and evolution. She told us how she was involved in fieldwork, SA Museum collections and laboratory work. The title of her talk was “Using Genes to Study Marine Invertebrates” and covered a set of projects that she has worked on as a research assistant looking at relationships within some polychaete and crinoid groups (mainly genera) using genes. She particularly described the way that she went about looking at Aporometra species of featherstars. Lauren says that Aporometra all look very similar across southern Australia so it was necessary for her to test her ideas by looking at genes. She said that, by combining microscope work on the appearance of Aporometra from many populations across the southern Australian coast with sequence of two genes from these populations, she was able to determine that the Aporometra from South Australia is Aporometra wilsoni and that it is found from Perth to Gabo Is. She says that Aporometra occidentalis is apparently less common and has only been found from Koombana Bay (south of Perth) and in the Recherche Archipelago. Lauren later gave me this web site address which she suggested visiting: -

http://geolog008.geology.adelaide.edu.au/CrinoideaSite/Site01/Home/Home.html .

According to the website, it is for anyone interested in crinoids. There is a divers’ guide to the crinoids of Australia with underwater images and information on species presented. Crinoid anatomy is described and illustrated with a discussion of terms and symbols typically used. An interactive key to comatulid families with images of characters is given to assist in identification. The current understanding of the relationships, taxonomy and evolution of crinoids is presented. Further information on crinoids and relevant topics can be found through the links provided.

 

 

 

 

 

Crinoid Photo by David Muirhead taken under the Screwpile Jetty, Victor Harbor

 

 

 

 

To Home Page