Boat and Fishing Show

As previously reported this is being held from 11th to 14th July. We have agreed to supply a fully stocked Marine Tank, (my 2 foot), for the stand being run by David Brooksby of Southern Diving. Could members please collect specimens for this display? They may be stored in any one of the three tanks at present set up by members, i.e. myself, Phill McPeake or Jonathon Walsh/Sharon Drabsch. All of our phone numbers are on the rear cover of the newsletters. Specimens will also be needed for the Royal Show later in the year.

Flinders University

The National Tidal Facility at Flinders University has been given the responsibility to monitor the movement of tides in the Asia-Pacific region. They use 27 satellite linked tidal gauges stationed around Australia and the South Pacific. From the information gathered they can predict tides and their heights, warn of tsunamis, predict the movement of oil spills and help in sewage alerts with their knowledge of local currents. Their web page is http://www.flinders.edu.au/

Threatened Species Network

It was agreed at the AGM that MLSSA and the Threatened Species Network would become affiliated and will exchange Newsletters and other information.

Conservation Council Representative

This position was the only one not filled at the AGM, though Peter Hoskin had volunteered to become our representative prior to the meeting. As he could not be present at the AGM, due to other commitments, it was felt that I should first check that he could attend the Conservation Council meetings as well as our own on a regular

basis. He assured me that this would be no problem and he has been appointed as our representative.

New Members

We extend a welcome to Troy and Debby Arnold and hope to meet up with them at our General Meetings and on our Society dives.

Cobweb

Ralph Richardson, who works for Cobweb, recently inducted Peter, Jonathon, Phill and myself into the wonders of building a website. He was an excellent teacher and we are all now filled with enthusiasm for designing our own web pages. After a guided tour of Cobweb's facilities we were all amazed at the incredible technology available there.

This will be held at our usual meeting place, 120 Wakefield Street, and will commence at 8 pm sharp. Our speaker for the evening is Dr Anthony Cheshire from the Botany Department of Adelaide University. His topic will be "The Role of Science in the Management of Reef Systems." We look forward to an interesting and thought provoking discussion as Tony would like input from the meeting.

The destination for the monthly MLSSA club dive was Second Valley. Unfortunately, only Jonathon and I could go for a dive on this particular day (20th April), but it turned out to be a rewarding dive in very nice weather. Jonathon had heard that the diving out from the north end of the beach was meant to be good, so we decided to give this a go, instead of doing the usual Second Valley dive which is south of the jetty. Well, the site was nowhere near as interesting as the usual one, but finding a beautiful weedy seadragon more than made up for it! Once out past the empty sandy bottom, the seafloor consists of small patches of low rocky reef interspersed with seagrass meadows and small sandy patches. We caught two juvenile slender weed whiting (Siphonognathus

attenuatus) for the new MLSSA display aquarium, and they are doing very well, despite problems with the ammonia levels....

To find out about the next local(ish) monthly MLSSA dive, either come along to the general meeting, or ring me during one of the days (or nights) after the meeting. I welcome suggestions for dive sites, as I have had more experience with diving from boats rather than the shore, and hence am not familiar with many shore diving sites. Of course, if you have a boat and would like to take a few MLSSA members out with you for a dive, we would love to hear from you!

Cheers; hope to see you out diving soon.

Sharon Drabsch

MLSSA Diving Officer.

Phone 8374 4072

At the Annual General Meeting, Peter Gilbert proposed a vote of thanks to retiring Editor Steve Reynolds. He spoke of his untiring efforts on behalf of the Society.

Steve has been Editor or Publications Officer for MARIA, and subsequently MLSSA, since at least August 1981. At times he alone wrote, put together, printed, collated and stapled and then mailed the newsletter to members. He was also the moving force behind the restarting of the annual Journal. Once again he was solely responsible for the entire writing and publication of several issues.

Thanks again Steve for your efforts and we hope to see many of your articles in future newsletters and journals.

Philip Hall

Editor 1997-98

Below are more fish species seen on the Dredge or Barge wrecks since the first list was printed in the March 1997 Newsletter:-

Spotted Grubfish

Zebra Fish

Southern Cardinalfish

Ringed Toadfish

Bearded Rock Cod

Spotted Whiting

Silver Whiting

A complete revised list will be published later.

David Muirhead

We had a very well attended meeting which proceeded very smoothly. The general business was swiftly delt with. One point for members to note was the passing of a motion to allow the Treasurer to reduce members fees by $5.00 where they are Pensioners. This applies to all classes.

The Treasurer presented his Audited report and then the election of officers took place. As there were exactly the correct number of nominations the committee was returned with no changes. The other non-executive positions were filled as per the information on the back page. The only exception being that of Conservation Council Representative which was left open. (See President's Report.)

Following the meeting we had a break and enjoyed the food supplied by several members. Then a display of our web page was set up by Ralph, Jonathon and Sharon. David Muirhead showed us some more of his beautiful slides and also gave away many of his native plants. (This is to be a frequent event at General Meetings this year.)

This was a very pleasant, non-stressful evening and thanks must go to all those who volunteered to stay on Committee or take up the other positions.

Philip Hall

President 1996-97