Newsletter

‘Bumper edition’

Our next meeting will be the 2002 Annual General Meeting which will be held at the Conservation Centre, 120 Wakefield Street on Wednesday 15^th May commencing at 7.30pm.

After the General Business, which will include the election of non-executive officers, our speaker will be Scoresby Shepherd. He will be giving an illustrated talk on his work on the Galapagos Islands.

Forams and 2 Legs at Sema-4

Membership Reminder

UK- Descent to the Deep Seas

‘Diving with Dragons - A code of conduct for diving into the dragon’s lair’

Clean Up Australia Day

Old Wives Line-Up

2002 Annual General Meeting Reports begin

The following nominations have been received for the Executive Committee for 2002 - 2003:

There being only one Nomination for the above posts then there will be no need for a vote but be subject to ratification by the membership.

We request members to put their names forward at the meeting for the following non-executive positions.

Editor, SDF rep., Con Council rep., Reefwatch rep., Photo Index officer, Librarian, Diving Officer, Assistant Diving Officer, SDF rep., webmaster.

The expanses of intertidal sand exposed during the year’s lowest low tides, are well worth visiting. My 13/3/02 visit, was a preview in preparation for a University of the Third Age excursion planned for the 27^th of March. That day's tide is 5cms lower than the one of 13/3/02 (see Keith Martyn’s Almanac).

The dune vegetation was suffering from the driest period since 1906. Even the Marram Grass was dying back. There are many weeds on the landward side of the dunes but several native dune species can still be seen as one crosses to the beach from the carpark beyond the foreshore restaurant.

The night's high high, had been up to large heaps of Posidonia drift, but the weather being relatively calm, just lapped their bases seaward of the Posidonia heaps, several species of cockle shells, drilled by predator molluscs, Posidonia fibre balls, seasquirts and European Feather Duster worm tubes, old razor shells (of the Pinna kind), sponges, little variously coloured kelp shells (necklace shells) and many dead sand crabs, blueys and other crab species which were to be seen in the drift.

I walked out into the gulf as far as my long legs would allow, but there was enough wave action to make it unprofitable to wet my nether regions in attempting to reach the outer sand-bar. No schools of fish or live crabs were seen.

I turned south towards the jetty and found tops of tubes of perhaps Diopatra dentata protruding from the sand just below low tide level. If you wish to see the top of the worm, feed it a crushed mollusc or a bit of mince. Some of the clear, sausage-jelly, egg masses of Polinices conicus, the Sand Plough snail, were washed up in the lapping water, as was one of the purple starfish, Patiriella brevispina. A fairly brisk southerly was blowing and a mixed flock of Silver Gulls and Crested Terns was keeping a low profile on the beach. The Terns could be fairly closely approached from the sea (particularly if you make out you are not interested in them).

On to the jetty piles the zonation of organisms ran something like this:

• Bangia (a small filamentous brownish red alga) at a high level;

• Littorina;

• Bembicium;

• false limpets with plenty of their coiled yellow egg masses;

• a small barnacle (on some piles);

• a small black mussel; Galeolaria;

• seasquirts forming a prominent lumpy band;

• European Feather-duster Worms at the lower edge of the seasquirt zone.

Below the seasquirt zone, on piles over sand at a higher level, there were plenty of the anemones that are disguised by adhering shell fragments. The same anemone formed "bulls-eyes" in the Galeolaria zone on some pylons. A large barnacle had colonised part of a pylon cleared of seasquirts.

Further landward, there is what perhaps could be called a long lagoon. Wedge Cockles and their predator Sand Plough Snails were plentiful in this. So too was a scum of an olive green alga. I suspected a "blue-green" algal bloom. Some of the cells certainly had the characteristic blue-green colouration of what I used to call "blue-green algae". The cells were non-motile and I could see no nucleus.

I walked back along the beach, avoiding the worst of the algal scum stained sand. What of the forams? The swales of ripples in the upper sub-littoral sand were rich in forams, Spirorbis, bryozoans, small shells and other calcareous fragments forming a white layer winnowed by the waves. One wonders how far inland the fragile forams would blow in blustery nor-westerleys or sou-westerleys.

Back near the carpark, I looked more carefully at what I had assumed was Dianella. It was in fact Dune Onion-weed. The leaves are flatter than those of Dianella, and somewhat sticky (of the honey kind). Botanical name: Trachyandra divaricata. (P7 Coastcare News Autumn 2001). The recommended control measure: pull it out before it flowers. None was found in the Grange dunes on 18/3/02, but there was plenty of Dianella there and also the garden escapee Gazania. Rabbits are abundant in the Grange dunes. The False Sow-thistle, Reichardia tingitana, is common in the Grange dunes. The ligules (petals) of this species are "bright yellow with a maroon-purple base" to quote from Jessop and Toelken’s Flora of South Australia. Grange beach and pylons were less interesting than those of Semaphore on 13/3/02, but the waters and sand were cleaner.

At that stage in this discourse, I again looked at the jar containing the algal scum. The non-motile spherical olive-green cells, which had settled to the bottom of the jar, appeared to each have an orange "eye-spot". That seemed a bit odd. Why would a non-motile algal cell have a light sensitive spot and orange eye-spot? Something must have rung a sub-conscious bell so I irrigated the slide with more seawater and rested the slide about 30cms from a desk lamp. About 2 hours later, I had another look. Surprise, surprise, many of the non-motile cells had "hatched" and thousands of euglenoid protozoans were swimming around. The orange eye-spot and single flagellum were quite clear. One "cell" of a much more elongated Euglena species was seen in the preparation. Also other protozoans, bacteria and minute flagellates. I continued to irrigate the slide throughout the day but the Euglena "cells" rounded up again as the concentration of the ambient medium increased. Salt (and perhaps gypsum) crystals grew around the edge of the coverslip but some individuals were still mobile 12 hours after the slide was first set aside. These could have come out of their cysts much later in the day.

Tonight (16/3/02) there is a report of an algal bloom in the River Torrens. I do not know whether there is a link.

Forams, two legs, two eyes, a microscope, and a lifetime of teaching biology. It is an amazing world.

Hundreds of species of fish swim in the tanks. Visitors will take the world’s longest underwater lift ride to come face-to-face with seven species of sharks in Europe’s deepest aquarium opening in Hull. The Deep has billed itself as the world’s first "submarium" which tells the story of the birth of the planet through to the influence man has had on the seas. It features marine life from the equator to the poles, early fossils and the chance to become a submarine pilot in a computer simulation. Built on the banks of the Humber estuary at a cost of £45.5m, The Deep is the latest landmark millennium project and will be open to the public from Saturday.

It will be officially opened by the Duke of York on Friday. Visitors can journey across the watery planet and through the different ages of the oceans using interactive displays. It features what is claimed to be the world’s only acrylic lift, which descends into Europe’s deepest aquarium tank. There are also large viewing windows to see into a variety of marine environments.

A polar gallery features two real ice walls, which evoke an eerie ice cavern populated by giant isopods. The murky depths of the abyssal - the deepest oceans - are shown and exotic fish swim in the coral lagoon. Species in the aquarium include:

• Banded bamboo sharks

• Zebra sharks

• Chinese trumpetfish

• Warty frogfish

• Batfish

• Bluespotted ribbontail rays

• Big-bellied seahorse

• Moon jellyfish

There are hundreds of other species of fish swimming in the tanks of The Deep. It is hoped The Deep will develop a greater knowledge of the oceans and their secrets and work towards greater conservation of the seas. Councillor David Gemmell, chair of The Deep, said: "It’s more than just an aquarium this tells a story of the ocean which is what we wanted to do right from the start. "It tells the story of time, the story of geography, and the story of the depths." The submarium comprises four sections. These are the visitor attraction including the tanks and interactive displays, a business centre, a lifelong centre and research facility. A 10-metre fossil wall rises above a series of interactive learning modules looking at the evolution of the oceans from the birth of the planet. There is also a research station on the ocean floor called Deep Blue One, with interactive experiments and computer simulators. The Deep is also working on conservation projects with organisations including the Shark Trust and the Darwin Foundation. Marine experts from the aquarium also plan to become involved in fish breeding and local beach cleaning projects. The Deep was part funded by the Millennium Commission and is part of a wider regeneration scheme in Hull that has seen a range of projects totaling more than £1bn of investment in the area.

Seadragons are so popular that they attract a lot of attention, not all of it welcome. As a consequence Dragon Search (SA) and its partner organisations, in conjunction with the South Australian Dept for Environment & Heritage (Office for Coast and Marine) and Primary Industries & Resources SA (Marine Habitat Program) have worked together to produce a SCUBA diving Code of Conduct for the observation of seadragons in the wild. Dragon Search is a monitoring program that encourages members of the community to provide information on seadragon sightings. In Dragon Search's last year of surveying, seadragon sightings from the public over the next 12 months are even more important than ever. Anyone who visits the beach can get involved. Seadragons are found only in southern Australian coastal waters and belong to the same marine fish family as seahorses and pipefish. There is increasing concern about the future of seadragons which are threatened by habitat destruction. For many South Australians the graceful leafy seadragon has come to represent the spectacular but threatened diversity of life in the seas off our State's coastline and it was recently declared South Australia's marine emblem. The ‘Diving with Dragons - Code of Conduct’ sets out a few simple guidelines that divers can follow to reduce their impact on these marvelous animals.

The Diving with Dragons - Code of Conduct asks divers to:

Leave seadragons where they are;
Look but don’t touch;

Respect their home range and avoid herding;

Avoid moving seadragons up or down in the water column;
Accept sea lice on seadragons in moderation;
Watch your feet and fins;
Take special care with male seadragons carrying eggs;
Turn the lights down when observing at night;
Clean up discarded fishing line found;
Dive right and watch your gear;
Respect the marine environment;
Remember fisheries regulations;

and
Respect marine reserves.

Copies of the ‘Diving with Dragons-Code of Conduct’ can be obtained from Dragon Search (SA) at the South Australia Conservation Centre on 08 8223 5155.

For further information contact: Tony Flaherty, Dragon Search (SA) Co-coordinator on 0429 678 869, or Jeremy Gramp, Dragon Search (SA) Project Officer during office hours at the South Australian Conservation Centre on (08) 8223 5155. For further background information about seadragons and Dragon Search visit the Dragon Search website:

On a slightly overcast morning and with great timing three cars arrived at 9:50am for the MLSSA clean up at Pt. Hughes. Steve and Noeleen, Maggie, Tim and his sons Craig and Simon, Jean, Shannon, Chris and Spice (site supervisor). We quickly introduced one another and were discussing the day's events when Geoff and Peter arrived. After a quick consultation we all started to kit up then David arrived. This lead to more discussion, cups of tea and coffee while Peter passed around the homemade cake. By 11:00am all was organised and we proceeded to the entry point about a third of the way along the jetty.

At this point the buddy pairs were organised Maggie and Steve, Geoff and Peter, David and myself (photographers). Before entering the water I had to take a couple of publicity photos of David for use in a magazine. After the photo takes and armed with our rubbish collection bags it was into the water. The visibility was good, 5 to 10 metres depending on who had stirred up the bottom either the photographers (not likely) or the cleaner upperer’s.

David and I proceeded to take some photos while the others went in search of rubbish. It was suprisingly clean considering the number of fishers that use the jetty. Jean, Shannon and Spice went off to the beach; Noeleen cleaned up around the jetty while Tim, Craig and Simon assisted the divers.

After using up all my film I managed to collect half a bag of rubbish. Once all the rubbish was on the jetty Steve and Geoff sifted through it to see if any marine life was accidentally collected. They returned two blue ringed octopuses and some other marine life.

All agreed it was a great dive especially for photography. The highlight was a Port Jackson shark with seaweed growing off its dorsal fin.

David decided he’d like another dive to take more photos so I lent my old camera to Steve. I was co-opted to go for a picnic by an impatient 4-year-old who wanted to play on the swings so Steve, David and Maggie went off for a second dive.

We hope to see Steve’s prowess as an underwater photographer at one of our future meetings.

As for Clean Up Australia Day it was a great success as we managed to clean up all the rubbish and have a great turn out. Well done everyone involved.

For the two dives at Port Hughes we had 6 divers, 3 snorkellers, 3 cameras and 4 photographers. There were a couple of Port Jackson Sharks and I showed Maggie a Short-snouted Seahorse. We rescued a Globefish which was caught on a hook.

The August 2002 MLSSA Calendar picture of four Old Wives in a line abreast has sparked interest from divers and landlubbers alike.

This was one of about five similar piccies I took on the one dive (The Dredge, Glenelg), and although the chosen picture shows only four fish, I also have photos from this dive of line-ups of three, five and six Old Wives. I also saw line-ups of seven or more fish but was unable to capture these on film because I was using a weak telephoto lens (Micro-Nikkor 105mm) which made it difficult to illuminate those fish at the distal end of the line-ups without overexposing the nearer fish, not to mention depth-of-field problems with the wider aperture needed for telephoto ‘shoots’. We've all seen Old Wives getting about in pairs and occasionally threesomes, as well as the schools so familiar to jetty and wreck divers. On a few other occasions I’ve also seen bigger line-ups, though not usually as neatly symmetrical as on the above dive.

But last week (early March 2002) I observed one of the most impressive line-ups in my experience, at Pissy Boy Rock, Western River Cove, K.I..

As was the case on the Dredge, these Old Wives were stationary over a sandy bottom in a wide gutter at 14m depth, presumably in resting mode. At times, the whole school of 15 - 20 fish would line up, with excellent symmetry at the outer end of the line but some overlap and ‘bunching’ centrally.

I had difficulty recording this on film, even tho’ (?Because!) I had a more suitable lens on my camera (Micro-Nikkor 55mm), as the line-up would disintegrate back into a tight school every time I approached.

Frustratingly, as long as I kept my distance they would repeatedly revert to ‘line-up’ mode!

I am not sure why Old Wives form into lines, but they seem to do it when the school is resting over sandy substrate and water visibility is good. Perhaps under such conditions each individual gains a more complete view of their surroundings yet with most fish remaining protected on each side by their neighbours. The whole school may then have optimal early warning of approaching predators.

Whatever the reason, these quaint creatures undoubtedly enhance their already pretty features when they form into lines, making them even more photogenic.

2001 - 2002 has been a very busy and enjoyable year for the Society. Some of the highlights include:

• The Jewels of the Sea (JOTS) Project was completed and launched at the Coastcare Awards Day early in 2002. The 7 kits were sent to the Nature Education Centre at Norwood for loan to schools. They were all immediately ordered and sent out. The JOTS and Octopus’s Garden (OG) books were sent out to nearly 900 schools and other educational organisations and they are now in demand by individual teachers. We hope to reduce our stock of leftovers to almost zero by the end of the year.

• Danny Gibbins and Liz Raymond have revamped the Website and it looks really attractive and is very user friendly. The Photo Index pages now contain all the creatures included in the main slide Photo Index. Again we must thank Danny for a great effort. I continue the tasks of putting the Monthly Newsletter and other revised information onto the relevant WebPages.

• The Beachwash Guide was virtually completed and then assessed by the Gould League. Several of their suggestions to improve the book will be acted upon later this year. It is going to be difficult to publish many copies of the book at this time however, as the printing costs are proving to be prohibitive. It is possible that we will need a generous sponsor to get the final edition to the general public.

• Memberships were up, as more people became aware of the Society. This was in part due to the impact our website is having on the Conservation minded community.

• The Photo Index has been greatly expanded due to the efforts of David Muirhead and Chris Hall. We have had several organisations from Canberra and South Australia using some of the slides for information brochures, calendars, charts and for two sets of signs along our coast. We received a Copyright fee from most of the organisations and this assists with the expenses relating to the slide duplication. The Photo Index Officer (Steve Reynolds) holds a master copy which is never to be used for general showing and I hold a complete set of slides which can be loaned out. This is also the source if any slides need duplicating for other organisations. A Copyright policy was adopted at the March General Meeting to help limit the use of these slides.

• Meetings have been well attended. The Committee has met regularly and is able to considerably reduce the more mundane items for the General Meetings to consider. Important decisions are of course presented to the next General Meeting for ratification. Society members have spoken on several occasions; David Muirhead and Chris Hall have shown their wonderful slides; Jean Cannon talked about the Aquaculture industry; Mike Piper showed one of his wonderful nature documentaries and Tony Isaacson detailed the progress of the JOTS Project. Other speakers included Ross Belcher who talked about the Great Australian Marine Park and two MP’s, John Hill from Labor and the Hon Iain Evans the former Liberal Minister for the Environment who allowed us to question them as to policies and future directions.

• June 2001 was the 25^th anniversary of our Society and it was celebrated at the General Meeting with the presentation by Steve Reynolds of a perpetual award to me for an outstanding contribution to the Society. This trophy will be passed to a new recipient at the June 2002 General Meeting.

• Our thanks must go to the Conservation Council for allowing us to use their facilities for meetings and as a Post Box. The central location is very convenient and the staff are always very friendly and helpful. Thanks go to David Muirhead as well for his courtesy in allowing the Society to use his home for the Committee Meetings.

• Our production of calendars continued with what many consider to be our best yet. Several improvements were made and Phill McPeake is to be congratulated for the redesigning of the layout. Danny Gibbins did sterling work with the pictures. Work on the 2003 edition is well under way but we have lost our main sponsor and purchaser Mayer Krieg. This means all members will need to sell more this year to enable us to sell the entire print run. People are still asking for copies of the 2002 calendar and I have to refuse as they have all been sold, so I have great hopes we will achieve our goal. We hope to have the new edition to you by mid July. This may seem early but many people have relatives and friends overseas and need to purchase them early.

• During the year Margaret and I attended many functions and events on behalf of MLSSA. Events attended included:- Coastcare Awards which included the previously mentioned JOTS launch; the launch of Encounter 2002 at the Victor Harbor Whale Centre; Star of the Sea Fundraiser; Star of the Sea Coastal Signs launch; Star of the Sea Volunteers celebration (Margaret and I work there as volunteers every Wednesday) and Leafy Seadragon book launch; National Parks Calendar launch (for which MLSSA provided several pictures); the KESAB Cleanup Day launch on behalf of both MLSSA and the Coromandel Valley Community Association, of which I am the Secretary; the Dragonsearch "Diving with Dragons" leaflet launch and the Victor Harbor Whale Centre whale spotting season launch.

• Articles for our Newsletters have been of a consistently high standard. Unfortunately only a few members are contributing. Please try to put pen to paper, finger to keyboard, or dictate to me an article if there is no other way.

• The 2002 Journal was published as we had sufficient articles. This year I have no articles at all in the pipeline so it is unlikely one will materialise.

• During the year Margaret and I gave several talks on the importance of conserving the marine environment. We showed some slides from our Photo Index to demonstrate the unseen wonders of our Gulfs. Aldinga School invited us to address two classes and I renewed a friendship with a person I taught with several years before. The Aldinga Coastal Friendship Group were particularly interested in the inhabitants of Aldinga Reef whilst the members of Croydon Park Uniting Church apparently enjoyed our discourse on the stranger inhabitants of the underwater world.

The only downside to the year was the poor attendance at our formal dives/snorkels. The diving officers do plan a dive most Sundays following the General meeting (and at other times) but few members turn up. Hopefully this will change during this New Year.

As you can see this has been a busy year. During the coming year it is expected new challenges and opportunities will arise. We hope the members of the Marine Life Society will educate the general public at every opportunity as to how they can protect our fragile marine environment.

Another busy year that has gone by far too quickly. I keep busy enough as our Secretary, Minutes Secretary, Photo Index Officer, Assistant Diving Officer, SDF Rep, Library Officer and newsletter contributor. As if that isn’t enough, I’m also the Secretary, Minutes Secretary and Editor for the Scuba Divers Federation.

On the SDF front there has been lots of involvement over the Hobart and the MV Seawolf. The Seawolf is an old prawn trawler that was scuttled off Port Noarlunga last month. She lies between the tyre reef and the HA Lumb.

Then there has been the MPAs, dive standards and public liability insurance.

On the MLSSA front there has been everything associated with production of another calendar, the photo index, Newsletter and Journal. Then there has been JOTS and the Beach Wash Guide.

Of course, I’m not the only busy person. It takes a hard working committee with a hard working leader to successfully carry out these jobs. I often got help from the committee with my computer system and techniques. E-mails alone keep Philip and myself very busy. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes keeping the web site and web pages up to date.

Highlights of the year for me were the KESAB cleanup dive at Port Hughes, the Christmas picnic and dive at Rapid Bay, our boat dives on the Barge and Norma last May and the October long weekend at Edithburgh. We participated in the Baudin display at the Maritime Museum. Other projects that we had some involvement in were the Dragon Search Code of Conduct and the signs along the Henley Beach foreshore.

We celebrated our 25^th anniversary last June and Philip was awarded the Anniversary Trophy. We gained a few new members recently. The Photo Index is still growing bigger all the time. Encounter 2002 took up a lot of my interest during the past 12 months.

At this time I usually list our guest speakers for the year so here goes:- Several Society members gave us talks this year. They were David Muirhead, Tony Isaacson, Chris Hall and Jean Cannon. Mike Piper and Vicki Harris will have shown us a film by the time that you read this. David showed us slides in May, February and March. Chris showed us some in January and March. Tony spoke to us in June and October. The only months that we had outsiders speak to us were August (John Hill), September (Ross Belcher) and November (Iain Evans). All of our speakers were very good. We have some great ones still to come so make a point of attending all of our meetings. My thanks to those that we’ve just had.

Thanks also to all who assisted in any way with running the Society during the year.

This report will be given at the AGM. Audited accounts and details of expenditure and income for the financial year will be given.

Gosh, how the months fly by! As other committee members will doubtless afirm, our society has had another great year. Once again my fellow member’s performances and commitment impress me, yet once again I have to confess to having been a bit slack in many areas, and especially newsletter articles. Fortunately I have a strong psychological self-preservation mechanism (aka selfishness!), so that despite work pressures I still managed to find time for plenty of diving and snorkelling! The justification for this selfish behaviour is again the steady trickle of photographic material for our Photo Index, which is now being strongly challenged by fellow committee member Chris Hall, who has acquired a new camera and whose excellent contributions are a real wake-up call! I would now like to put on public record that which I have occasionally mumbled lamely at club meetings-which is that we photographers get to do the easy, fun work while the hard, behind the scenes job of organising copying of slides, scanning, and web site management and suchlike, all very time-consuming stuff, is being done in sterling fashion with almost no help from myself. The upshot of al this of course has been further evolution in our society ' s local media visibility and usefulness to the various affiliated groups (e.g. Reefwatch, Dragon search,) and also groups with similar goals (e.g. PIRSA publications). But enough said about underwater photography (clearly my favourite topic within MLSSA), the highly successful completion of the JOTS project stands tall as our No 1 achievement over the past 12 months. As always I am proud indeed to be associated with MLSSA’s dedicated and productive membership and look forward to the coming year with nervous excitement.

2001/2002 has been both a good and successful year for MLSSA and myself with the launching of Jewels of the Sea project and with the publication of JOTS and OG. Also the calendar has been a great success with selling all the copies and having two of my photos included for April and November. I also had published an article on Rapid Bay jetty in the Irish dive magazine Subsea.

This last 12 months has also seen a return to active diving after a few years of the occasional dives culminating in a great Eater trip on the ‘Failie’. The trip was excellent, good food (crayfish and abalone), good company and brilliant diving. Nine dives in all and a good work out for my new camera.

For those that don't know the highlight of the year for me was buying a new camera. I bought a Nikon F80 in a Subal housing and it is proving to be worth the expense.

I've enjoyed two club dives at Rapid Bay and Port Hughes jetties the latter being the Clean Up Australia day dive which was a great success and a very nice dive too.

For the coming year I would like to see more participation in club dives and some social events involving all members.

I look forward to another good year for MLSSA and the production of 2003’s calendar and wish all members an enjoyable time at MLSSA meetings and events.