This is the MLSSA Newsletter, the monthly publication of the Marine Life Society Of South Australia Inc. Our Society is active in trying to protect our marine environment and this Newsletter usually contains articles about marine life and the marine environment.

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Disclaimer - The opinions expressed by authors of material published in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Society.

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Please send all general correspondence, subscriptions or Newsletter and Journal contributions to this address. Correspondence may be marked to the attention of the Secretary. Subscriptions may be marked to the attention of the Treasurer. Newsletter or Journal contributions may be marked to the attention of the Editor.

New Member

We welcome Sharon Liefrink to the Society and hope to see her at our meetings this year.

Welcome also to Rob Walsh who joined the Society at the April General Meeting. He has also allowed his name to be put forward as a Committee member.

Committee Reports

These are included as a separate booklet for members. Anyone else who would like a copy is welcome to contact MLSSA either by mail, phone or E-mail. Alternatively they are published on our Webpage as a separate section at the end of the May Newsletter.

Philip Hall

This will be the 1998 Annual General Meeting and it will be held on Wednesday 20^th May at the Conservation Centre, 120 Wakefield Street and will commence at 8pm.

There will be no speaker but after the formal business there will be a get together and you are invited to bring along a plate of nibbles to share.

If anyone has slides or a short video they would like to bring then we would be delighted to view these.

Committee positions

Nominations have so far been received for the following positions:-

President Philip Hall

Secretary Steve Reynolds

Treasurer Phill McPeake

Committee No.1 David Muirhead

Committee No.2 Rob Walsh

Although it is not in the Constitution, we will accept nominations on the night.

Ralph expressed his wish for someone else to take the second Committee position, but he would still attend Committee Meetings as an advisor.

On the night we will still need to fill the other non-executive positions, so if you have not nominated for a Committee position then please consider another role within the Society. Your input/help is valued.

As the June newsletter will probably be sent out after the June Longweekend, these are some of the details to hand.

The format of the weekend will be discussed at the June Committee Meeting and a dive/Snorkle timetable devised then. As we are all aware the weather is the ultimate deciding factor in all such planning.

Some members are traveling up to Edithburgh on the 5^th to make it an extra long Longweekend. If you are doing this too then please let me know so we can arrange to meet up at Edithburgh.

At present 21 people have accommodation booked for all, or part of, the weekend and will be at the Saturday Night Dinner at the same pub we used last year, the Edithburgh Hotel. The Hotel needs final numbers a week prior to the dinner so I will phone each member who has indicated they are going then for a final check.

If you have not yet booked for the weekend and intend going, then I suggest you check on the availability of accommodation soon and advise me if you have been successful.

Philip Hall

The Australian Dolphin Research Foundation is running a project aiming to discover whether toxic PCBs are still leaking into the Port River and affecting dolphins and other marine life.

The Whyalla Sports Divers Club is trying to protect cuttlefish breeding grounds. This was featured on Channel 9 News over two nights in April. SA Regional Ripples Vol.5, No.1 (the insert in "Waves") has an article on the subject.

A 10m vessel capsized at Port Lincoln causing diesel fuel to leak into the water recently.

An application to build a commercial tuna fishery off Kangaroo Island was rejected by the Development Assessment Commission on 15th April.

Marine biologist Dr Ronald Southcott, co-author of "The Marine and Freshwater Fishes of South Australia" died on April 9th after a long illness. He was 79 years old.

Steve Reynolds

I was walking along from the Henley Beach jetty to the Torrens outlet weir on Wednesday 4^th March. A group of people from the University of the Third Age (U3A) accompanied me. We were looking at drift organisms, dune vegetation, evidence of beach dynamics ("the beach is a river of sand"), coast protection measures, the occasional bird of passage and several things of interest at the Torrens outlet. Our last few minutes were spent looking at the zonation of some of the organisms on the Henley Beach jetty piles.

Wedge Cockles (and their knife cut marks in the sand near low tide level) were less abundant the further south we went. The wider tracks of their natural predator (the Sand Plough snail) were also more common nearer the jetty. The Sand Plough snails were all smaller than usual. There was evidence of a recent heat kill of the Wedge Cockles. Millions are killed if low tide corresponds with a heat wave (particularly a low dodge tide). There were plenty of the sausage-blubber egg-masses of the Sand Plough snails washed up on the beach. An interesting aquarium study would be to collect a few of the Sand Plough snails and keep them in a sandy-bottomed aquarium until they lay their egg mass. The study of the embryonic development of the snails within the eggs by taking small pieces of the same jelly-egg mass each day over a period of about ten days, is also an interesting exercise. The development of the eggs can be followed until the eggs hatch. Towards the last stages of development, the little snails can be watched slowly spinning within the eggs, cilia "very prettily a-moving" (to take a phrase from van Leeuwenhoek).

There were about three lines of drift on the beach. We divided our time between them. The upper line, usually represents the harvest from the roughest seas. Towards the southern end of the beach, we were walking along this line when we found the answer to one of our questions. Someone in the group had picked up a large mussel valve. It was of the larger mussel usually found lower down on the jetty piles. But here we were well south of the jetty on a beach with strong northward drift. We considered the problem for a while and left it that there would have to be some kind of hard substrate offshore that provided anchorage for the mussel. Further along the line of drift, we found the answer. A large clump of the tubes of the European Featherduster Worm, that had no doubt been torn up in rougher weather and cast up high on the beach. The interesting thing about it? - it had several large mussels attached to it: some of these with many large oysters on them. So the European Featherduster Worm is not all bad news. It forms a firm substrate for many of the indigenous invertebrate species (and algae). We carried the fairly smelly clump of worm tubes along with us for a while, intent on putting it in a pool to see if any of the feather-dusters would protrude. Unfortunately, while we continued our walk, the clump disappeared, (probably "spontaneous degeneration" ???).

As we approached the more obvious zone of influence of the Torrens outlet, the greater accumulation of beach sand, and the effectiveness of the mesh fences and revegetation programme, were apparent. Sea Wheat, Marram Grass and our native Spinifex hirsutus are the three main dune stabilising grasses here.

An interesting feature was that there was a long false lead of water along the beach to near the Torrens mouth. A new channel has been cut more directly out to sea. The end of that has also taken the inevitable bend to the mouth under the influence of the longshore drift. On the sand-banks here, there were about 50 crested terns, resting with the seagulls. One or two terns were seen fishing.

The dead-end of the false lead was odoriferous due to the anaerobic and organically rich condition of the muddy sand. The smell of hydrogen sulphide and the black patches where the gulls had been "paddling" for worms etc. are indicators of the anaerobic conditions. There were millions of small "worm" holes in the muddy sand, and many seagulls working it.

Some of the U3A group ventured up onto the lower end of the cycle track of the Torrens Linear Park. From this vantage point, we could see a few more bird species (White-faced heron, Wood duck, other ducks, Crested pigeons, Masked lapwings, [plovers]). Some of the smaller birds, like Honeyeaters and wagtails, were spotted around the shrubs and "lawns". Two Little Pied Cormorants were seen.

One other point of interest near the weir at the Torrens Outlet, is the condition of the Norfolk Island pines. There is very obvious browning off on the S.W. side of the trees. I suspect we are seeing salt damage enhanced by surfactants washed down the Torrens ( in light of the studies done On Norfolk Island pines in similar situations on the eastern seaboard). It would be interesting to see how the New Zealand Christmas Tree would react in the same situation. The surfactants are reputed to facilitate entry of salt through the stomates.

Back along the beach to the jetty, by which time the tide was much lower. We saw zonation of black mussels, Galeolaria (white calcareous tubeworms), and seasquirts on the jetty piles.

It was fortunate that we had a fairly cool and overcast morning after the heatwave. However, it was a bit long for a few of the group. Slip! Slop! Slap! Is not just a slogan but essential action if you want to enjoy even an early autumn beach walk.

Brian Brock

In an experiment in a southern Australian estuary, patches of seagrass canopy were removed to test the importance of the canopy to fish in areas where all other factors were known to be consistent with seagrass presence. The total number of fish was slightly lower in patches cleared of seagrass than in patches of undisturbed seagrass, but was not as low as in unvegetated patches. The benthic habitat was expected to be especially important to non-pelagic species, yet their numbers, and those of the most important commercial species, Sillaginodes punctata, were not lower in patches cleared of seagrass, despite being lower in unvegetated patches. The disturbance associated with removing seagrass was simulated and was not found to affect fish numbers. The diet of all fish caught consists mainly of invertebrates associated with the seagrass canopy and sediment surface (epifauna). Epifaunal abundance and production were highest in seagrass patches, lowest in unvegetated patches and intermediate in patches cleared f seagrass. Patterns of fish abundance did not provide evidence of the importance of seagrass canopy in attracting increased fish abundances compared with unvegetated areas but were consistent with a model stressing the importance of prey availability in the role seagrass plays as habitat for small fish.

Connolly, R.M., 1994.

The actual name of the ship sank by the Dive Industry Association of South Australia for an artificial reef over three years ago was the "H.A.Lumb". The DIA financed the operation through it's "Sink-A-Wreck Fund". The wreck was sunk near to the Port Noarlunga Tyre Reef about the end of 1994 or early 1995. It has since become known simply as "The Lumb", "The Lumm" and has now even been incorrectly called the "Lunn", presumably after Paul Lunn from the Adelaide Skin Diving Centre. This error occurred in our Committee Minutes in February but was corrected (amended) in March.

Steve Reynolds recently sent me this list which may be of interest to members who keep, or have kept, Seahorses or have a general interest in these creatures. It has several additions to the Index published in the 1996 MLSSA Journal following the Seahorse article.

1. Whitely G, Allen J, "The Seahorse and its Relatives", Griffin Press, Adelaide, 1958.

2. Straughan RPL, "Keeping Seahorses", Allpets Books, New Jersey, 1961.3. Banchini F et al, "The K & R Guide to Tropical Marine Aquaria", KR Books, Leicester, 1977.

4. De Graff F, "Pet Library Marine Aquarium Guide", Pet Library, New Jersey, 1973.

5. Sisson RS, "Deception: formula for survival", National Geographic, 1:3, p.394, March 1980.

6. Wickler W, "The Marine Aquarium", Tropical Fish Hobbyist, New Jersey,1973.7. Bellomy MD, "Seahorses In Your Home", Tropical Fish Hobbyist, New Jersey, 1969.8. Axelrod HR, Burgess WE, "Salt-Water Aquarium Fish", Tropical Fish Hobbyist, 1973.9. Author Unknown, "Seahorses", Tropical Fish Hobbyist, 1956.

10. Miller RL, "Seahorses", Tropical Fish Hobbyist, p.38, March 1979.11. Meyers GS, "A Freshwater Seahorse", Ibid, p.29, June 1979.12. Blastiola GC, "Disease Prevention and Control", Freshwater and Marine Aquariums, 4:6, p.29, June 1981.

13. Author Unknown, "Big-bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis", MARIA News (MARIA (Sydney) Newsletter) June 1978.14. Reynolds S, "Seahorses", MARIA Journal, Vol.2, No.2, December 1981.

15. Hutchins & Swainston, "Sea Fishes of Southern Australia", Swainston Publishing, Perth, 1986.

16. Scott, Glover & Southcott, "The Marine and Freshwater Fishes of South Australia", D.J. Woolman (Govt. Printer), 1980.

17. Vincent A, "An Uncertain Future for Seahorses", Marine Conservation, Vol.3, No.9, 1996.

18. Reynolds S&M, "Seahorses Hatched", MARIA Newsletter, No.51, August 1981.

19. Reynolds S&M, "More Seahorses Born", MARIA Newsletter, No.52, September 1981

20. Reynolds S, Editor's notes re. Spiny Pipehorse, MLSSA Newsletter, No.93, March 1985.

21. Reynolds S, "A Large Seahorse", MLSSA Newsletter, No.114, January 1987.

22. Reynolds S, "Pipefish and their Relatives", MLSSA Newsletter, No.126, January 1988.

23. Reynolds S, "Seahorses", MLSSA Newsletter, No.217, November 1995.

24. Reynolds S, "Seahorses Return to British Waters", MLSSA Newsletter, No.224, July 1996.

25. Reynolds S, "Trade Threatens Seahorses", MLSSA Newsletter, No.226, September 1996.

26. Unknown, "Trade Threatens Seahorses", Waves, Winter 1996.

27. Vincent A, "The International Trade in Seahorses", a Species in Danger report, TRAFFIC, 1996.

28. Vincent A, "Exploitation of Seahorses and Pipefishes", Naga - The ICLARM Quarterly, January 1995.

29. McGlone P, "Syngnathids: Profit and Loss", Underwater Geographic, No.40, July-August 1995.

30. McGlone P, "Commonwealth Announce Review of Syngnathids Export Control Exemption", Waves, Vol.2 No.4, Summer '95/'96.

31. Coleman R, "Australian Sea Fishes South of 30oS", Doubleday Australia, 1980.

32. Edgar, Last & Wells, "Coastal Fishes of Tasmania and Bass Strait", Cat & Fiddle Press, 1982.

33. Fallu R, article about feeding seahorses & seadragons, Nautilus, Marine Aquarium Society of Victoria, December 1986.

34. Vincent A, "The Improbable Seahorse", The National Geographic, Vol.186 No.4, October 1994.

35. Cacutt L, "Nature Facts - Fishes", Bramley Books, 1992.

36. Unknown, "Wildlife Factfile", Group 4 (Fish) Card 1.

37. Reynolds S, "Seahorses", MLSSA Journal No.7, December 1996.

38. Richardson R, "Seahorses", MLSSA Journal No.7, December 1996.

39. Vincent A, "Seahorse Sense", Australian Geographic No.33, Jan-March 1994.

40. McGlone P, "Seahorse Farming not a quick fix", Waves Vol.4 No.3, Spring 1997.

41. Vincent A, "Response to the Tasmanian seahorse farming proposal" (part of 40 above), Waves, Vol.4 No.3, Spring 1997.

Steve Reynolds

In February we wrote to John Hill, Shadow Minister for the Environment, asking for his assistance to have the Leafy Seadragon proclaimed as our State fish logo/piscal emblem. John's reply confirmed that his party wanted the same thing and would continue to push for it whilst in Opposition. They would be able to implement it once they are in Government.

John also offered to meet us to discuss other marine issues. We gladly accepted his offer and arranged to meet with John at our April General Meeting.

We prepared a list of topics in advance to discuss with John. He arrived during our break at the meeting. We settled into an informal circle for the discussion. Topics from our list were brought up and members then put a question forward, on that particular one, to John.

On the topic of aquaculture, for example, Margaret wanted to know whether something could be done to recycle fish faeces from fish farms. This got the discussions started. John told us that he considered caution to be necessary with regard to aquaculture developments. We spoke about the availability of aquaculture knowledge in Tasmania, fishing effort and, surprise, a seadragon logo.

John was then asked about his environmental background. He told us that he was a former English teacher. Mike Rann chose him to give environmental issues a high profile.

John told us of his long-term plans for the marine environment. His first aim is to stop any additional pollution and then to reduce existing pollution. He then spoke about reuse of effluent from the Christies Beach Sewage Treatment Plant and waste disposal legislation. We then discussed plans to upgrade the Port Adelaide STP. A $44m upgrade is planned for the Port sewage works to reduce pollution in the Port River. A comprehensive "biological nutrient reduction" upgrade is planned so that nitrogen waste is cut from 545 tonnes p.a. to 130 tonnes p.a. and so that phosphorous waste is cut from 104 tonnes p.a. to 26 tonnes p.a..

The uniqueness of SA's marine life and the regrowth of seagrass were some of the other topics discussed.

David asked John about his or his party's policy on population problems.

We then spoke about the EPA, policing of regulations, World's Best Practice, public servants speaking out, native vegetation, pastoral leases, the West Beach boat harbor issue, freshwater shortage and River Murry management.

John told us about his lack of access to information from the Environment Minister.

We finished our meeting with John by clarifying details in the ALP discussion paper on SA's coastal & marine environment.

Everyone then thanked John for attending our meeting to discuss these issues.

Sometime during the evening we were joined by Geoff Mower, our longest-standing member. We interrupted our discussions with John Hill so that Philip Hall could present Geoff with a certificate to mark his 20 years as a MLSSA member and provide him with free membership for his 21st year.

A photograph of the presentation was taken and an old photo of a young Geoff receiving a card for his 10th anniversary was passed around. Congratulations Geoff!

Steve Reynolds

MLSSA was asked at short notice if it would set up a marine display tank at this Conference. This was achieved partly by my resurrecting an old tank and associated gear from my teaching days, and by the loan of creatures from the Star of the Sea School Discovery Centre. (The stock of invertebrates held by MLSSA members needs to be increased to cover this type of display.) The MLSSA Publicity display board was also set up and many old Newsletters provided for giveaways.

I was invited to attend the Conference but due to other arrangements was only able to go for the Friday morning session. However, this was well worthwhile.

After the official opening by Barbara Hardy, Dr Karen Edyvane gave the keynote address on the topic of Environmental Biodiversity. This was essentially the talk given to MLSSA some months ago but I still learned more by hearing the repetition.

Then followed three extremely interesting speakers on the topics of (a) Sealions and their habitat along the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight (b) Offshore Islands and their flora and fauna and (c) The local Seagrass Meadows. (I later approached this speaker, Fiona vom Berg, and asked if she would repeat the talk at a MLSSA meeting later in the year.)

During the morning break I visited the display, set up outside, by Pt Vincent Primary School. This included a copy of our Journal with the article on the Nautilus which was partly based on information from their own students.

I also took the time to visit the Fisheries display caravan and talked to George Scarfe the Education Officer. He demonstrated a computer programme he was running showing fish size and bag limits. I asked for a copy of it for use when compiling the Newsletters or Journals. This may be available sometime in the future.

By now the Conference was running more than an hour overtime so I was unable to go on any of the morning workshops owing to other commitments. One of these included a visit to the marine aquariums at Hallett Cove R-12 School, where Tony Isaacson gave out copies of the joint MLSSA/Hallett Cove booklet I made last year for a conference there.

Philip Hall

Committee - Ralph Richardson

During this year the Society has continued to make steady progress on all fronts. Our membership has steadily increased and attendance at meetings has been good. We have had several very interesting speakers at our General Meetings.

The educational aspect of our organisation has continued in various ways, with displays at the Royal Show, Boat Show and at the Edithburgh street festival. The latter two in conjunction with Dave Brooksby of Southern Diving. MLSSA has been in great demand for its ability to provide speakers this year. Talks have been given by members to various organisations including the University of the Third Age and Southern Hospice Friends on the topic of our wonderful undersea world, using some of the slides from the MLSSA Photo Index. A MLSSA speaker has been booked for June by Southern Diving's dive club and by the Adelaide Junior Field Naturalists.

Our Photo Index has greatly expanded and is becoming a great Educational tool via the Internet. We have applied for a grant to enable us to build up a Photo Index of Invertebrates to complement the existing fish Index. Our first application was refused but we are applying again in May.

Our input into the conservation of our Oceans has been recognised with a KESAB award.

The Webpage has been steadily improving, and is now of great benefit to the educational community with the previously mentioned excellent Photo Index. The work on the Webpage can now be carried out by me from home, because of the programmes written by MLSSA member Ralph Richardson.

Some criticism of MLSSA early on in the year, after a very successful June Long Weekend at Edithburgh, has led to the written formulation of various Codes of Practice. These include a Code of Ethics, Part of which states that after each collecting dive the fish caught must be recorded in an official log. We have also formalised a Diving Officer Code. It certainly does no harm to take a close look at ourselves once in a while and to reassess our aims and objectives.

Reefwatch is now operational and several of our members have been active in the formation of this project.

MLSSA received invitations from The Star of the Sea School to attend their Discovery Centre opening and also from the Victor Harbor Whale Centre for the occasion of the 1998 Whale Season Launch. Margaret and I represented MLSSA at both of these events.

The Royal Show produced a superb result for the Society and we won three Ribbons for First and two Championship Ribbons. Our coffers too, were markedly refilled.

Several Society dives have taken place and many members are now sending in reports for the Newsletter of other dives or snorkels they have done.

The variety of Newsletter and Journal articles has greatly improved now that more members are contributing articles. The Journal was our largest ever and the articles were very varied and of excellent quality.

Participation in the various activities of MLSSA is very high and shows the enthusiasm and dedication of our group. Thanks must go to everyone for a splendid year.

Philip Hall

I have enjoyed the past years diving and photography greatly, especially the interaction at committee and club meetings. The Society's renewed vigour has been nurtured through our excellent meeting venue at the Conservation Council, with it's attendant improved contacts with the wider conservation community.

My contribution to the Society has remained largely photographic and I am continually impressed with the ongoing effort put in by other committee members towards the smooth running of our very special Society.

As I write, I have slides almost ready for duplication on another five or so S. A. fish species for the Photo Index and I particularly thank those members instrumental in its storage, cataloguing and airing on the Internet.

I have also tried to recruit other underwater photographers to the cause and, whilst it is early days, the signs are positive.

All in all, another good year for MLSSA.

David Muirhead

1997/8 was a good year for our Society. We became involved in all manner of things and member interest was high. Our activities through the year included the June long weekend trip to Edithburgh, an aquarium display at the Boat Show, a very successful entry in the Royal Show, an aquarium display at Edithburgh in October and our Christmas picnic and dive at Victor Harbor. Then there was our 21st anniversary last June, Peter Gilbert's 19th anniversary, our Newsletter's 21st, our Journal's 18th, Geoff Mower's 20th, my own 19th and also Philip Hall's 19th. We had several guest speakers at our meetings including Tony Cheshire, Mark Staniforth, Brendan Lay, David McGlennon, John Hill and our own David Muirhead. We became affiliated with the Threatened Species Network. Our President, Philip Hall was constantly busy. Apart from all of the above mentioned activities, he attended the launch of the 1997 whale season at Victor, the KESAB 1997 Action Awards presentation and the Clean Up Australia Day cleanup on behalf of the Coromandel Valley Community Association. He also gave talks to the University of the Third Age, the Junior Marine Studies Workshop at the Hallett Cove R-12 School and the Southern Hospice Friends at Daw Park. Then there is all of the work that he has put into our Web Page, Code of Ethics and Diving Officer Code of Practice. As Editor he produced the monthly Newsletter and the December Journal. He also printed up most of the minutes for the year and agendas for all meetings.

Much of my year was taken up with reading reports, writing the minutes and sending correspondence. Most of the correspondence concerned the Government's issuing of permits for the collection of seadragons and lobbying to have the Leafy Seadragon made our State's fish logo. Then there was my time spent writing articles for our Newsletters and Journal. I also did all of the proofreading for the last Journal. I have been busy maintaining data bases for topics such as our Photo Index, recent marine spills and seahorse references. I participated in a cleanup dive at Rapid Bay jetty with the Underwater Explorer's Club on 1st March. The Photo Index, SDF matters and our library also took up a lot of my time. I also entered our Society in the KESAB Action Awards. We nominated ourselves for the Small Community Environmental Action category and we made the finals for the awards. For this we received an engraved plaque. The winner for the same category was the Dragon Search project in which we participate.

Major topics for the Society this year were artificial reefs and the Reefwatch monitoring project. In March we received an enquiry from Project Seahorse in London and I wrote a reply to them. In April we received an enquiry from a Victorian school girl to whom I wrote a reply. Philip and Margaret Hall, Noeleen and I set up a display complete with aquarium at the Sea Rescue Squadron premises at West Beach in April for a seminar called Healthy Oceans: A Delicate Balance. It was organised by The Australian Association for Environmental Education (A²E²), the Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA) and Coastcare. For our efforts we received a gift bag full of publications and a souvenir mug. Philip attended the seminar and he also received three beautiful glossy posters for our library stocks. All in all, a good year!
Steve Reynolds

MLSSA Committee Report (2)

This report will be given orally at the AGM

Ralph Richardson

Treasurer's Report

This report, together with a written analysis of the financial position of the Society, will be given at the AGM.

Phill McPeake