The NSW Government announced today that  the Kurnell desalination plant has been formally handed to its operators $89 million under budget.

The plant has passed all of its performance tests and is operating at full capacity, six months after being first switched on.

The plant’s power needs are reportedly offset by wind energy, from a new wind farm with 67 turbines at Bungendore.

It is one of the largest plants of its type in the world, and has been undergoing rigorous testing while gradually ramping up to its full capacity of 250 million litres a day.

There have been three sightings of humpback whales off Frenchman’s beach over the past week.  Good places in the Bay for watching are Frenchman’s Bay, Bare Island, and the Sydney Ports Visitor’s Lookout at the end of Prince of Wales Drive (Molineux Point).  BW photo taken 1965 at Bare Island.

JOSEPHINE TOVEY, Sydney Morning Herald,April 23, 2010

The Korean-designed two-storey octagonal steel reefs.

AS THE future of HMAS Adelaide hangs in the balance, the state government is pushing ahead with plans for new artificial reefs made from concrete and steel along the state’s coast.

Over the next few days the Yarra Bay artificial reef in Botany Bay will more than double in size, with 400 concrete balls set to be sunk to attract species such as snapper and flathead for recreational fishers.

The Department of Primary Industries has lodged a development application to sink clusters of purpose-built steel structures off the coast of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. (more…)

The Weedy Seadragon is one of the most visually striking creatures in the sea. It is closely related to the seahorse and hangs out in the waters off southern Australia. So it’s commonly seen by divers around the bays of Sydney for example, but very little is known about this creature.

Full story including video

Link to 2002 Wonder Weed story at Bare Island

One La Perouse local was fortunate to spend an hour kayaking with dolphins in Frenchman’s Bay today. She estimated there were 40 adults and juveniles. Further information on Whales and Dolphins.Anyone observing Whales or Dolphins in Botany Bay is advised to report this to the Commonwealth Department of Environment .You will be asked for details of coordinates and here are some of the areas you are likely to spot them: Astrolabe Bay  = 33°59′27.38″S 33°59′27.38″S Congwong Bay mid way between Bare Island and Henry Head =  33°59′40.98″S 151°14′2.63″E Mid-point between Molyneux Point and Yarra Point = 33°59′3.51″S 151°13′19.99″E

The Department of Planning is currently assessing submissions made in response to Energy Australia’s amendment to the Botany Bay Cable project. In the original proposal Energy Australia stressed that there would be no dredging, only trenching. Now they want to include dredging. The Department of Planning received submissions from Randwick Council, Sydney Ports, Maritime, Department of Environment and Climate Change(DECC) and Department of Primary Industries (DPI). If you expected Departments with responsibility for protecting the marine integrity of Bare Island to oppose this threatening process, take a read of what was said by DPI and DECC. There is an attachment to the DECC submission but nowhere is there anything about the significance of the marine creatures and their habitat at Bare Island. Maritime is only interested in watercraft and Sydney Ports is gearing up for its next assault on Botany Bay and it lists requirements to facilitate widening and deepening of the shipping channel from the Heads to the terminals. For good measure the Port’s Senior Manager Planning suggests that Energy Australia will have a greater impact on beaches such as Lady Robinson and Towra than Sydney Ports are having with their third terminal construction. The only stakeholder to go to bat for the Weedy Seadragon and other significant marine creatures in the area has been Randwick Council. Council has again suggested that the cable avoid Bare Island and go via Prince of Wales Drive. Energy Australia have replied that they can’t do this because there are conflicts with the Desalination Project, drilling under the revetment wall would be a ‘high risk’ activity, and access to Port Botany during an emergency may be adversely affected. For some reason the ‘risks’ to residents, the National Park, the La Perouse Headland and the integrity of the marine environment around Bare Island don’t stack up against these other ‘risks’. For more information about Weedy Seadragons.

In answer to suggestions that Marine Mammals will be disturbed, Energy Australia say that they are rarely seen beyond the Heads. The DECC backs up these statements. Botany Bay has been a sanctuary for Marine Mammals for thousands of years. We look to the DECC to advocate for the environment but as usual when it comes to Botany Bay they are found wanting. In its original submission to the Cable Project, the Botany Bay and Catchment Alliance requested that a valuation of all Heritage items(natural/built) be carried out and a bond be posted. This process was used for the Port Expansion but rejected here. From the Summary of Submissions: “Requests full valuation of heritage items affected by construction and a bond,approved by the community, in case of damage to these items or introduction/dispersion of invasive species . A (Answer) comprehensive heritage study was undertaken in respect of the Project and it was concluded that the Project would not have any significant impact on any items of heritage.

Peter Garrett’s response to concerns about Weedy Seadragons at Bare Island

The full report on submissions.

Environmentally Speaking 19  The latest issue of Environmentally Speaking featuring:  Botany Bay Cable - call for Federal Government Environmental Scrutiny;  Prince Henry - Council didn’t embrace the residents concerns for Health Centre and commercial facilities; Call to quarantine Orica Southlands until Aquifer is cleaned up; Rising Sea Levels and the impacts on critical infrastructure; coming events.

  Anemones (Order Actiniaria) are in the class Anthozoa which includes corals and sea pens and there are about 6500 species world wide and about 200 species in southern Australia.  They have a central body cavity and a central mouth, and hollow tentacles radiating in one or more rows around the mouth.  The body is supported by water pressure.  They occur as individuals. Phlyctenanthus australis has a diameter to 100mm and can be seen at depths between 1-35m.  They range from Ceduna in SA to Sydney and around Tasmania.

(photograph by William Peters 11/2008)

Aplysiids are commonly called Sea Hares because of their side-on appearance.  The oral tentacles extending in front of the head resemble the nostrils of mammals and the pair of rolled tentacles(rhinophones) behind the eye spots resemble the big ears of a hare.  The larger of the sea hares lay tens of millionns of eggs in spaghetti-like filaments.  They mate in large groups, live for around a year and can weigh 1 kg.  They feed on seaweed, seagrass and blue-green algae.  They release a purple ink when threatened.  The Aplysia sydneyensis was described by George Brettingham Sowerby III (1843-1921)  in 1869.  It is distributed from Southern WA to southern Qld and around Tasmainia and grows to 150mm. 

(Photograph by William Peters 11/2008)