Time to say goodbye to some not so cuddly friends

Tim Elliott
January 23, 2010, Sydney Morning Herald - LINK TO Cann family website

All in the family … John Cann with a python in his backyard.
Photo: Kate Geraghty

  FOR A 72-year-old professional snake charmer, John Cann has done pretty well. “I only got bitten seven times,” he says. “But I certainly remember them all.”

There was the Clarence River snake that bit him on the right index finger and “made me bring up blood clots”.

Then there was the red-bellied black snake that struck the webbing of his thumb and put him in hospital for eight days. And of course, there were the tiger snakes, one of which sent him temporarily blind. (more…)

Yesterday’s choppy conditions produced an extensive amount of foam in Botany Bay with Algal Bloom like patches being observed around Congwong Bay, Bare Island and into Frenchman’s Bay. The patches of brown material seen in the photo above are concentrations of organic matter (likely broken up macroalgae) mixed with the foam and forming the scum lines.

Samples were collected by local resident Charles Abela and given to Tim Ingleton, Marine Biologist and phytoplankton expert with  the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, for analysis.  The Department confirmed that in this instance it was only foam not an algal bloom.  But Algal Blooms have occurred on other occasions. The Department gets about 10 to 15 calls a year to examine potential Algal Blooms.  Botany Bay has had its share of these species like Noctiluca scintillans and the particularly toxic Alexandrium catenella.

When there is a bloom of Noctiluca swimming should be avoided because it may cause skin irritations.  Noctiluca use ammonia for buoyancy which they accumulate more and more of as they get older, rising to the surface and then getting effected by winds and surface currents and thus are brought into beaches and embayments where the public swim or fish and become ‘visible’ accumulations or blooms.  In November 2004 Alexandrium was observed, resulting in the closure of some of the beaches in Botany Bay.  The Bay is particularly vulnerable to the introduction of new toxic species because of international shipping - see Invasives Species Council information on Ballast.

Historically, blooms of potentially harmful algal species (HABs) have been infrequent in NSW marine waters.  The greater threat has been the blue-green algae in freshwater systems.  Safe Foods NSW  conducts regular testing in conjunction with shellfish farmers to monitor for HAB for public health consumption. Otherwise there is no regular monitoring of phytoplankton and HABs for NSW estuaries and coasts.

For recorded information on algal alerts telephone the Algal Information Line on 1800 999 457To report (more…)

In 1994 Bob Carr listed Congwong Beach to Henry Head as one of his top “Foot Paths” .  He had this to say:

For another exploration of a landmark site head for La Perouse.  Visit the La Perouse Museum, a bicentennial gift to Australia managed by the NP&WS.  It’s open from 10 am to 4.30 pm, seven days a week. There is a marvellous walk that provides grand views over the entrance to Botany Bay. You reach it by crossing Congwong Beach, turning left at the end of the beach and starting on a track that takes you through eucalypt woodland, up behind Little Congwong Beach and then even higher above Botany Bay to some old gun placements at Henry Head. I recommend you then retrace your steps. But, before you do, stand there and imagine Cook, La Perouse or the First Fleet limping into this bay and the first Australians standing on these cliffs and beaches watching in anger and bewilderment.

FULL ARTICLE  -  Walks On The Mild Side, Sydney Morning Herald, 27/10/1994* - Bob Carr
Walk for a day in a national park near Sydney and you’ll clear your head and arteries. For a day, you’ll become part of the ancient character of this continent. The appeal of bushwalking is the appeal of propelling yourself, under your own steam, through changing landscapes - say, from coastal heath through to dry forest woodland. Or into a rainforest pocket beneath a sandstone cliff and up onto an alpine plateau. And, if it’s wilderness or near-wilderness, you will emerge with a sense of what the continent was like for those hardiest of all walkers, the Australian Aborigines, who had the continent to themselves for 40,000 years. European Australians began acknowledging the beauty of Australia’s mountains, coasts and forests at about the turn of the century. This change was reflected in the paintings of the Heidelberg school and

(* Bob Carr became Premier of NSW in March 1995) (more…)

Sydney ship fire: 16 taken to hospital, Arjun Ramachandran, January 5, 7.78am, Sydney Morning Herald

Sixteen Chinese nationals have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out on their ship at Port Botany this morning.A crew member aboard the 45,000-tonne Columbia noticed a fire in his cabin about 1.30am, while the container ship was docked at Friendship Road at Port Botany, a police spokesman said.The man tried to put out the fire, but was unsuccessful.When fire crews arrived they noticed thick smoke from the ship’s bridge, and fire burning in the cabin, a NSW Fire Brigades spokesman said.The fire was contained to the cabin and a nearby corridor, but both were severely damaged, he said. The fire was put out about 5.30am using the ship’s own firefighting equipment, he said.Sixteen crew from the ship - which was believed to leaving Sydney this morning - had to be taken to hospital.All had suffered smoke inhalation, but one man also had burns to his foot. They were taken to Royal Prince Alfred, St George, Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s hospitals. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but police do not believe it was suspicious.

As part of Randwick City Council’s Summer Activities free Entry to Laperouse Museum during this period.

Ceremony of the Holy Cross conducted by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocise of Australia.  Sponsorship from Randwick City Council.  Details www.saintstylianos.org.au