Simon Mustoe's Blog: Wildlife in the Balance, page 15
January 22, 2024
Quiet Corner Snorkel, Clingfish & Pipefish
Dropped into the water to do a Quiet Corner snorkel this morning. This is part of Ricketts Point Marine Park but you enter from opposite Centre Road. We stayed south of the rocks, where the water has tended to be a bit clearer. Visibility was still a bit poor so we stayed shallow and looked among the seagrass and rock ledges.
Last year there were lots of pipefish here and they’re back! We saw lots of babies, a few ‘couples’ and a pregnant male (pictured).
January 21, 2024
Port Jackson Sharks in Melbourne and how they keep our beaches clean
Today I saw something I’ve never seen before. I was swimming at Table Rock inside the Rickett’s Point Marine Sanctuary when I found an abalone lying upside down. What was doing this, I thought? As I approached, so did a young snapper. But before either of us could inspect further a large but harmless Port Jackson Shark came in and snatched the abalone away. It swallowed it whole! It seems I had found my explanation for the upside-down abalone.
January 11, 2024
January 3, 2024
Keggie Carew’s Beastly is wondrously good for the soul
Keggie Carew’s Beastly is a book so important that everyone should read it. Not just because its great fun. It’s also a vibrant reminder of our animality. But it taught me something else, quite profound. I don’t know if it was the book directly or the combination of experiences I had over Christmas and New Year 2023. But it’s helped me to explain something I’ve been grappling with for a few years.
That is: why don’t we empathise with animals, or respect and care for them?
December 31, 2023
December 9, 2023
Five surprising facts about coastal erosion, fish, reefs and a better future
Here are five surprising facts about coastal erosion, reefs and nature-based solutions that may surprise you. In particular, how much you rely on wildlife conservation for your future. In this article we will explore each of these in relation to Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay. But these principles apply to most coastal systems worldwide.
Port Phillip Bay is 2,000km2 bay and relatively sheltered. Yet the livelihoods and lifestyles of 1.2 million people living along its coast are still threatened b...
December 4, 2023
Do you want to jump on the Banda Wagon?
Apologies for the terrible pun … but it seems the Banda Sea is getting more popular. Joanna Lumley recently went there on her Spice Trails documentary. On the way out of the Bay, who would you think appeared on screen but the original ‘Banda Wagon’ … SV Pindito! I was trying to work out whether this was during one of our trips. It must have been a couple of years or more ago, as we’ve since extended the top deck (better whale and sunset-watching).
November 29, 2023
The relationship between people and dogs can teach us survival
As Europe resumes the ill-gotten idea of killing wolves, Indeera Menon of WWF-India says ‘This is what happens when you forget the tradition of co-existence’. I am currently reading Keggie Carew’s Beastly. This begins by telling a story about the relationship between people and dogs.
Carew reminds us:
‘… that the canine creature we most love is descended from one we have relentlessly persecuted. Our best friend and worst enemy.’
The relationship between people and dogs can teach us survival.
November 19, 2023
Snorkel with seahorses in Melbourne and lessons in wellness
For the first time in my life I’m living near the sea. This morning we did our first swim in overcast conditions from 8:45am until about 10:15am at the famed ‘fossil beach’ in Beaumaris. My partner searched for sharks teeth. Last week she found a wonderful example but no such luck this time. I enjoyed some time swimming over nearshore temperate coral reef (some of our corals here are bright green) and found a Short-tailed Sea Slug.
Continue reading Snorkel with seahorses in Melbourne and lessons...
November 16, 2023
152 koalas killed by Alcoa, poisoning and euthanasia in Victoria’s west
Yes, you are reading that correctly. 152 koalas killed by Alcoa, a US aluminium company that run a plant in Australia. It absolutely astonishes me that wildlife are being killed on such a massive scale as a result of the work of a single company.
There is no social licence to do this. The only licence is given by the state government of Victoria. In addition, 79 females were sterilised. The health and nutrition of koalas is linked to human health through habitat deterioration as I have written ...
Wildlife in the Balance
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