Earthcare News March 2000

The City of Port Phillip is developing a project called "Breathe Easier", whose aim is to designate two days per year when Port Phillip residents and workers will be encouraged to leave their cars at home and use other forms of healthier transport, particularly for commuting to and from work. The first of these days is to be June 5^th, which is World Environment Day.

The results of the Annual general meeting are – Earthcare is in sound financial shape.

Alison Rowe has been re-elected unopposed as President

Josephine Samuels has been re elected as vice-president, unopposed

Graeme Randall has been re-elected as Treasurer, unopposed

Lucy Turner is our new secretary (Zoe Hogg has resigned as secretary, but will stay on as a committee member)

The committee now consists of Barry Hart, Rebecca Lucas, Alison Strachan, Jo-Anne Thyer, and Zoe Hogg.

We at Earthcare would like to thank Zoe for her many years of hard work as secretary; she has been a fantastic inspiration to everyone.

This newsletter is printed on Canon 100 (Nautilis) 100% post consumer waste recycled paper. Most paper is made from virgin forest fibre and chlorine. This paper is the only readily available alternative. It costs $46 for 5 reams. Order from Canon Ph: 13 13 93 and pay over the phone using a credit card and it will be delivered to your door (one box minimum). It is also stocked at Going Solar 320-322 Victoria St. North Melbourne 3051 (Opposite the Victoria Market) for $10 a ream and at Friends of the Earth, Fitzroy. It is suitable for most photocopiers and printers but it is recommended that the paper be tested before purchasing. Sample sheets are available at the Ecocentre next to the photocopier machine.

The re-cycled paper has not been a total success. If anyone has found a recycled paper that is photocopier friendly I’d be grateful of the information. I have since found out that there is no post consumer photocopy paper produced in Australia, a fact I think worth of some protest. I also found out that Amcor (the producer of Reflex and Copyright photocopy paper) is a major player in the felling of significant forest in Victoria. They also make ‘Renew’ a so called recycled paper labelled "made from fibre waste" which turns out to be made mainly from waste from their other paper manufacture, Not good enough. (The information regarding Amcor has come from the wilderness Societies web site www.wilderness.org.au for more details)

St Kilda Penguin Study Neil Blake, March 2000

The St Kilda Penguin Study began in 1986, prompted by concerns the dangers to penguins associated with unrestricted human access to the breakwater, and a proposal to redevelop St Kilda harbour. The then St. Kilda City Council sought to commission the Little Penguin expert - Emeritus Professor Mike Cullen of Monash University to study the colony. Mike declined payment, however he initiated an ongoing, independent study of the colony. Fortnightly visits to the Breakwater by the Penguin Study Group - a small band of dedicated research volunteers, has been ongoing since then.

From a penguins perspective, the study involves being caught by a herd of large animals. One holds you while another proceeds to place a metal band around your right flipper. The animal then puts you in a bag that is attached to a small 2kg scale. In the darkness of the bag, you can hear them muttering about your weight, where you were located when found, what you were doing at the time. After a short time you are taken out of the bag and put back where found! Strange animals these humans!

Some people see this process as highly intrusive. But the observation of the PSG is that penguins being handled are angry rather than afraid, and the hard data gathered by the study has given the colony a status that it would otherwise not have. Prior to the study there was a prevailing view that the "colony" was just a few blow-ins from Phillip Island who would soon go elsewhere. Mike’s substantial database of St Kilda penguins has been invaluable in establishing the St K pengs as an independent and viable colony, and also enabled good decisions to be made about the best time of year to conduct high impact maintenance work on the breakwater.

After almost 14 years the study has been scaled back to monthly visits to simply monitor penguin numbers, as opposed to the intensive catching and weighing. There is no longer such a need for intensive study. The major issues faced by the colony in 1986 were unrestricted human and dog access to the colony area, the inevitable need to rebuild the breakwater, the absence of oil spill response plans, and the need to eliminate/reduce non-biodegradable litter (particularly plastic) entering the marine environment. With the exception of the latter, these have all been addressed to the extent that is possible.

The current breeding season (just completing) has been excellent. The colony is clearly recovering strongly from the impact of the 1995 pilchard crash around southern Australia. All that remains now is to maintain a watch on numbers to check that all is well, and to further develop educational programs.

ANOTHER REMINDER IT’S TIME TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP

Please. Just $20 for singles, $30 for families. Renew today.

St Kilda Breakwater Penguins by Zoe Hogg

The penguins on St Kilda breakwater have been studied for 14 years and during that time we have noticed some "characters" among them.

First we must mention Alfreda after whom the book was written. Her main claim to fame was that she went to the Emergency ward of the Alfred hospital to have fishing line cut from her foot.

30407 and Guinness both lived for about ten years and each had five different partners.

30407 lived in the site known as The Bush, but even when this bush was removed and the breakwater reconstructed he still came back to the same spot climbing over barriers and ignoring heavy machinery to get to his favourite territory.

Guinness lived under a concrete slab on the bend of the breakwater, he was caught so many times (111) we felt he deserved a mention in the Guinness book of records, hence his name.

Pavarotti…well his weight never fell below 1320 grams and occasionally he got to over 1700 grams.

Simone was born on the breakwater, when she returned as an adult, she had a fascination for the kiosk. She would visit the night staff and hop around the kiosk. Simone also used to climb the stairs inside the kiosk. This was wonderful to watch, because each step would be carefully measured by her beak as she made her way up with a determined but accurate hop. It was not until her third clutch of eggs that she finally abandoned these expeditions and settled down to motherhood.

Long John had only one leg but he survived to raise 2 families and was never underweight.

Darby and Joan lived on the Angle of the sea wall raising chicks year after year, dodging the research team very cleverly most times they approached.

Then there was Kamikazi the Angry Penguin, he used to charge out of his burrow and attack the people’s torches, breaking the glass. After he had been replaced in his burrow he would turn around and peck your ankles.

Two penguins came from Phillip Island at different times and lived in different places for a while but eventually got together and still live in the same burrow.

56302 is a bit of a wanderer, she has lived in many spots around the bend of the breakwater and raised families with a few different partners. She has been recorded since 1990 and is still there.

Some of the females just keep to the same burrow and wait for a male to turn up. Others like 30420 have three or four partners and clutches at various sites.

On the whole the penguin community seems very similar to the human population of St Kilda, some long term partnerships, some short term partnerships and others happy with variety.

Melbourne's water supply catchments are under threat from clearfell logging. With climate changes and increased population demands making water ever more precious, it is imperative that all water supply catchments receive complete protection. This year the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has intensified logging in water catchments fivefold. Scientific Government reports have conclusively shown that clearfell logging not only reduces water yield but also severely effects water quality. Worse still, most of the volume of logging is woodchipped to make paper and packaging (for which there are good alternative sources). The value of water lost is much greater than the value of logs extracted, in fact
research found the Victorian Community would be $147 million dollars better
off if logging was stopped in just one of the catchments!!
Things to Do:
* Write to the Premier demanding protection for all Melbourne's water catchments:
Steve Bracks Premier of Victoria
Level 1, Treasury Place
Melbourne 3002
* Phone Yarra Valley Water (131721) or e-mail them to voice your concern."

Member's Voice By Mr Inuzuka

Since my primary school days I have had a close connection with Shinike Pond, having walked past it everyday when I lived in Nakashima. In those days the pond was in the middle of fields, and it actually looked like a pond. However, since those days there have been some major changes in the area surrounding the lake with a kindergarten, apartment buildings etc… being built. Little, if any, of the old surrounds remains. Although Shinike Pond still exists it's not like you can really call it a pond.

When I was invited to join Seirei no Kai I remembered the natural areas from years ago and realised that I shared the same desire to return the pond to its original state as the members of Seirei no Kai. Although our activities now involve a lot of work, if you have some spare time I think you will find it enjoyable working with others to achieve our goals.

When I was a Grade 5 or 6 primary school student, we were given a summer assignment in which we could investigate anything that we wanted. From looking at a map of Obu I knew that there were many ponds and so I decided that I would visit all of them. I rode to all of the areas including Kyowa, Nagakusa and Kitasaki and looked at each pond and recorded my observations and spoke to various people, before collating my records. The changes that have occurred since that time are considerable. Seirei no Kai's goal is to try and return the pond to its original state, and as I shared this desire I joined the group. I hope to enjoy many working bees and other activities with you all this coming year. The work is physically hard but there is nothing more delicious than a beer after such hard work.

As we work towards being more environmentally friendly and take part in various activities such as water purifying and the construction of the water wheel, I hope that we can all learn a bit about the history of Shinike.

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