|

Established
by ACF with support from Environment Victoria and Waterkeepers Australia.
The
Port of Melbourne Corporation’s channel deepening project
has focused media and community attention on the health of Port
Phillip Bay, Melbourne’s recreational playground and home
to a rich diversity of marine life.
The Victorian
community has become concerned about the potential environmental
impacts of the project on a remarkable community asset – Port
Phillip Bay.
The BayMonitor
Program is the community response to this concern and the need to
promote the health of the bay and its importance to Victorians.
The BayMonitor
Program will monitor the bay’s environmental values and provide:
- Independent,
publicly and frequently available information to alert the community
to changes in bay health.
- Community
engagement to improve awareness, appreciation and understanding
of Port Phillip Bay.
- Links
to other monitoring programs in the Bay such as ReefWatch, Yarra
Riverkeeper and SeaSearch.
- Tourism
and education opportunities on the Bay.
The
BayMonitor program included monitoring of water quality, turbidity,
seagrasses, little penguins, sponge gardens at The Heads, sedimentation,
and Yarra and Maribyrnong river mouths.
Compare
the ACF with the Port of Melbourne Corporation monitoring
Download
BayMonitor Field Manual (3Mb) 
The
Australian Conservation Foundation will manage and raise funds for
a variety of worthy environmental causes.To make a donation you
can call 1800 ACF NOW or go to www.acfonline.org.au/baymonitor.
The independent
and scientific data collection interpretation and analysis of bay
health was provided to ACF by scientists of Monash University and
Australian Marine Ecology.
The scientists
used Orca, a 15-metre vessel, as a live aboard research platform
for periods of 1 – 7 days whilst undertaking 4-day circuits
of the bay, gathering data at the monitoring sites.
Bay
natural values
Port Phillip Bay has a rich marine biodiversity with many
species found nowhere else. A combination of seagrass beds and meadows,
sponge gardens, Ramsar-listed wetlands, sandflats, mudflats and
subtidal and intertidal reefs are habitat for more than 300 species
of fish and hundreds of species of molluscs, crustaceans, seaweeds
and seahorses.
Bay
social and economic values
As well as being a shipping port, Port Phillip Bay is
home to a recreational dive sector, and significant commercial and
recreational fishing and boating sectors. It is also the recreational
playground for millions of Melburnians and visitors who enjoy swimming,
sailing, beachcombing and diving in its waters.
Scientific
credibility
The BayMonitor is an independent, science-based monitoring program
for Port Phillip Bay conducted by Monash University scientists.
It will initially monitor those values of Port Phillip Bay that
could be impacted upon by channel dredging including water quality,
seagrass beds, sponge gardens and the Yarra River mouth.
Monitoring
bay health
Small business operators in Port Phillip Bay, such as dive operators
and recreational fishing charter companies, as well as anglers,
swimmers and divers rely on the good health of the bay and its marine
life. The BayMonitor program could have provided an important source
of bay health information for them, had it received greater funding.
Community
A well-resourced, community-based monitoring program wouldf give
the community greater confidence that the effects of dredging and
other bay threats are being properly investigated.
Local
Government
Ten local councils are found on the shores of Port Phillip Bay.
Their support for BayMonitor could have helped provide the information
required towards a healthy bay for their communities.
BayMonitor
activities
Dredging will stir up sediments and toxic materials, some staying
in the water while others settle on seabed habitats. The BayMonitor
was to follow the movement of these materials and their impacts
on the bay’s natural values.
The dredge plume
increases turbidity and reduces visibility and light. Reduced light
hinders the growth of seagrasses, which are essential to the overall
health of the bay and act as nursery areas for recreational and
commercial fish species.
At The Heads
there is a 100-metre-deep canyon with steep walls, sheltered caves,
ledges and overhangs that are covered by a community of sponge gardens
that scientists regard as unique. The BayMonitor program was to
investigate the effect of the channel deepening project on the sponge
gardens.
The BayMonitor’s
satellite tracking of three little penguins and stomach-contents
analysis of other colony members at St Kilda Pier could have helped
identify the threats to this very special colony.
top
|