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Tuesday 15 April 2014
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Poets unite THOSE of a literary bent are encouraged to join the Poetry People group. Rosebud resident Theresa O’Dea and friend Eddie Dalton (pictured) are poets who want to share the joy of the written word with fellow literary buffs. Ms O’Dea is an author and poet who previously ran the Poet’s Corner in Mornington in the mid-1990s. She has won many awards for her poetry and was nominated as the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s citizen of the year in 2012. Mr Dalton is a renowned bush poet who has “been around the circuit”, according to Ms O’Dea. The duo said they are keen to encourage younger people to attend poetry group meetings which will be held once a month at Rosebud Library. “We’re getting older and need to pass the joy of poetry on to the next generation,” Ms O’Dea said. The group will discuss and read poetry out aloud and attendees can listen, read their own word to the group or their favourite works by other poets. The first Poetry People meeting will be held on Saturday 10 May at 2pm4pm at Rosebud Library Contact Eddie Dalton on 0401 860 656 or Theresa O’Dea on 0416 866 699.
Peninsula beach shame By Chris Brennan PEARSES Beach at Blairgowrie has been named Victoria’s dirtiest beach following an extensive survey of Australia’s coastline. The CSIRO study found the remote peninsula beach was proportionately more rubbish-strewn than any other coastal beach in the state. Researchers spent two years counting items of rubbish along the entire Australian coastline and found that remote and hard-to-access beaches were often the country’s dirtiest, rather than those closer to heavily populated areas.
Pearses Beach was typical of those findings, with the secluded sandy beach on the Bass Strait side of the peninsula being accessible only via a walking track from a car park at the end of Pearse Rd. The beach, which is often referred to as Pearses Rd Beach, made headlines late last year when a 20-year-old international student disappeared in rough surf off rocks after jumping in to rescue a friend. His body was never recovered. The CSIRO study identified the country’s most polluted beach as Border Village, an isolated stretch of sand
on the coast between South Australia and Western Australia. Lead researcher Dr Denise Hardesty said ocean current data suggested the majority of the massive amount of rubbish found along Australia’s coastline originated from land-based sources. “In general, most of what we find is from us,” Dr Hardesty said. “No matter how remote you are, how close you are to an urban city, we leave our litter everywhere.” The CSIRO study estimates more than 150 million pieces of rubbish litter Australia’s sand and shores. The most common pollutant found was plastic,
including bottles, bags and containers. About 80 per cent of the rubbish was identified as coming from land-based sources, with the remainder being associated with the fishing industry, such as discarded fishing lines and nets. Of particular concern was the vast number of smaller items of pollutants such as lighters, lids and cigarette butts, as well as micro plastics such as pre-production pellets, which are often mistakenly consumed by fish and birds. “We open turtles that have died and see that they’re jammed full of plastics,” Dr Hardesty said.
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“I've found over 200 pieces of plastic in a single bird. I’ve found everything from a glow stick that is used by fishermen to three or four balloons and all sorts of pieces of plastic in birds.” She said the findings of the survey showed isolated beaches weren’t attracting as much attention in clean-up efforts as more popular locations. “Once beaches aren’t quite as close to where people live, they feel less of a social responsibility, which is why you find rubbish left behind from campsites on beaches and so on.” The final findings of the survey will be published later this year.
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