NEWS DESK
When a Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au Right at home: Josie Jones and a seahorse share a familiar environment. Picture: Supplied
Pick it up for nature’s sake THE harm caused by uncollected dog poo on the Mornington Peninsula’s marine environment has prompted activist Josie Jones to bring the issue out into the open. “I shudder every time I think about the marine creatures’ exposure to these gross pollutants,” the 2019 Mornington Peninsula Australia Day Citizen of the Year said. “They already have such a mission just to become adults that they deserve our respect and help.” Ms Jones, whose work has been recognised through several awards, including the 2016 Dame Phyllis Frost Award and the 2017 Litter Prevention prize from Keep Victoria Beautiful, said: “In all the years of litter prevention I have avoided saying anything about the poo problem. “But so many people interact with the water through fishing, diving, boating and stand-up paddling that the poo compromises their ability to enjoy the marine environment safely.” Ms Jones said for years she had watched parents sifting sand before placing their toddlers down for beach play or pulling dog poo or cigarette butts from toddlers’ hands or mouths.
“Pollution caused by dog poo extends across the entire peninsula and beyond,” she said. “Dogs are not allowed into playgrounds [because] they leave poo on the ground and, contrary to popular belief, it can take up to a year for dog poo to break down when buried. “The best environmental solution for dog poo is in a worm farm, and only biodegradable poo bags or newspaper should be used when collecting poo.” Ms Jones has drawn a poster to get the message across. She said a member of the Southern Mornington Peninsula Noticeboard had suggested putting the posters up on fences and in windows at home to show solidarity with the message. “It’s not about shaming people, it’s about respect for the earth. It’s not about obeying rules, it’s about caring for nature. “We all want to be a part of a better future – for everyone.” Possibly one reason for there being more poo on beaches over the past few months is that people are home and have more time to walk their dogs. Stephen Taylor
JENNY Angliss-Goodall and her new “right arm”, Koda.
Festival to link crabs with cuttlefish Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au THE southern Mornington Peninsula could play host to an annual festival based around giant spider crab’s if a Rye dive shop proprietor’s dreams come true. The festival would celebrate the annual migration of the crustaceans as they gather in their thousands off Rye and Blairgowrie beaches to shed their skins. The crabs’ arrival from May to June triggers a rush by drivers, sightseers and fishers who scoop them from the water by the bucket load. While divers film under Rye pier, rays and sharks feast on the crabs made suddenly vulnerable through the shedding of their skins. Lloyd Borrett, owner of The Scuba Doctor Australia, in Rye industrial estate, is pushing the festival plan – possibly to coincide with the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in mid-June – which he says would revitalise business and tourism in the area. “I’m a true believer in the potential to grow tourism and economic development in Rye,” he said. “However, some new approaches are required.” Mr Borrett, who comes from Whyalla in South Australia, said the frenetic underwater activity generated by the crabs drew parallels with the mating habits of the giant cuttlefish in waters off the town made famous by the BBC documentary Blue Planet II. The David Attenborough production also featured giant spider crabs off Rye, with Mr Borrett’s dive shop hosting the BBC natural history unit film crew on location. “For 25 years, Whyalla held the Australian Snapper Fishing Championship. Now that’s gone and, instead, they have the Giant Cuttlefish Festival which draws people from all over Australia and the world,” he said. “Whyalla is soon to get a $7.8 million circular jetty as well as open a $100 million, nine-storey hotel, and it has a lot to do with the giant cuttlefish gathering nearby to mate. That’s a lot of economic investment.”
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Southern Peninsula News
Crab-led recovery: Lloyd Borrett is keen to hold a giant spider crab festival at Rye to help boost business and tourism. Picture: Yanni
Mr Borrett said marine biologists and ecologists working for Eyre Peninsula Natural Resource Management started the cuttlefest and it took a few years for Whyalla Council to realise the festival’s potential. The council has now commissioned a Port Lincoln-based artist to create a giant cuttlefish mascot. “Imagine this sort of thing happening at Rye linking the giant spider crabs and the giant cut-
2 September 2020
tlefish in Whyalla?” he said. “The two gatherings overlap. We had a number of local, regional Victorian, interstate and international tourists travelling to see both events in recent years. “If we get people excited about the local business potential with the giant spider crabs and other local marine activities, such as seeing the weedy sea dragons at Flinders pier, it should happen.”
JENNY Angliss-Goodall is developing a special relationship. It is one of co-dependency and is not her first. The last one lasted 12 years and, when it ended, she felt as though she had “lost my right arm”. Heartbroken, but realistic enough to know that nothing lasts forever, Angliss-Goodall set about finding a new partner. The loss more than two and a half years ago of her assistance dog, Dudley, left a huge gap in her life. “We did everything together: from helping me around the home picking up anything and everything that I dropped - hair brush, shampoo bottle and even soap,” Angliss-Goodall affectionately recalls. Dudley helped with everyday chores such as washing clothes and visiting the supermarket where he would pick up dropped items. He was also an active companion for swimming at Mothers and Mills beaches at Mornington, going to the movies and live shows, the tennis, going to Adelaide by train (“the only stop where someone could get off was to let Dudley have a pee at the half way mark”) and travelling with a camper trailer to Kakadu National Park and Uluru. Dudley had been a cabin passenger on at least 20 domestic flights. Dudley was also well known to the hundreds of people at beach days organised by the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula
High praise for brave actions A MOUNT Eliza man who risked serious injury in freeing the driver of a crashed and burning cement truck at McCrae in 2016 has been awarded a medal “for acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances”. Joshua Allan Downes was among 29 people honoured for their courage by GovernorGeneral David Hurley on Wednesday 26 August. Mr Downes was driving along the Mornington Peninsula freeway at 7am, 16 May, when he saw that a cement truck had left the freeway, crashed into trees and rolled onto its side. He pulled his car over and rushed through thick scrub and bent and broken trees to the truck. The driver, whose legs were trapped under the dashboard, was screaming for help as the cabin began to catch fire. An explosion then threw Mr Downes back and he thought the driver may have been killed. With the cabin filling with black smoke, he heard the man again screaming for help. He called for bystanders from nearby homes to get their garden hoses and then directed the water into the cabin. Flames were beginning to reach the driver, but this quick action meant the fire was contained. Mr Downes climbed down into the cabin to comfort the driver until paramedics and emergency services crews arrived and the man was freed. In praising these brave actions, the Governor-General said: “On behalf of all Australians, I would like to congratulate and thank the individuals being recognised today. Their deeds and selflessness are inspirational. “[They] didn’t wake up in the morning and decide that they would be brave – each was faced with an unexpected situation and made a conscious choice, in the moment, to turn towards the danger and help others.” Stephen Taylor