Friday, 25 November, 2022
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Slaney’s first ton
28-page liftout Property Guide
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INSIDE
PR OP ER TY
Noosa seniors end with a splash In traditional Noosa style, Year 12 students celebrated their last day of school with a dash into the ocean. Good Shepherd Lutheran College students led the cohort when they completed their school formalities and farewells on Thursday before charging down to Noosa Main Beach for the ceremonial swim, marking the end of their school life and the beginning of their journey ahead. Other schools followed suit on Friday with schoolies celebrations officially beginning on Friday evening. More pictures on page 5
Last dash for Year 12 students.
Oysters on rocks After three years and $3.6million the Noosa River oyster restoration project took a significant step last Friday when scientists from Bribie Island Research Centre joined The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and local volunteers to seed recently created reefs at its restored Tewantin site with oyster spat. A group of about 20 participated in the historic occasion to seed Sydney rock oysters for the first time ever in a river. Nine months ago a brood stock of adult, naturally occurring Noosa River oysters, Saccostrea glomerata, better known as Sydney rock oysters, were harvested from the Noosa River and taken to the Bribie Island Research Centre for spawning in laboratory conditions. At the same time local restaurants collected and donated hundreds of oyster shells which
were cleaned and prepared by a team of volunteers in readiness for the oyster spat. Senior research scientist Max Wingfield said the oysters which are spring season spawners were held in controlled tanks at the research station and fed a diet of five varieties of carefully prepared micro-algae. “We have to culture the algae. It’s nearly as much work growing the micro-algae in laboratory conditions, making sure there are no bacteria,“ he said. Oysters spawn by releasing a gonad that is either egg or sperm. While the fertilisation process occurs naturally in the river it’s important to manage the fertilisation in a tank as the presence of too much sperm attempting to fertilise an egg can void the process, Max said. Continued page 4
Seeding the oyster reef at Tewantin restoration site.
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By Margie Maccoll