Hands Off Point Peron

DISAPPEARING SEAGRASS 🌱🌊🌱
Why are the seagrass meadows in Cockburn Sound, Shoalwater Bay and Warnbro Sound disappearing?

There are many probable reasons including ocean pollution from industry, waste water disposal from the Pt Peron pipeline, and stormwater runoff from the land; dragging ship and boat anchors tearing up seagrass; ocean storms; sedimentation from dredging and naturally shifting sands; and possibly seagrass diseases.

Warmer ocean waters from climate change, in the form of marine heatwaves and gradual and longer-term ocean warming, also kills seagrass. While higher temperatures can affect the seagrass directly, ecologists from the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales have recently identified an indirect impact related to the microbial content of the sediment that the seagrass grows in.

Ocean warming can shape sediment microbial communities in ways that suppress seagrass performance. Higher temperatures favour sulphide-producing bacteria in the sediment and sulphide is toxic to seagrass roots, potentially suppressing seagrass growth and increasing the risk of seagrass death.

It's a clear demonstration that to fully understand the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems, we need to investigate what happens microbially and on the ocean bed, as well as at higher trophic levels.

Warming seas can threaten the hidden relationship that supports seagrass meadows Seagrasses are often overlooked, but they are among the most important coastal habitats on Earth.

TINY CRITTERS OF SAFETY BAY AND SHOALWATER BEACHES: by Stephen Ambrose

PART 6: BEACH WRACK BEETLES.

Insects you would least expect to find on sandy beaches are beetles. Let's face it, most beetles have short legs and robust body shapes that are unsuited for travelling across beach sand, especially sand within the intertidal zone. But the beach wracks (piles of beach-washed seaweed and seagrass) of Safety Bay and Shoalwater Bay, and at Point Peron, and the other tiny creatures that inhabit them, make ideal habitat and food sources for at least two groups of beetles: Beach Rove Beetles (Family Staphylinidae) and Darkling (Pie-dish) Beetles (in the family Tenebrionidae).

Beach Rove Beetles have long and slender bodies which enable them to move relatively freely through entangled material in beach wracks. They are predators of fly maggots, sandhoppers, woodlice and mites that are helping to break down the beach-washed seaweed and seagrass. They also consume fungi growing in the beach wracks. The species most commonly found on local beaches is the Whiplash Beetle (Paederus meyricki, but it is possible that species in the genus Cafius also occur there (they have been recorded at Woodman Point Beach).

The pie-dish beetle has a dish-shaped body, which protects it from predators such as spiders and scorpions. Its armour allows the beetle to tilt and cover its vulnerable parts or partially bury itself, with edges flat on the ground during a predator attack. The relatively flat body shape also aids the beetle to sandboard down sand hills and climb through beach wracks. Unlike beach rove beetles, pie-dish beetles feed on decaying organic matter in the beach wracks. Hairy-backed Pie-dish Beetles (Helea perforata) have been recorded in beach wracks on local beaches, but on rare occasions you may come across species belonging to the genus Sympetes.

The presence of these species demonstrates that communities of terrestrial invertebrates within beach wracks on beaches in and around Safety Bay are relatively complex in structure. All species interact with each other and help regulate the rates at which beach-washed seaweed and seagrass are broken down and the nutrients are returned to the marine environment.

More information on beach rove beetles:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/132026-Paederus

More information on pie-dish beetles:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/855021-Helea-perforata

Whiplash Beetles (Genus Paederus) Paederus is a genus of small beetles of the family Staphylinidae ('rove beetles'). With 622 valid species assigned by 1987 to the subtribe Paederina (Paederus and its close allies), and with all but 148 within Paederus itself, the genus is large. Due to toxins in the hemolymph of some species within...

TINY CRITTERS OF SAFETY BAY AND SHOALWATER BEACHES: by Stephen Ambrose

PART 5: SAND CRABS.

Continuing on with the series about the intertidal creatures that live in the stranded banks of decaying seaweed and seagrass (beach wracks) on Safety Bay, Shoalwater Bay and Point Peron beaches, I introduce you to the sand-dwelling crabs.

There are two main crab species on these beaches: the Golden Ghost Crab (Ocypode convexa) and Common Sand Crab (Ovalipes australiensis). There are several other crab species that are found on rock substrates at Point Peron or permanently inhabit the marine environment, but the ghost crab and sand crab are truly semi-terrestrial local beach inhabitants. Walk along these beaches at night with a torch, where there is little street light spillage, and you will see these two species scurrying across the sand between beach wracks.

The Golden Ghost Crab is found only along the Western Australian coast, from Bunbury to Exmouth. It is by far the most abundant beach crab species in the Safety Bay area. They are relatively small, growing to a carapace (shell) width of 45 mm. They shelter in sand burrows above the high-tide water mark during the day, and come out at night in search of food. They are opportunistic omnivores, scavenging primarily on primarily washed-up organic matter such as seaweed and seagrass, dead fish, birds and marine debris. But they also actively hunt insects, molluscs (marine snails) and other crustaceans. Therefore, they are crucial beach cleaners and nutrient recyclers.

The Common Sand Crab (also known as the Australian Surf Crab) is found on beaches along the southern coastline of Australia from Rottnest Island on the west coast to Brisbane on the east coast. It is easy to distinguish from other local crab species because it has two dark red spots on its carapace and has paddle-like back legs for swimming. Like the Golden Ghost Crab, it lives in sand burrows in the surf zone during the day and emerges at night. However, unlike the former species it is mostly predatory, feeding mainly on molluscs, marine worms and other crustaceans. It will also feed opportunically on dead fish and other carrion on the beaches. Therefore, its dispersal across the beaches at night are limited largely to the splash zone, whereas ghost crabs can venture into dune areas. A major ecological role of this species is to help regulate the abundances of other invertebrates that may otherwise feed on decaying seaweed that is washed up on the beach.

Both crab species are also a source of food for shorebirds, especially gulls and terns. This is one reason why these bird species congregate and feed at night on the beaches. 4WD vehicles crush a lot of these crabs if they driven on beaches at night, yet another impact on the fragile intertidal ecosystem. This is an important reason why off-road vehicles should continue to be banned from Tern Island Nature Reserve and adjoining beach areas.

More information about the Golden Ghost Crab:
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/522847-Ocypode-convexa

More information about the Common Sand Crab:
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/crustaceans/surf-crab/

Golden Ghost Crab (Ocypode convexa) Ocypode convexa, commonly known as the golden ghost crab, or alternatively the western ghost crab or yellow ghost crab, is a species of ghost crabs endemic to the coast of Western Australia, from Broome to Perth. They are relatively large ghost crabs, with a carapace growing up to 45 mm (1.8 in) lon...

Please use the petition link in the comments to lobby the responsible decision makers to take the following Emergency Actions

🚨🐧 Closing Penguin Island to the public for at least two years to allow undisturbed penguin breeding and recovery.

🚨🐧 Providing resources for on-water speed limit enforcement in Shoalwater Bay Special Purpose Zone (wildlife conservation) during weekends and public holidays from November to April.

🚨🐧 Funding and implementing a targeted Little Penguin Conservation Plan to halt decline and aid colony recovery.

PETITION to government calling for improved enforcement of speed limits in Shoalwater Bay Special Purpose Zone (wildlife protection) and more - please sign and share

Support the Save Rockingham's Little Penguins Campaign The Penguin Island colony has declined by 95% since 2007, only 97 remain. This colony are headed for extinction. We must act fast.

Are you a regular user of the Shoalwater Bay Special Purpose Zone (wildlife conservation)? What's your experience as a user. Have you nearly been cleaned up by speeding watercraft?

Would you like to see improved enforcement of speed limits in Shoalwater Bay Special Purpose Zone?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Please also consider sharing this post with others.

📣🐧 😲 PENGUIN PROTECTION MOTION
I was shocked at the voting outcome of my Penguin Motion. Historically on Council, there has always been unanimous support for advocating for the protection of our penguins.

🐧✂️🐧 Research by Dr Belinda Cannell shows that, based on dead penguins collected since 2017, watercraft strike has been responsible for 32% of penguin deaths.

🐧💀🐧 We only have 97 penguins left, according to latest data collected in November 2024 by Dr Belinda Cannell

🎥 I have replayed the meeting video, listened to the arguments again put up by Cr Hudson, Cr Robertson, Cr Mbano & Cr Rudman BUT I still don't understand.

🎥 Check out the video yourself and let me know what you think. The video link is in the comments.

🐧 The Penguin Motion debate starts at 2:17:40 into the meeting

TINY CRITTERS OF SAFETY BAY AND SHOALWATER BEACHES - by Stephen Ambrose

PART 4: TINY FLIES.
This post continues the discussion about the importance of retaining beach-washed seaweed and seagrass (beach wracks) at beaches in Safety Bay, Shoalwater Bay and Point Peron. There is a whole host of creatures that help break down the beach wracks and return nutrients back into the marine environment of the Shoalwater Island Marine Park. Past posts have examined the roles of springtails, sandhoppers and woodlice, the present post takes a look at the types of tiny flies that are found in and around the beach wracks.

Tiny flies are some of the most obvious insect species buzzing around the beach wracks, especially around dusk. A few may be fly species that buzz around your home, but many are found only on beaches where there is an accumulation of decaying seaweed or seagrass. They include kelp flies, gnats (midges and sandflies), shore flies (subfamily Tethininae), and parasitic flies.

Kelp flies (family Coelopidae) are small, bristly flies that swarm around beach wracks and lay their eggs among the kelp. The eggs hatch into maggots which then feed on the kelp, helping to break it down, while the adults feed on the bacteria in the kelp. Fortunately, they do not bite humans, but their swarms can be troublesome when in large numbers. One of the most common kelp fly species on local beaches is the Black Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida), which is found on beaches at temperate latitudes worldwide.

Although the gnats swarming around the beach wracks are biting midges, they are not the same species that you find in your garden or in other areas inland of the beaches. They belong to the fly family, Ceratopogonidae and have a similar lifecycle to kelp flies. Most species belong to the genus, Culicoides, but I'm not aware of any studies that have identified the specific species that occur on local beaches.

Beach wracks that have high loads of woodlice (isopods) can also attract parasitic flies from the family, Rhinophoridae (woodlouse flies). Eggs are laid in the beach wracks and when they hatch the larvae attach themselves to passing woodlice. A larva burrows into the body, consuming the inside of the woodlouse's body, where it grows and eventually pupates.

All these flies produce lots of maggots (fly larvae). If you lift up a clump of moist seagrass close to the water's edge on Safety Bay Beach, for instance, you will see teems of maggots. They are harmless to people, but they are really important for breaking down the beached seagrass and kelp and, because there are so many of them, they are an important source of food for shorebirds, and the occasional lizard that ventures onto the beach. When wave action retrieves the clumps of decaying seaweed and seagrass, a lot of the maggots are also carried into the water. Shoals of small fish in the shallows then feed on them.

Kelp Flies (Family Coelopidae) The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of Acalyptratae flies (order Diptera), they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, though both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40 species occur worldwide. The family is found in temperate areas, with species occurring in the sou...

TINY CRITTERS OF SAFETY BAY AND SHOALWATER BEACHES: by Stephen Ambrose

PART 3: BEACH WOODLICE

The intertidal environment of the Safety Bay and Shoalwater Bay beaches is a harsh landscape for tiny creatures to live in. The beach-washed piles of seaweed and seagrass provide shelter, food and breeding habitat for many of these creatures. In turn, they help break down the rotting beach wracks and help return nutrients to the ocean. Parts 1 and 2 have already introduced you to some of these creatures (springtails and sandhoppers). The current post discusses the beach woodlouse (also known as beach slaters, beach pill bugs or beach roly polies).

Okay, you can relax, the beach woodlouse is not a louse species, it is yet another tiny intertidal crustacean, very closely-related to the sandhoppers discussed in Part 2. Scientifically, woodlice are called isopods, whereas sandhoppers are amphipods. You may have come across other woodlice species in the soil humus or leaf litter of your garden, but beach woodlice seek refuge in the moist seagrass and seaweed wracks that have accumulated on the beach.

Woodlice are similar in size and appearance to sandhoppers, but they are dorso-ventrally flattened, instead of laterally flattened. This enables them to curl up into a tight ball when they feel threatened. They also scurry across the sand or other substrate instead of leaping into the air like springtails or sandhoppers.

There are several species of beach woodlice in beach wracks along the Shoalwater Bay and Safety Bay Beaches, but the most common one is the Beach Slater or Beach Roly Poly (Sphaeroma serratum), which feeds on the decaying seagrass and seaweed. Another group of woodlice on these beaches are the Seagrass Borers (Family Limnoriidae) which, as the name implies, consume seagrass by boring holes in the stems and leaves. Therefore, they are important in recycling important nutrients back into the ocean when wave action removes some of this material from the beach. Beach woodlice are also important food sources for shorebirds, lizards and predatory beetles, as well as breeding hosts for parasitic flies.

More information about woodlice:

Isopods (Order Isopoda) Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that ar...

TINY CRITTERS OF SAFETY BAY AND SHOALWATER BEACHES: by Stephen Ambrose

PART 2: SANDHOPPERS.
In Part 1 of this information series, I introduced you to springtails, a group of invertebrates that inhabit beach-washed seaweed and seagrass (beach wracks) along Safety Bay and Shoalwater Bay beaches. These are important critters that help breakdown the wracks and return nutrients back to the marine environment. Therefore, they are essential for the maintenance of a healthy Shoalwater Islands Marine Park ecosystem.

Another group of inhabitants of beach wracks are sandhoppers, also known as amphipods. They also have the same ecological roles and importance as springtails.

Sandhoppers are minute crustaceans with a laterally-compressed body, they lack a carapace, have strong legs, and large front claws. There are many different species, typically ranging in length from 10 to 20 mm. Like springtails, they can spring short distances into the air, but differ in the way this is achieved. While a springtail has a spring-like appendage tucked under its body which it flexes, the sandhopper leaps using a powerful, sudden extension of the body, by rapidly flicking its tail from a tucked-under position.

Sandhoppers feed on rotting seaweed and seagrass and need a constantly-moist environment. As the beach wracks dry out, they move onto the next patch of beach-washed seaweed and seagrass. They are among the most abundant invertebrate in and under beach wracks, which provide them with food, moisture and shelter. Under optimal conditions they can account for 90% of all invertebrates in beach-washed seaweed and seagrass. They are also an important source of food for small shorebirds, more terrestrial bird species such as swallows and pipits, and intertidal invertebrates such as slaters (isopods) and small crabs.

The most common sandhopper species on the beaches at Shoalwater Bay and Safety Bay is Talorchestia pravidactyla (unfortunately, it does not have a common name). It has a widespread distribution, found along most of Australia's coastline, wherever there are beach wracks.

More information about sandhoppers:

Sandhoppers and Landhoppers (Family Talitridae) Talitridae is a family of amphipods. Terrestrial species are often referred to as landhoppers and beach dwellers are called sandhoppers or sand fleas. The name sand flea is misleading, though, because these talitrid amphipods do not bite people. (Source: Wikipedia, '', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

TINY CRITTERS OF SAFETY BAY AND SHOALWATER BEACHES: by Stephen Ambrose

PART 1: SPRINGTAILS.
It's not uncommon for members of local chat groups to suggest the removal of rotting seaweed and seagrass (known collectively as beach wracks) from Safety Bay and Shoalwater Bay beaches because of the bad odour. But these wracks are important as habitat for a myriad of tiny critters which help the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park to remain a healthy marine ecosystem.

If the beach-washed seagrass and seaweed are removed for garden fertiliser or other purposes, then those tiny creatures die and that has compounding impacts on the park's marine and coastal ecosystems.

Take springtails, for instance. These are some of the creatures that you may have noticed contantly springing short-distances into the air from among accumulations of beach-washed seaweed. They are usually present in their hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, on a single stretch of beach. They have a tail-like appendage (known as a furcula) folded under the abdomen which, when released, snaps against the ground or other substrate, propelling the springtail into the air.

Springtails play an important ecological role in helping to break down the rotting seaweed on the beach into nutrient-rich waste products (frass). Wave and tidal action carry these nutrients back into the ocean, where they help fertilise the seabed and thus aids the growth of seagrass and seaweed, and provide nutrients for fish and other marine animals. The fertilised seagrass and seaweed beds provide breeding and foraging habitat, and shelter, for most marine organisms.

Beach springtails are also an important source of food for other organisms that are found in beach-washed seaweed, such as crabs and molluscs. Shorebirds such as Red-capped Plovers just gorge themselves on springtails under the right environmental conditions.

While there are also springtails in your garden, especially if you have leaf litter on your garden beds, they are different species. If you remove seaweed from the beach and put it on your garden beds, the beach springtails in that seaweed would die because they require constant moisture and there would be times when the seaweed dries out. The springtail species that are already in your garden are less able to break down beach seaweed because they are adapted to feeding on leaf matter and other organic material that is in your garden. As a result, beach-washed seaweed breaks down more slowly in the garden.

Springtail species that occur in seaweed at Shoalwater and Safety Bay Beaches are predominantly from two genera: Hypogastrura (also known as snow fleas, although they are not fleas) and Ceratophysella (true springtails).

More information about springtails:
https://theconversation.com/meet-the-springtails-little-known-fantastic-beasts-that-live-everywhere-on-earth-270667

Meet the springtails: little-known fantastic beasts that live everywhere on Earth These tiny critters have shaped the health of our planet for hundreds of millions of years.

🌡🔥 Hot weather closure at 35 degrees??

⚠️ Back in 2014, the Marine Parks & Reserves Authority sounded the alarm bells saying penguins needed to access the water to cool off at 30-32 degrees. There were 800 penguins at that time.

That's what the conservation biologists pleaded for when this 35 degrees closure was recently introduced. Sadly the government continued to ignore their advise.

Today, only 97 penguins left at the most recent count

🚨Back in 2014, the government was also warned about need to provide on water resources to enforce marine park speed limits due to increasing vessel activity in the park. Again the WA Government continues to ignore these warnings to this day.

💀🐧💀 We are now up to 32% of penguin deaths due to watercraft strike based on dead penguins collected by Dr Belinda Cannell research since 2017.

⚠️ Re: Penguin Advisory Group Report that the community have been patiently waiting for this last 12 months?

Will Environment Minister Matt Swinbourn MLC release the Report to the public❓️

Will he act as matter of urgency on the recommendations in the Report.⁉️

Or, will the Penguin Island colony become extinct over the next few years because based on the current population decline trajectory its a real possibility.

Please take a few minutes and email the Minister today and ask [email protected]

P.S. And if you do get a response from the Minister please share a screenshot of the response to this Page. We all want to know.
Public accountability is important and powerful