that'a not pollution, THIS IS

[FNQCairns]

I see your'e point FNQ. And i will have to believe you on the science of this as i don't know the properties of these chemicals. But after seeing the footage on the news tonight i have to say i'm horrified that this has happened. A disaster it most certainly is! Ben

Yeah I will agree to call it categorised disaster bit like a bushfire could be called a disaster if viewed specificly, the bush is well versed in dealing with the aftermath as is the marine environment with the oil slick, neither of these environs see it as a disaster, each will simply regenerate/rebound.

Honest I do wonder if the oil slick was clear, just what would be the state of play here and now in the media. A picture is worth a thousand words and it does look bad but thankfully it was not crude oil! and 50 times more in volume, it could have been.

Someone does need to be strung up for it though.

cheers fnq

[ROBENDOG]

Does anybody know how this disaster will affect fish and crab eating quality and safety??? Short term and long term??

With a young family and preganant wife I wonder if this will make fish unsafe to eat now or in the future??

[FNQCairns]

Does anybody know how this disaster will affect fish and crab eating quality and safety??? Short term and long term??

With a young family and preganant wife I wonder if this will make fish unsafe to eat now or in the future??

None from this I would assume, the theory is well established but the magnitude and practice of this event is not.

Still, do you regularly eat fish/crabs that has grown most of their lives in this very specific area impacted?

cheersfnq

[twist]

What the hell was a ship doing heading north along the coast directly toward a category 4 at the time CYCLONE! Surely there was somewhere for them to wait. They stack those containers so high it blows me away that they might risk it so close to a marine park.

[f.t.r.]

my main concern in all of this is where the containers are.

the oil slick, while disgusting, will be cleaned in one way or another.

hopefully the clean up includes a thorough search, with all results made public.

while all the press has been on the slick, not one word on the containers.

the last thing we all need is 31 floating hull busters.

matty

[Spaniard_King]

my main concern in all of this is where the containers are.


the last thing we all need is 31 floating hull busters.

matty

It's OK I herd there heading north .. well herd the oil slik is

[BR65]

FNQ,
please post up for all either:

a/ The lats and lons of your patio
or
b/
The lats and lons of your favourite fishing, snorkeling, camping spots.

I would so love to move this up the coast a bit to where you live, dump it on your week end spots, seeing as how it is a media beat up, and it will all go away with "unfortunate" minimal impact.
The footage on TV tonite made me want to vomit.
Ive camped at Moreton since I was a kid, swum in those fresh water creeks, fished the Cape off the rocks, pulled beach worms and surf fished the gutters, anchored on the coffee rock reefs in close doing over niters chasing sweeties and knobbies since I could afford an off shore rig.
I dont care what your science says, your words come across to me as self serving smugness from some one who is not faced with this shite fight in their back yard, you dont have to see/smell it when you put the boat in the water next time for a quick summers morning run to the Cape to chase a few reefies, macks or tuna.
Pull your head in!
Goose!
Hows that for an emotional over reaction!!!!!
brian

[Nico.d.R]

I dont believe they brought a leaking ship into port , they didnt even try to keep the oil contained at the dock . dont they use float lines to stop spills spreading ? the footage on the news showed it tied up with a black cloud off oil seaping into the river . The dick from the epa was very casual about it " oh its ok its not harmfull untill its mixed with other stuff " .
As for leaving nature to do its thing , wouldnt a lot more areas get effected if it was left to wash around in the surf and get spread out by the tides .

nico

[captain rednut]

the epa are talking it down ask the pelicans how they feel about being black in colour?????????

[BR65]

For F.sake boys, fire up, some clown in Far North Queensland is telling you how good it will all be, easy when your that far away and its not your local.
FNQ, I know you wernt the cause, but please dont tell me its all good!
That gives me the sh#ts

[sleepygreg]

To the poster on another thread who accused FNQ of 'not giving a sh&t'....take a step back and read his posts carefully.
They are based on science and not sensationalism. I also posted a similar, though not as detailed response.

Just like the cyclone itself..we dodged a bullet on this one. Yes it looks bloody ugly, and yes a lot of marine creatures will die, as will vegetation be affected...yes it shouldnt have happened and the full force of the law should be brought against those responsible.

And dont forget the same media that beat up the impact that fisherman have on the environment are the ones beating up the damage this will have on the environment.

I DO have tertiary training in agricultural science/environmental science.....though I have never worked in that capacity. I have also had a keen interest in the ecosystems around our coastline because of my fishing interests, and have observed many similar incidents, though on a much smaller and non media reported scale. In ALL incidents, the areas affected have returned to their former glory within 6 - 12 months....both aesthetically and biologically.

Moreton Bay Regional Council does as much damage to the intertidal zone from scarborough to margate every week with its tractors raking the sand to remove rubbish and make the beaches look pretty...but i hear no one arking up about that.

The fact that is fuel oil and not crude will greatly reduce, if not negate, the long term impact. As for the Ammonium nitrate.....it will be diluted over a number of years by the ocean currents, as it will be sitting in contained solid lumps on the ocean floor. If the containers are floating at present...they will eventually sink...so this will even further dilute the impact on the environment.

And how about this for a thought......what an ideal opportunity for the Navy to do an excercise to find the containers....minesweepers to scour the surface, anti sub frigates to scour the bottom, Orions to map the bottom.

Does this mean I dont give a sh#t? No way. Im just taking a reality check.
BTW Im not impressed either.....was intending to fish the area affected on Sunday....not looking forward to dodging containers if they are floating just below the surface.

Greg

[FNQCairns]

FNQ,
please post up for all either:

a/ The lats and lons of your patio
or
b/
The lats and lons of your favourite fishing, snorkeling, camping spots.

I would so love to move this up the coast a bit to where you live, dump it on your week end spots, seeing as how it is a media beat up, and it will all go away with "unfortunate" minimal impact.
The footage on TV tonite made me want to vomit.
Ive camped at Moreton since I was a kid, swum in those fresh water creeks, fished the Cape off the rocks, pulled beach worms and surf fished the gutters, anchored on the coffee rock reefs in close doing over niters chasing sweeties and knobbies since I could afford an off shore rig.
I dont care what your science says, your words come across to me as self serving smugness from some one who is not faced with this shite fight in their back yard, you dont have to see/smell it when you put the boat in the water next time for a quick summers morning run to the Cape to chase a few reefies, macks or tuna.
Pull your head in!
Goose!
Hows that for an emotional over reaction!!!!!
brian

I too have spent MANY a day enjoying those areas from my years down there, what would you rather me say?

Quick clean it up, would be done by now...but by what magic?

What will it achieve to clean up an effectively inert substance laying over dead substrate and lots of healthy substrate higher up on the beach??

I do wonder who would have raised an eyebrow at this stage if the oil was clear?

The time to deal with it was before the oil reached the shore if to make any measurable difference in outcome.

I have read the EPA has bent to election campaign needs and growing public hysteria and is now playing the game they play so well.

Seriously if a person did give a non biased crap about the environment they would consider everything I have said as the glass is half full, seriously again - it says lot's about the true state of reasoning behind what drives many peoples opinion.

cheers fnq

[captain rednut]

thanks greg i feel worked up about this subject too and will be fishing this area sunday and monday am im worried what impact it has too??? but ill wait and see and hope the goverment learn from this and implement some dramatic changes in shipping cargo storage in transit?? i hope we all learn from this? thanks jim

[rakinray]

G/ Day all i have to agree that this whole thing should never have happened, what the hell was he thinking when he decided to tackle the Cat 4 Cyclone, and as we have all seen with our own eyes the devestating results with the oil sludge all over our beautiful Islands. The other thing that really got me thinking about our Enviro Protection Agency was that they said on the news tonight that the EPA gave the ship with the 3000kgs of POISON on its decks permission to clean it off while happily anchored up in our Moreton Bay Marine Park ! How does this happen to a place that is described in their own Moreton Bay MarinePark user guide as and i quote from this bible of GREEN ZONES ! One of Australia's top 12 shore bird habitats, is one of three extensive intertidal areas of sea grass,mangroves and saltmarsh on Australia's east coast, is ranked among the top 10 Dugong habitats in Australia, is one of the most important feeding areas for threatened marine turtles along Australia's east coast, and the bottle nose Dolphin population centered around Point Look-Out, is one of the largest congregations of Bottle Nose Dolphins in the WORLD ! Surely this is not the right agency to be protecting OUR BAY for future generations of Queenslanders ! This is just not RIGHT !

cheers RAY. PS another gem from the MBMPUGuide is that Zoning helps ensure the continued existence of the unique species and habitat ! but its ok to dump 3000kgs of highly toxic CRAP in it ! Just my thoughts.

[Ready Jet Go]

What on earth was the ship doing heading towards a cyclone and close to shore it has to be neglegence. Im very upset about the whole thing I just love moreton island like most who know it. I have been trying find a way of volunteering to help epa have a volunteer register ph 1300130372 choose oil spills then an operator directs you to the person responsible. I wish fnq was right but dont beleive him. Im so angry I thought I should try and help in any small way possible.
Dean