Dugong's Healthy - but...

[Chris Ryan]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/q...-1225881040271

See if you can read the whopper of a lie from someone in the article. If you can find it, and it engrages you like it has me, send a letter to the editor and cc the offender. Comments left like that can quickly become mainstream and is an underlying tone to more changes to Moreton Bay.

[Scott nthQld]

I got at least 2 lie's there, estimated population of 6000 in qld....and 1000 in Brisbane.....bullshit, loads more than that

or the classic boat strike furphy they want us all to believe.

[robersl]

last 5 lines

shane

[TheRealAndy]

Mr Long said the slow-breeding population appeared healthy but about one a month was killed by speed boats.

[FNQCairns]

Reminds me of the grey nurse shark con job, corrupt behaviour over numbers forces concern from the ignorant masses.

..It simply did not matter that their numbers where known widely outside of corruption circles to be nothing close to in jeopardy, as fishery's employees/crcs and fundamentalist NGOs bank accounts got filled handsomely with government money and donated funds throughout all the political and personal gain.

BTW It's now unwhitewashed and official .....QLD is the corruption state.

[Peter4]

Mr Long said the slow-breeding population appeared healthy but about one a month was killed by speed boats.

Is anyone on this forum aware of any dugong ever killed by a boat strike in Moreton Bay?

We see them often around Peel but they are shy and elusive creatures. I would be very surprised if they ever surfaced anywhere near a moving speed boat....

[Scalem]

But wait! If one of these poor animals is floating near the surface half dead because of "unknown" causes and you hit it because its too stuffed to worry about an approaching boat, chalk that up as a boat strike hey? It's the boaties fault!! Have a go at us why don't they, make no mention of the fact I ( like many) spent thousands more to run a 4 stroke or new age 2s so we leave less of a footprint, dedicate thousands of man hours picking up hazardous rubbish from our waterways, but we are still the scapegoats! Grrrr!!!

Scalem

[TheRealAndy]

From memory the average death of dugong from boat strike was something like 2 or 3 per year but then again I have not seen any data for the last 5 or so years. Its pretty hard to get this data under the current government but mark robinson mp always seems to be able to get his hands on it.

[Tangles]

one a month from boat strikes ( ie 12 a year)

, considering Govt studies on their website has annual reports of Dugong population and numbers killed and usually 1 dugong on average is hit in the bay a year, the most recent reports havent been available.

The reprts also never could identify if it was a strike by a large or small prop either

the 12 a year is usual average from all over Qld. They also fail to mention that from memory it was over 1000 a year are taken for food by indigenous populations each year.

[TheRealAndy]

one a month from boat strikes ( ie 12 a year)

, considering Govt studies on their website has annual reports of Dugong population and numbers killed and usually 1 dugong on average is hit in the bay a year, the most recent reports havent been available.

The reprts also never could identify if it was a strike by a large or small prop either

the 12 a year is usual average from all over Qld. They also fail to mention that from memory it was over 1000 a year are taken for food by indigenous populations each year.

I'm sure it was 2-3 a year qld wide for boat strikes. Could be wrong though, might pay to give our friends at DERM a call.

[PinHead]

"
Small boats track dugongs feeding on shallow seagrass meadows, allowing scientists wearing footy helmets to leap out and grab them by the tail while making sure their head is above water.
The pug-nosed creatures are wrestled into a sling and then taken to a nearby mother ship where samples are gathered."

Let's really care for them..le't just stress the hell out of them...stupid bloody scientists..leave the animals alone and observe them and not touch..as bad as Steve Irwin..all the deaths will now be from stress caused by this ridiculous action.

Trevor Long is a liar..I hope you read this Trevor.

Scientists caring about animals..bullshit..stress creators.

[finga]

"
Small boats track dugongs feeding on shallow seagrass meadows, allowing scientists wearing footy helmets to leap out and grab them by the tail while making sure their head is above water.
The pug-nosed creatures are wrestled into a sling and then taken to a nearby mother ship where samples are gathered."

Let's really care for them..le't just stress the hell out of them...stupid bloody scientists..leave the animals alone and observe them and not touch..as bad as Steve Irwin..all the deaths will now be from stress caused by this ridiculous action.

Trevor Long is a liar..I hope you read this Trevor.

Scientists caring about animals..bullshit..stress creators.

Only trouble is it was me just having a swim.
The buggers mistook me for a dugong and crash tackled me.
Still sore from where they took the samples.
Bloody know-it-alls...I'm not that fat and white and my nose isn't that big..and all

[Pridey]

There are litterally thousands of them in the Hinchinbrook channel and associated waterways. I've had them come pretty close to the boat.. maybe for a look, but I've never hit one, or known anyone else too.

They are great creatures. I do believe we need to protect them. I do also believe we need to do it the right way, without scare tactics and other crap.

Hell, I've hit stingrays before. But thats okay, because they kill people

[Kdog]

Only trouble is it was me just having a swim.
The buggers mistook me for a dugong and crash tackled me.
Still sore from where they took the samples.
Bloody know-it-alls...I'm not that fat and white and my nose isn't that big..and all

Oh Finga, That a bloody classic!!! I have not stopped laughing for the last five minutes.

[4x4frog]

"
Small boats track dugongs feeding on shallow seagrass meadows, allowing scientists wearing footy helmets to leap out and grab them by the tail while making sure their head is above water.
The pug-nosed creatures are wrestled into a sling and then taken to a nearby mother ship where samples are gathered."

Let's really care for them..le't just stress the hell out of them...stupid bloody scientists..leave the animals alone and observe them and not touch..as bad as Steve Irwin..all the deaths will now be from stress caused by this ridiculous action.

Trevor Long is a liar..I hope you read this Trevor.

Scientists caring about animals..bullshit..stress creators.

I don't have a boat myself but it would be good to follow the studied dugung around for a week or so to see what ill effects if any there is from there 'attacks' on them. I thought it sounded pretty stressful what they were doing too.