SCIENTISTS are trying to find out if there is a link between climate change and the food of choice for little penguins. With rookeries at Phillip Island and on a breakwater near St Kilda, the penguins are frequently seen in Port Phillip and Western Port. Although it is estimated the penguins eat more than 100 tonnes of sardine each breeding season, their popularity with tourists earns more money for Victoria than all its commercial fisheries. Their diet has proved to be more varied than previously known and researchers say future-proofing their prey is essential for the penguins’ long-term survival. The…
Day: July 14, 2020
IT can be hard to keep track of hooded plovers as they flit around from one place to another, unrestrained by any travel bans. But, dedicated followers of the locally endangered birds can sometimes manage to build up a character study of individual birds. One such bird, UJ, was first tagged as a 28-day-old chick on 5 April 2013 at Hamers Haven, on the Bass Coast. Last week, she was near Mushroom Reef, Flinders a place that in some ways UJ has come to call home. Although a blood sample was taken from UJ seven years ago bird banders were…
CREWS from Sorrento SES were involved in another successful rescue after an accident on the Red Hill mountain bike trail, 3pm, Sunday 12 July. Whereas last week they used their “mule litter wheel” to evacuate a young rider after he crashed over a jump, this time they drove their four-wheel-drive up the track to rescue an 18-year-old man with a broken collar bone. SES controller Mark Daw said crews made it up the track near Boundary Road, Dromana, before Ambulance Victoria arrived. “We assessed the patient who was suffering a broken collarbone after going over the handlebars,” he said. “He…
CAR thieves trying to steal a 2020 Porsche from the garage of a Portsea beachfront house early Monday morning may have panicked before driving the car over a 2.5-metre cliff. Unable to drive the Porsche, the offenders then made their getaway by stealing a Mercedes Benz. Detective Leading Senior Constable Shane Moodie, of Somerville CIU, said two or possibly three offenders entered the garage of the Point Nepean Road property, 2am, Monday 13 July. “It appears one of the offenders reversed the new Porsche out of the garage and over the cliff where it remained,” Detective Moodie said. The car’s…
A VOLUNTEER Marine Rescue crew from Hastings found the water at Middle Bank in Western Port too shallow to assist a boat which had run aground, just after midnight, Sunday 12 July. “The occupants were concerned about waves breaking over the 6.75-metre vessel,” VMR president Neil Cooper said. “When VMR’s TX1 arrived, the boat was in too shallow water to assist. However, with an incoming tide, they were able to get themselves off. “This is an extremely dangerous piece of water and it is best to give it a very wide berth. “VMR has assisted many vessels there, some, unfortunately,…
NAVIGATION technology company Sealite is the major player behind plans for a $540 million technology park at Somerville. The company says the proposed Mornington Peninsula Technology Park will activate projects and deliver jobs and growth as part of an “urgent pandemic recovery”. Backing for the plan is being sought from Mornington Peninsula Shire and the state government as part of the Building Victoria’s Recovery Taskforce. The shire claims the peninsula has “been hit harder than most areas of Victoria in terms of job losses and general economic downturn” (“Shire seeks $320m rescue package” The News 22/6/20). However, the shire has…