SEEING satirist, comedian and actor John Clarke standing in the mangroves of Western Port at Hastings, you naturally enough expect a sardonic comment. Perhaps something about the odour of the mud at low tide. Eau de saltmarsh, anyone? A crack about the seagrass? This would look good in the fish pond. But, no, Clarke is on a mission; something completely different, as the Pythons once said. He is a founding board member of Western Port Seagrass Partnership, an independent trust formed in 2001 to lobby for the protection and restoration of Western Port and its catchment. Why does a 65-year-old…
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THE Otama submarine will be brought ashore within 18 months, says Western Port Oberon Association. At the launch of the Victorian Maritime Centre Project in Hastings on Friday, project development team chairman Jim Schaefer said the submarine would be the centrepiece of the centre. It will be next to the southern end of the Western Port Marina seawall in Hastings on reclaimed land. Next to the sub on the seaward side will be the maritime centre building and memorial walls. There will be a parking area for 120 cars nearby. The association was given in-principle approval to use the site…
RESEARCHERS are excited and confused by early sightings of whales in Port Phillip and Western Port. Dolphin Research Institute executive director Jeff Weir said whales usually showed up in June “so this is quite extraordinary – but then again so is 25 degrees in Mornington harbour”. Mr Weir said the first report of whale off Seaford “sounded more like a false killer whale”. Since then reports of a humpback whale have come from sailors at Somers and Balnarring. “One of the people from Somers Yacht Club seems very knowledgeable about humpbacks. We also had a reliable sighting of a humpback…
THE Lions Club of Western Port has disbanded after 44 years. The club was down to seven members, well short of the 40 on the books almost 16 years ago when current president Bert Harrison joined. Ages of the seven members range from 51 to 82. Mr Harrison and three other Western Port members will be joining neighbouring branches to continue their work in the community. “At the height of the club, membership reached into to 50s, but due to retirement, transfers and the unfortunate deaths of some members, it hasn’t been so easy over the past few years,” Mr…