I had a phone conversation with Craig Lester today, he's concerned about undernourished swans recovering in the lagoon after the breeding season. Some of these birds are in such poor condition they can't fly, and the ones that can just fly use a lot of their precious energy getting out of our way.
I've seen this lately at Liptons, a flock flew off leaving one or two behind that could only swim slowly away. Craig thinks these swans will probably die if not rescued.
So we probably should stay out of the lagoon and leave the swans to recover.
So we probably should stay out of the lagoon and leave the swans to recover.
I second that.
Creery is a given. It is not bad for some, but surely not good enough for all the grief and conflict sailing there stirs up and of course the birds need somewhere to rest.
Mike, I too noticed that the swans at Liptons were sluggish... I thought they may be getting used to us. Thanks for the post clarifying the real reason ..I will give them a wide berth.
Select to expand quotesailquik said..
Nature at work. Probably nothing will save them.
That's a maybe but if we sail within 3 light years of them it will be windsurfers which are responsible for their deaths
John,
It probably wouldn't be such a big issue anywhere else, but this place has a long history.
The conservationists battled for years to get these wetlands protected under RAMSAR, then somehow developers did some sort of deal and built canals in over half the area. Either side of the lagoon is about all that's left, the mainland side is completely fenced off to keep out cats and dogs etc so the migrating birds have some chance of regaining their strength before flying back to the other side of the world. The conservationists assumed the lagoon was included in the reserve, but it's your typical bureaucratic tangle, one dept manages the water, another looks after the reserve. The water guys say "No powered craft allowed" which technically allows us in there. But if we're not careful about when and how we go in there, I believe we can have a negative impact.
The birdies who first saw us in there had a massive over reaction, they virtually declared war on us. They brought as much political pressure on us as they could, enough to get the authorities involved. But so far we've just had a warning that too many more complaints and they've have to change the rules to include non powered craft as well. And a proposed educational meeting with us, almost a year later this hasn't happened.
Craig Lester is a private wild life rescue person who concentrates mainly on the estuary bird life, his knowledge about what is really going on in there, is the best I can come up with, that's easy to access. (The Govt scientists seem to be able to filter us out extremely well, they've obviously got much more important things to deal with).
Craig thinks it's inappropriate for us to be in there at all, and would like to see the lagoon under the control of the reserve authorities. But he also understands why we want to be in there, and is prepared to help us minimise any impact we may have.
As long as we stick to his guide lines, we have an argument to give against any effort to ban us altogether from there.
Mike,
The WA GPS communities position is admirable in regard to the swans health. I hope your right about Craig. I'm just a bit jaundiced about the greenies in general crying wolf.
