Diario del proyecto Aldinga Bay, South Australia

With my additions yesterday, the number of observations for this Project has passed the 1,000 mark ... thanks to everyone who has contributed!
The Project is also currently the leader in number of species identified amongst the Onkaparinga Coastal group of projects - see https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/onkaparinga-coastal-projects.
That's not to say this area has a greater range of species than other parts of the coast, but the reef at Sellicks Beach seems to be a particularly rich source of organisms. That and the propensity for marine creatures to be washed ashore from the reef during stormy weather makes my daily walks endlessly interesting.

The 'Class of 2020' was an ecclectic group. The majority were young women, several current or recently graduated students of natural sciences ... only 5 men out of the 22 participants.
The people presenting were all leading experts in their field and included Tony Flaherty, Coast & Marine Manager NRM and a couple of iNat regulars - Janine Baker and René Campbell.
Topics ranged from various categories of marine life to coastal management and micro-plastics in the environment.
Mike Bossley's presentation on Dolphins was amazing as was the presentation on research done into the Southern Blue Devil.
As well as the classroom sessions, there were several field trips including a snorkel on Noarlunga Reef. It was an absolutely perfect day for it, right on the turn of low tide. The original plan was to stay close to shore but conditions were so good, we went out to the reef and explored in both directions. This was the highlight of the course for me!
A primary objective of the course was to encourage on-going involvement in marine environmental initiatives. For me, this will primarily be the on-going cataloguing of coastal species in my local area including contributing to Janine's Eastern Gulf St Vincent projects. I've also offered to give a presentation to the local resident's group to help raise awareness of the marine environment.
All-in-all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable, informative and worthwhile experience.

Hi Aldinga Bay Observers,
It feels like I've been really struggling to find much of interest on the shore recently, and checking the stats, it's true.
Last year between the 1st of December and 15th of January (today), I posted 63 observations comprised mainly of a good variety of shore-desposited organisms.
In the same period this year, I've posted about half that number and this includes several fish observed out in the boat and a recent lot of snorkeling obs.
The number of walks would be similar so something else has caused the change ... I'll check again in a couple of months to see if the trend continues.
Cheers,
Warwick

A few weeks ago, I submitted an application to be accepted for the Coastal Ambassador Program 'Class of 2020' - see https://www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/adelaidemtloftyranges/get-involved/volunteering/volunteer-opportunities/become-a-coastal-ambassador.

Today I was advised that my application was successful!

The Program Coordinator is none other than Mike Bossley ... I figure he will play an active role in the various training sessions that I'll have the privilege of attending during January and February next year.

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to it. I might even be able to do a few more of my own IDs with the knowledge gained.

Warwick

Hi Aldinga Bay Observers ...
My latest observation of a deceased Prion (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28979538) brings my personal observation total to 300 ... 282 of which have been in the Aldinga Bay Project area!
Having walked the 3 km to the end of Shark Bay (Sellicks Beach South) and back thousands of times now, you'd think there would be nothing new to find. But like that famous 'magic pudding', there seems to be an endless supply of new discoveries to make.
For example, the following three obs - all found in the past couple of months - are things that I hadn't previously seen in the past 20 odd years of walking this stretch of coast -
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28776930
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28098887
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/26232196
Collectively, we are steadily documenting the amazing variety of marine life in the Aldinga Bay area ... keep 'em coming!

Hi ...
To date I've been using my trusty old iPhone 5 to capture images. The results are OK ... especially now that I've learnt how to lock focus ... but it has a couple of shortcomings.
The first is lack of optical zoom. This is especially necessary for birds ... it's not capable of recording a hawk cruising the cliff tops or a group of swans floating on the ocean.
And then there's the inability to get underwater shots. I have a first-generation GoPro that I can use underwater, but it doesn't have zoom either and nor does it have a flash.
SO ... I've lashed out and purchased an Olympus TG5 - 4x optical zoom, waterproof to 15m and a heap of cool features that will take me forever to understand, let alone use!
Just waiting for the SD card to arrive next week and then it will be time to "get serious" :-)
Cheers,
Warwick

Several of my obs from Sellicks Beach were not being shown in the Aldinga bay Project. Working with Dan, we discovered it was because the boundary line 'polygon' was not precise enough (not enough enough data points) causing the line to bypass parts of the shoreline.
Dan has re-drawn the Aldinga Bay boundary with greater precision and to be sure, I've created a new 'place' called 'sellicks-beach'. This covers the area from Button Road (Washpool outlet) right through to the end of Shark Bay. Technically the area south of the Sellicks Reef is not Sellicks Beach but it's where I walk so its 'in'.
I wanted an official name to use for observations on the Shark Bay stretch but couldn't find one so I call it 'Sellicks Beach South'.

Warwick
Curator

Hi ...

Dan - the creator of the Aldinga Bay Project - asked if I would take on a Curator role, which I've agreed to do.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed observations already. There are a couple of other people I will be talking to about contributing to the Project ... if you know someone who has an interest in the area, please encourage them to sign-up too!

The current list of obs shows what an incredibly diverse marine environment there is in Aldinga Bay and no doubt there's more to be found. There's also one or two questions yet to be resolved, not the least being the source of the mysterious gastropod egg cluster - see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18572731

Happy exploring to all!
@wamoz