THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 20 #03 TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2005 22,300 copies every week $1 at newsagents only
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SCU proves whales need not die for science Alex McAuley The humpback whale has become the subject of international scrutiny once again, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. The push from the Japanese to resume whaling has caused outrage in Australia, and locally has put scientists from the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre in the media spotlight. The purpose of their five month survey of the humpback whales is to provide information on the status of the eastern Australian humpback population and other important aspects of their migration and behaviour. The initial phase of the research will be done during the Cape Byron Whale Research Project, which will run for ten weeks starting last Sunday June 5. Coordinated by David Paton and the SCU Whale Research Centre, the information gathered here will be combined with research con-
ducted in Hervey Bay by PhD researchers Trish and Wally Franklin and information collected by Southern Cross PhD student Dan Burns during the Southern migration. In addition, genetic samples of skin shed by the whales will be collected and analysed by another PhD researcher Megan Anderson, providing important information about how family groups have been affected by the decimation of the population in the 1960s as well as relationships between particular individuals within a pod. I was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to observe these animals close up on the SCU research boat Seahorse. Despite having seen numerous photographs and films of breaching whales, the experience of seeing them first hand still took my breath away. We set off from Ballina in moderate conditions, and
after a gnarly crossing of the bar and a bumpy ride out to sea, we caught sight of a pod of five humpback whales on their migration from their feeding grounds in Antarctica to the Great Barrier Reef to breed. Under normal circumstances, whale watching boats are prohibited from getting within 100m of the whales, however the research boat has a little more leeway. Having slowed down and pulled alongside the group about 30m away, we watched as they swam north with a synchronised grace that belied their physical bulk. At some stages the whales swam as close as within a metre of the boat and were even swimming under the boat, allowing PhD researcher Dan Burns the opportunity to photograph their flukes, the undersides of their tails which have distinctive markings peculiar to individual animals. Dan was
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Successful rumble at Durrumbul
Master of The Universe ... well, the Durrumbul end of the Yu-Gl-Oh universe perhaps. Zac Tisdale gleefully delivers the final blow to put Cody Adams out of the Yu-Gl-Oh tournament at the Durrumbul pre school Big Day Out fundraiser on Saturday. See story on page 2. Photo Jeff Dawson
Lobby urged against state planning grab
Approval for major development in Byron Shire will be in the hands of the state government under new changes to planning arrangements to continued on page 4 be voted on by the state parliament this week. Mayor Jan Barham is urging residents to write to Premier Bob Carr about the state government’s proposal to take over planning approval for all development in New South Wales worth over $50 million. She fears the move could see major development in Byron Shire being approved by the state government without adequate community consultation and in contravention of the Shire’s planning regulations. Asked if the state government could overrule existing regulations such as the three storey height limit to approve higher buildings, Cr Barham Researcher Dan Burns captures Humpback whales breaching off Lennox Head last Friday morning replied, ‘Quite possibly. My from the SCU Whale Research Centre boat Seahorse. concern is that our planning
rules would be rendered meaningless.’ ‘My fear is that community consultation is going to be a meaningless exercise. DIPNR [the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources] will have a total disregard for the community defining their future. They don’t know in Sydney the potential impact of a development in Byron. ‘There is also the introduction of a new process
called concept approval, which will give in principle approval to developments prior to detailed assessment of a project. It is yet another case of the government fast tracking development without a real commitment to assessment. The new approval process by the Minister for concept approvals does not even involve public consultation,’ she said. ‘With the approval of this continued on page 2
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