Yes, the Passage is very dirty and brown and there is a lot of flotsam (mainly branches etc) ending up on the beaches however most of it will end up south of the bridge and not up into the reaches of the Passage (hopefully). Currently there does not seem to be too much rubbish still floating however we would highly recommend speed boats be on the lookout as there still may be a lot of submerged objects that cannot be seen which would not be good to hit at speed.
Over time we believe we will see the greatest tragedy for this magnificent waterway and Moreton Bay – we expect to see a huge decrease in the numbers of Dugong (currently over 1000 in Moreton Bay and about 10-12 in Pumicestone Passage) with many of them either dying or moving to another area (if this is possible) due to loss of Sea Grass beds due to the dirty water and layers of sediment that will cover these pastures so they will not be able to feed here. They will face this issue up and down the East Coast of Australia due to all the floodwaters from Yeppoon down to Coffs Harbour so it is not looking good for this magnificent mammal.
In 1993, Hervey Bay & Sandy Straits region had a population of dugong of about 1000, and when the flood of that year hit lost approximately 800 dugong and were left with a population of about 200 dugong. We look to be in the same situation.
We also expect to see a huge decrease in the numbers of dolphins throughout the Passage and Moreton Bay as they will find it difficult to fish/feed here for some time and also turtle numbers will decrease the same as with the dugong situation with food sources. We will continue to monitor numbers of dolphin & dugong and send this info to the relevant authorities which will assess the impact of this flood.
We are hopeful that the floods will not affect the birds particularly the migratory birds which tend to stay up in the more northern reaches of Pumicestone Passage. The main affect to them will be pollution in the sediment that may be left behind on their feeding banks and any affect may take time to show, not straight away unless their food sources that live in the tidal banks die immediately.
If anyone comes across any stranded/dying dugong, dolphins, turtle, birds etc please call the Qld Parks & Wildlife Service on 1300 130 372 immediately so that they can deal with the situation.
Dugongs, if they cannot be saved, are taken to the University of Qld (Janet Lanyon – a world-wide expert on dugong) to do tests and find out cause of death, and the carcass is then given to the indigenous elders who ceremoniously give it back to Mother Earth.
