PROJECT 2.5: ENDANGERED SPECIES INTERACTIONS
(Prof H Marsh JCU)
Bridled Tern at Rocky Islet, the subject of a study to quantify the
impact of visitors to seabird islands.
Photo courtesy Barry Goldman |
The rationale for the World Heritage Listing of the Great Barrier Reef
includes its international importance as a feeding and breeding ground
for seabirds and for endangered species such as dugongs and sea turtles.
This Project aims to improve the sustainability of the interactions between
these species and the users of the region, particularly tourists and fishers.
The Project involves field work in remote areas and under difficult
conditions. This has been accomplished without mishap due in part to the
excellent field support provided by the Queensland Government agencies
and enthusiastic volunteers.
Satellite transmitters have been attached to seven dugongs caught from
Shoalwater Bay, one of the high risk areas, to track their movements and
to determine their potential for overlap with fishing activities. The
tagged animals not only use the creeks where river set nets operate but
have proved to be more mobile than expected. Two animals moved more than
400 km south to Hervey Bay outside the southern boundary of the marine
park, confirming that dugong management strategies will have to be coordinated
over large spatial scales and across jurisdictional boundaries.
A further nine transmitters have been fitted to dugongs caught in the
Hinchinbrook Island area. The use of the area by the tagged animals will
provide the baseline data needed for the development of a boat management
plan for the Hinchinbrook Region.
Baseline information was obtained on the nesting biology of seabirds
at a remote island in the Great Barrier Reef which is not visited by tourists.
Experiments to monitor the birds responses to simulated tourist activities
began in the 1996/97 nesting season. Parameters indicating breeding success
and the growth of chicks were monitored during 11 weeks of field work.
Preliminary data analysis indicates that disturbance over and above the
impacts of monitoring has little effect on hatching success and growth
rate of the birds.
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