Academic literature on the topic 'Ninety Mile Beach (Vic )'

Floating marine debris and litter act as a vector transporting various species across long distances. The present study reports possible transoceanic rafting of a small colony of barnacles on an unopened plastic bottle of Chinese origin found washed ashore on the Ninety Mile Beach in Victoria, Australia. The crustaceans attached were identified to be the goose barnacle Lepas pectinata. Based on the number and size of the colony the marine pollutant was estimated to adrift for several months. We hypothesised the origin of the flotsam, especially the barnacles and how it made its way from the Pacific to be washed ashore in Australia. Furthermore, we identified two types of microbes, Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, associated with the Lepas pectinata growing on the bottle. This study appears to be the first report of possible transoceanic rafting on unused plastic pollutants and highlights the potential environmental threats caused by plastic.

Understanding a region’s phylogeography is essential for an evolutionary perspective on its biological conservation. This review examines the phylogeographic structures in south-eastern Australia that have been revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequencing and other genetic techniques and examines whether they can be explained by known factors. The review covers species that occur in the intertidal zone or, even infrequently, in the shallow subtidal zone. The coasts most frequently associated with phylogeographic structure are the boundaries between the Peronian and Maugean biogeographical provinces in southern New South Wales and the Maugean and Flindersian provinces in South Australia, the areas in Victoria and north-eastern Tasmania separated by the Bassian Isthmus at glacial maxima, long sandy stretches without rocky intertidal habitat on the Ninety Mile Beach in Victoria and the Younghusband Peninsula–Coorong in South Australia, southern Tasmania and Bass Strait, which acts as a barrier for littoral species.

Thesis (B.Sc.(Hons.))--University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, 2000.
Volume 2 holds ten folded enclosures (some col.) in a box. Includes bibliographical references (4 leaves).

The New Zealand green-lipped mussel, Perna canaliculus, is farmed by an aquaculture industry (> NZ$ 150 million/year) that is dependent on mussel juveniles (spat) collected from unpredictable and unreliable wild sources for more than 80% of its mussel seed requirements. Most wild-caught spat is collected from the surf zone at Ninety Mile Beach, northern New Zealand, where unique environmental conditions cause the accumulation and transport of spat attached to drift algae, which arrive to the shore in great quantities (up to 100 tonnes at once). This study is the first to investigate the ecology of mussels at Ninety Mile Beach throughout their life history, including reproductive behavior, micro-scale settlement patterns on filamentous macroalgae, accumulation and transport of mussel spat to the shore, colonization of the rocky intertidal, and adult population dynamics. Histologic investigation of 4 intertidal and 2 subtidal populations revealed that females and males were well-synchronized throughout their reproductive cycles, with a prolonged spawning season from June to December, when temperatures were lowest and rising. Comparisons of gonad indices and maximum shell length indicated high productivity in certain populations, which likely contribute to the high larval availability of the area. Experiments showed that mussel spat preferentially settled on fine-branching natural and artificial substrata, with correlation evident between mussel shell size and degree of branching. Furthermore, greater numbers of mussels settled on node versus internode areas within natural and artificial substrata. Chemical cues for mussel settlement also were studied using phytogel plates spiked with algal extracts, which were preferred over control plates by mussel larvae/post-larvae in the field, and by hatchery-reared larvae in the laboratory. Three intertidal populations were investigated at different temporal and spatial scales. Mussel concentrations in seawater were higher after spawning for both small mussels (< 0.25 mm) in August, and for larger mussels (> 0.5 mm) in March. Settlement patterns within quadrats cleared of mussels in 2 habitats (adult mussel bed and adjacent areas covered with algae) were studied from July 1999-March 2001. Primary settlement (mussels < 0.5 mm) was found to dominate the algal habitats at the beginning of the spawning season in August, while secondary settlement (mussels > 2.0 mm) was higher in the adult mussel bed late in the spawning season (November-March). Monthly surveys of undisturbed quadrats indicated that a peak in new recruitment coincided with a peak in adult mortality in August. At Scott Point, massive mortality for 2 years in August was followed by a dramatic re-colonization of the empty spaces by juveniles. Settlement patterns of mussels on suspended ropes in the water column were investigated at 3 water depths inside and outside Ahipara Bay during 2 spawning seasons (1999-2000). Mussel settlement was higher for small mussels (< 0.49 mm) in shallower water (2 m water depth) in August, and higher for larger mussels (> 1.0 mm) at greater depths (18 m water depth) in September-December. Mussels found on shallow-water ropes may have settled directly from the plankton, whereas mussels on ropes near the bottom (18 m) may have transferred from macroalgae tumbling on the seafloor. Environmental conditions associated with mussel spat arrival to the beach (spatfall events) were studied by statistical analysis (1990-1998; daily, monthly, inter-annually) of wind speed/direction, tidal range, water temperature, swell height/direction, and records of spatfall events/amounts. Spatfall events/amounts were more abundant during days of strong offshore winds. Swell height in the onshore direction was significantly correlated with spatfall events/amounts. Storm events (wind speeds > 20 m/s) were most frequent between May-August; spatfall events/amounts were more numerous 4 months later (September-October). Years with more storm events (El Niño/La Niña episodes) were associated with significantly higher spatfall events/amounts.

The trail along the eastern shore of the Holy Nose south of our campsite is maybe a foot wide, just a narrow track of compacted leaves and dirt, a path that could just as easily have been made by centuries of hooves and paws as by shod human feet. And perhaps it was. I’ve walked such trails in the Arctic, etched into the tundra by caribou and wolves and musk oxen. It’s a humbling and exhilarating experience, the trails a simple but stark reminder that you are in someone else’s habitat and that humans are not the only species to have left their mark on the planet. This one weaves between thick-barked evergreens and leathery aspens, clinging precariously to a slope that could easily throw a clumsy hominid to the waves fifty or more feet below. Andrei is lost in the thickets ahead, charging on to the next clearing, at which he’ll wait for us, again. James, Elisa, Chanda, and I keep to a more leisurely pace, in no more of a hurry to see the next sparkling facet of Baikal than this one, or to catch a toe on the next stone or gnarled root than the previous one. Igor stayed behind with our stuff at the campsite, to be picked up by the Lonesome Boatman. We’ll rendezvous with them farther down the coast this afternoon. Yesterday’s ragged clouds blew out in the evening, and the sky over Baikal today has the clarity of vodka and carries a cool, yellowish luminescence, as if after their ninety-three million mile dash the sun’s photons have slowed down to admire the little corner of the solar system that they’ve been lucky enough to have been sent to. There is no sign that any of the billions of humans who have ever lived have set foot in this place. We walk mostly in silence. From high above the lake, the trail drops down to the water, the steep slope giving way ahead to a thin, gracefully arcing beach dividing the lake from a narrow stand of wispy wetland trees and a soft amber field beyond.