Comments on: In the Grass, On the Reef, A World Away

By: WFSU | Public Media, PBS, and NPR for Northern Florida and Southern Georgia

WFSU | Public Media, PBS, and NPR for Northern Florida and Southern Georgia — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:57:34 +0000

[...] I mentioned in my last post, I’ve spent the last 6 weeks or so on a research trip to Australia. Most of my time was spent [...]

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:07:23 +0000

Hi John! We found high densities of Pinna at some sites, but not others. They aren’t a big fishery here – in fact, they are considered a nuisance in Lake Macquarie and there is some talk of removal programs. (Swimmers often cut their feet on them when walking around in the seagrass beds.) One goal of our experiment is to understand better what role they play in the community.

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:04:19 +0000

Thanks, Andy! We have certainly relied on the local knowledge of our collaborators to introduce us to these new systems. We leave this week for a brief tour of seagrass systems in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, which I’m excited to see!

By: Andy Sheldon

Andy Sheldon — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:02:02 +0000

Randall and David: G’day! I just put an elbow on my keyboard so you may have received most of this. Watch out for those “nasties” of which Oz has a great many. Critters and plants bite, sting and smear dangerous or irritating chemicals. It sounds as if you’re finding and being shown some neat systems. Local knowledge helps and really increases efficiency. Linda and I have talked recently about North Queensland (almost a separate state and deserving of upper case letters) and envy you. Our experience in Sydney and NSW is limited to the airport and quick flyovers. Cheers, Andy

By: John Carroll

John Carroll — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:21:48 +0000

Good luck during your time in Australia! I am interested in the seagrass/pen shell stuff you guys may end up doing. Are there high densities of Pinna there? Are they commercially important? Its a species I am interested in. I just returned from a 2.5 week stint in Jamaica and they were all over the lagoon.