You've no doubt heard about our local disaster with oil - a container ship lost 32 containers off Moreton Island (near our favourite North Stradbroke Island - Straddie) and the containers holed the hull and 300 tonnes of oil spilled into the sea. Initially the ship said 20 - 30 tonnes, but it now appears two fuel tanks were punctured in the stormy seas created by Cyclone Hamish this week. We now have it spread over 60 kilometres of Moreton Island and the Sunshine Coast. We currently have a state election campaign in full swing (it's next Saturday) and the politicians are all throwing accusations around regarding the government not reacting quickly enough etc etc but the fact is that it seems to be best to WAIT for two or three days then start cleaning up, otherwise you clean one day and have to come back a day or two later again. We had very high tides, so that's good because it's mainly deposited high up on the beaches, but Moreton Island is nearly deserted, no roads or electricity, very hard to land people and machinery to clean it up. The experts appear to be doing a very good job, and many locals and volunteers are helping wildlife and collecting turtle eggs, trying to minimise the damage. It is still our worst ever environmental disaster here in Queensland. Yes, the ship's owners (the Swire Group in HK) will cover all costs of cleaning up, but what a tragedy for the environment.
The second picture down was Warana Beach where we lived on the Sunshine Coast 18 months ago with Rene walking along it in the distance. The first picture was Warana Beach on Friday this week. The third picture is also Warana and the dead puff fish is testimony to the destruction of sea life. The two lower pictures show Moreton Island's Coral Sea coastline covered in the stuff. It will be the most difficult area to restore because of the many inlets, creeks and so on, plus its remoteness.
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