Friends of Stradbroke Island

For those who haven’t seen this exhibition yet, you only have a few more weeks! Few know the rich and diverse history of this natural treasure located on Brisbane’s doorstep. The eight month long Museum of Brisbane exhibition of Moreton Bay will end on 12 October. It presents an interesting slice of the history of the Bay, with a North Stradbroke Island display, which includes a section on sand mining. Initially the sand mining section claimed that sand mining had already been extended to 2035.After FOSI provided the correct information at a meeting with Museum’s Director, attended by FOSI’s President and Vice-President, the Museum conceded the error. Other changes were also made, resulting in a more balanced presentation.   If you are interested, there are two remaining curator tours of the exhibition – on Sunday 28 September at 11am and Sunday 12 October at 2pm. The exhibition is located on level 3 of City Hall, King George Square and is open from 10am to 5pm d...

If you are reading the electronic version, just click on the highlights to go the source:- 21 August          National edition of ABC’s 7.30 20 August          Independent Australia 10 August          The Guardian Australia 25 July                Brisbane Times 15 July                Independent Australia 15 July                Brisbane Times 5 July                  Independent Australia 24 June               Brisbane Times 11 June            ...

As ocean temperatures get warmer Leopard Sharks aggregate in the waters of southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Shark. That very word strikes fear into the hearts of us. Their size, power, and great, toothy jaws fill us with fear and fascination.  Enter the leopard shark. It is far from frightening, is not aggressive towards humans, and spends most of its time slowly cruising the seabed, quietly searching for food. As the temperatures get warmer, mature adult leopard sharks aggregate in the waters off southern QLD and northern NSW over the summer months every year. According to Dr Christine Dudgeon from the University of Queensland, the longest and most comprehensive studies of wild leopard sharks have been conducted off Nth Stradbroke Island.   “Currently 388 individual leopard sharks have been photographed and identified off the dive site known as Manta Bommie/The Group, at Nth Stradbroke Island. “Each shark is identified by its unique distinctive...

Blackbutt forest in full recovery mode post bushfire 

Members will recall that the media and others were misled by the Government into reporting that last November’s Newman government amendments to the North Stradbroke Protection and Sustainability Act 2011 extended island sand mining leases to 2035. Some media outlets have made corrections to earlier reports after realising they had been misled by the Government. Below are links to two corrections so far, with the published editors’ notes :- ABC Correction http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/07/04/4039122.htm Editors note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the sand mining leases on North Stradbroke Island are due to finish by 2035 after the State Government extended the leases held by sand mining company Sibelco last year. The State Government's amendments are intended to allow sand mining to be extended again to 2035, however the legislation does not permit Sibelco to make the applications to renew the relevant leases until 2019. Guardian C...

Glossy Black-Cockatoo Birding Day – Sunday 19 October 2014 Lisa Bailey from RCC is also coordinating this event to count these threatened island birds – for more information contact Lisa and check out the Glossy Black Conservancy web page at http://www.glossyblack.org.au

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s4072085.htm