|
ABC Far North Qld
| Feature Index
| Story
Ghost Net victims
Friday, 25 February 2005
Reporter: Suzanne Gibson
The latest pics from the western coast of Cape York show how
deadly ghost nets can be.
These pictures show a Green Turtle
and an endangered Olive Ridley Turtle drowned, after becoming
entangled in the drifting nets.
"Ghost nets" is the name given to nets which have been cut adrift
from their motherships, or perhaps washed overboard, and which float
around in the waters of the Gulf - still fishing.
Researchers
have no idea how many are in the Gulf, but estimate they may number
in the thousands.
They're considered a significant threat to
marine life - not only fish but turtles, dugong, dolphins are all
found tangled and drowned in the deadly nets.
Traditional
owners, conservationsists and Government agencies in the last few
years have begun to unite to work on a strategy to capture and
remove the nets and a number of innovative projects are emerging
across the North Australian coastline.
Click here
to read about an innovative project underway on Flinders Beach, just
south of Mapoon on the western coast of Cape York.
These
photos were sent to us by Peter McCulkin, senior project officer
with the QLD Department of Primary Industries.
Peter says the
pictures were taken in February, after he and some others on the
Mapoon team had been out to check the ghost nets washed ashore after
Cyclone Harvey moved through the Gulf.
This will be the first
year that the number of ghost nets washed ashore will be counted on
beaches near Mapoon - the first step towards developing a reliable
methodology for estimating the actual numbers of nets in the
Gulf.
Last Updated: 25/02/2005 11:21:05 AM
AEST
Search ABC Far North Qld
 print
friendly version of this page |  Email
this page
| 
