Marine wilderness in jeopardy

How few truly wild stretches of coastline remain on our planet?  How many are easily accessible from major population areas, where we can easily enjoy a combination of terrestrial and marine wilderness with a great variety of wildlife?

The Coocloola wilderness and Tina Can Bay area, Fraser Island and the narrow marine passage between them, constitute one such precious region. Dugongs, Indo-Pacfific dolphins as well as the more common bottle-nosed dolphins, turtles and a marvellous array of fish and other marine life are adjacent to rainforests, open forests and heathlands harbouring a great diversity of wildlife including endangered species such as the ground parrot.  I’ve thought of it for years as one of the last great coastal strips where we can enjoy so many facets of nature in close proximity, and observe the interplay between the different habitats, each of which interacts – through its fauna and flora and flows of wind and water – with the others.

Now it seems Tin Can Bay may become just another holiday resort with a marina, with more boats ramming turtle and dugongs, more underwater noise to confuse our dolphins, and never again a naturalist’s paradise

Bob Irwin (Steve’s father) is urging people to sign a petition, which I would strongly urge you to do  –  there are many other parts of our coastline that could harbour a marina – why destroy something so precious?

If you love being surrounded by nature, get a thrill from spending time a a place with such varied examples of natural habitats and seeing such an array of wild creatures going about their natural behaviour as they have for millenia, take a trip to Tin Can Bay and if possible spend a few days in the region, and bring your dollars to the pay for local amentieis while there (food, accommodation, petrol etc.) to help show the local residents  that they may not have to depend on a marina to bring in extra income. To really get a feeling of this wild region you may like to try all or part of the Cooloola Great Walk.

But the need to protest against the marina is urgent – decisions are to be made in November, so click here to join Bob Irwin’s campaign.

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