Sandringham Foreshore Association

SFA Newsletter Autumn-Winter 2019

Email: sandyforeshore@optusnet.com.au
Website: http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/

Patrons of SFA:
Professor Tim Flannery
former resident of Sandringham and Australian of the Year 2007
Professor John Long
Professor of Palaeontology, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Flinders University

SFA is free to join. Donations are appreciated for Bayside Fossil research
directly to Museums Victoria The Lost World of Bayside Fossils using this link
Museums Victoria Bayside Fossil Fundraiser
(100% tax deductible donation).

"We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the waters and lands on which we live
and work, and pay our respects to the Elders, past and present”

From the president of SFA, Dr Vicki Karalis AM

Dear Friends and Members of the SFA,

We hope you like our new look for future newsletters!

We are so excited to report to you of a number of positive changes to
Bayside.
Read below for the latest exciting news that include

1. The Inaugural Bayside Fossil Fundraiser for Museums

Victoria
 2. Bayside City Council to ban single use plastics on Council
premises and Leases

3. Bayside City Council to ban smoking on ALL Bayside

beaches

4. An exciting event to be held by Marine Care Ricketts Point

on Whale & Dolphin Citizen Science to be held on Tuesday
evening 11th June 2019.

5. Fossil emblem for Victoria update

6. News items

7. Historical images

8. and more!!

The Lost World of Bayside Fossils event

held on 14th May 2019
Fundraiser event for Museums Victoria to support research of
new Bayside fossil discoveries & update.

The SFA was proud to organise and host the Inaugural Bayside Fossil fundraiser event in support of
Museums Victoria's research, with over 140 people attending. We were all inspired and fascinated by Dr
Erich Fitzgerald's incredible speech!

Murray Orr President of the Bayside Earth Sciences also provided a great speech from his own personal
findings of fossils in Bayside. We hope to run this fundraiser event on an annual basis. This was a
community initiative fundraiser event to help the ongoing inspirational work of Dr Erich Fitzgerald and his
team at Museums Victoria to discover, research and learn more about a new Bayside fossil site! Every
year we hope Dr Fitzgerald will update us on the latest fossil discoveries. We are intentionally keeping the
site a secret as it needs to be urgently explored for research purposes. We do not want the community or
public to interfere with the site. We are blessed that Museums Victoria palaeontology team are interested
in this site for research purposes.
We would like to acknowledge the Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron (BMYS) for allowing us to use their
wonderful venue situated in the heart of a major fossil site, the only urban fossil site in Australia. It is
appropriate that the BMYS supports community educational events like ours that allow the public to learn
more about the richness and beauty of the Bayside environment. We are sincerely grateful to the BMYS
and the BMYS Commodore David Bell.

We would like to acknowledge our VIP guests and environmental community groups who attended and
supported the event such as Tim Wilson, Federal member for Goldstein, Brad Rowswell MP, Member for
Sandringham District who gave an outstanding closing speech, Clifford Hayes, Member of the Upper
House , Elizabeth Jensen, President of Marine Care Ricketts Point, Garry Thompson, President of the
Sandringham Rotary club, Greg Mier, President of the Beaumaris Conservation Society, Gwen Zammitt
and Sally Edwardes, Committee members of the Sandringham & District Historical Society - all who
provided significant donations directly to Museums Victoria.

We would also like to acknowledge Bayside City Council who made a significant grant contribution of
$5000! We are so grateful to our Council for appreciating the significance of our natural assets and
supporting further research on our local fossils that makes Bayside special!

There were many voluntary workers who helped make the fundraiser a success, including Peter Hammer
a local professional photographer, young university students at the registration desk, junior
palaeontologists from Museums Victoria and McAra of Museums Victoria....thankyou!

Finally we thank all of you for your support and donations! Your combined donations made a
significant contribution. You helped us raise a total of $28,594! Thank you we are grateful to you!
We are still short of our new goal target of $30,000 if you can please help by donating.

Donations can be made anytime to Museums Victoria using this direct link Museums Victoria
Bayside Fossil Fundraiser (100% tax deductible donation).

We were honored and proudly supported by:

Bayside City Council
The Royal Society of Victoria
Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron
Marine Care Ricketts Point
Sandringham Rotary Club
Beaumaris Conservation Society
Sandringham & District Historical Society
Probus Club

If you missed out attending this exciting event, don't worry, we hope to see you at next year's fossil
fundraiser event! Dr Erich Fitzgerald will keep us posted on the latest Bayside discoveries! We will keep
you posted of the 2020 date!
See below photos published in the Leader newspaper
http://online.isentialink.com/heraldsun.com.au/2019/05/02/96c3a305-2843-4e39-9448-2f183d0a5849.html
and supplied courtesy of Museums Victoria, Peter Hammer and McAra Kirby-Fahey.
Dr Erich Fitzgerald gave an incredible inspirational speech described by delegates at the event as the
"next David Attenborough!" We hope you can join us again next year to hear Dr Fitzgerald's updates on
the new Bayside fossil discoveries!
BAN ON SINGLE USE PLASTICS ON COUNCIL PREMISES OR LEASES
FROM JUNE 2019!
see Leader newspaper article below
 BAN ON SINGLE USE PLASTICS ON COUNCIL PREMISES OR LEASES
Thank you to Bayside City Council!
At the meeting held on 19th March 2019 the City of Bayside discussed reducing single-use plastics on
Council premises or leases. Plastics are a real concern in our environment and often wash up on beaches.
They are toxic to marine life and when contaminated fish are ingested by humans, can also be harmful to
us as well. Despite regular weekly cleaning of our beaches by Council, many volunteers such as Beach
Patrol and daily walkers spend countless hours collecting the finer broken plastics.
This initiative was led by Elizabeth Jensen President of Marine Care Ricketts Point with the support
of many groups such as SFA, BCS, Beach Patrol and MESAC. Thank you Elizabeth!

We are excited to announce that City of Bayside Councillors voted unanimously to ban all single-use
plastic within its venues following a campaign to clean up Port Phillip Bay. All single-use plastics in
libraries and corporate centres will be eliminated by June 2019 and in community centres by 2020.
City of Bayside will also encourage schools, businesses and residents to reduce or eliminate their usage.
City of Bayside is also developing a website ‘Reducing Plastic Waste’, working to provide facilities for
collection of soft flexible plastics that cannot be recycled in kerbside recycling.

SFA would like to eliminate all disposable plastics in all of Bayside particularly as there is no formal
recycling process for plastics at present. There are so many suitably environmentally friendly alternatives
to plastics today such as paper and stainless steel straws.

Refer to: Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Bayside City Council held in the Council Chambers, Civic Centre, Boxshall Street
Brighton on Tuesday 19 March 2019 –
RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF MOTION - 277 - SINGLE-USE PLASTICS ASSOCIATED WITH COUNCIL PREMISES
https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/council/19_march_2019_ordinary_meeting_of_council_minutes.pdf

SMOKING BAN FOR BAYSIDE BEACHES!

Thank you to Bayside City Council!
 Bayside City Council bans smoking on ALL Bayside Beaches!!

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Bayside City Council will move to ban smoking at all of Bayside’s valued beaches, including
Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, Dendy Street beach and the Brighton Dunes.

Council shares the community’s concern that cigarette butts are the most common form of litter and
can end up in the bay, and even the stomachs of fish, birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures.

As custodians of the Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary and the magnificent Bayside foreshore, we
have a duty of care to do all we can to protect these valuable natural assets.

We have recently taken a strong stance on reducing single-use plastics in Council facilities and this
smoking ban is another example of Council’s commitment to protecting and enhancing our natural
environment.

To implement the ban, Council must follow an administrative process to include our beaches in
Council’s Local Law No 2, to declare these municipal places as smoke-free. This process will take
approximately 12 months.

This initiative will mean that there will be no smoking allowed at Melbourne’s beaches, stretching
from Altona to Beaumaris.
 This initiative was led by Virginia Mosk of Marine Education Science and Community. We
congratulate Virginia and her team, and supporting organisations such as SFA, BCS, MCRP and
Beach Patrol for our combined efforts to ensure the success. Initially only Ricketts Point and
Dendy St beach were proposed, however after Dr Karalis's speech at the Council meeting,
this led to the smoking ban to include ALL Bayside beaches!

Part of the speech presented by Dr Vicki Karalis on behalf of the SFA at Council is included
below:

"I am a medical practitioner, an academic, Professor of Medicine and as a GP who sees patients
everyday with cough, asthma, lung disease, heart disease and lung cancer related all directly to a
history of smoking or passive smoking such as children with asthma. Smoking and exposure to
second-hand smoke causes many different cancers, lung disease and heart disease. Babies and
children are particularly vulnerable to second-hand smoke, which can cause SIDS, bronchitis,
pneumonia, asthma and other respiratory conditions. There is no safe level of exposure to smoking
and second-hand smoke.

We would like to commend the motion for Item 10.1 and thank those who put the motion forward
such as Virginia Mosk reaching out to the public to support this motion to ban smoking at Ricketts
Point and Dendy St beach.

We fully support the motion but we propose that council further consider at their next meeting to ban
smoking in all, or most public spaces in Bayside, including all Bayside beaches. There is significant
reef and marine life even beyond the boundaries of the marine sanctuary such as Black Rock and
Sandringham -in fact all of Bayside. Others here will talk well on the effects of cigarette butts, like
plastics we collect on beaches on a daily basis and its impact on marine life.

The concept to banning smoking in public spaces is not new. There are worldwide campaigns to
introduce this ban, including in Australia. For example, the Cancer Council Queensland organisation
provides information for local Councils on how to implement this ban. I have forwarded a link of this
site to some of our Councilors here today.
https://cancerqld.org.au/cancer-prevention/understanding-risk/tobacco-smoking/smoke-free-public-
places-information-for-local-councils/
The information they provide to Councils is designed to support local governments to enact local
laws in outdoor public places to create smoke free and healthier environments.
There are many health benefits of broadening smoke free spaces, both for Councils and residents.
Smoke free spaces help to reduce smoking rates, encourage smokers to quit, discourage people
from taking up this lethal habit, creates healthier communities, provides positive role models for our
young people and creates healthier environment by reducing air pollution, litter from cigarette butts
and packets.
Local governments have the power to ban smoking in any outdoor public space not covered by
state-wide smoking laws such as sports grounds, busy streets, sidewalks and anywhere that people
gather such as beaches. Please Councilors consider this issue to further champion another way,
like plastics, to help the health of the environment and Bayside community.
The Cancer Council claim there is "no doubt that the leadership of local councils is the key to
creating healthier and happier local communities .... " and " together we can create a smoke free
future".
We commend Council on taking positive initiatives in banning plastics in Bayside, and we can see
how these changes have already taken place here today. I am also personally fully aware that your
actions have already inspired neighbouring Councils to implement the same changes for plastics.
You are leaders in this field."
Reference: https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Plastic-and-Health-The-Hidden-Costs-of-a-Plastic-Planet-
EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY-February-2019.pdf

DO NOT MISS THIS EXCITING FREE EVENT

WHALE & DOLPHIN CITIZEN SCIENCE - HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
Marine Care Ricketts Point Speakers Evening
When: Tuesday 11 June, 7.00pm for 7.30pm
Where: Beaumaris Seniors Centre, 96 Reserve Rd Beaumaris
Presenter - David Donnelly
Whale and dolphin citizen science – how you can get involved
David is a Marine Researcher with a passion for marine conservation. David’s area of expertise
includes research into Marine Mammals, whales, dolphins and seals, across Australia, New
Zealand, South Pacific, Sub-Antarctic and the Antarctic.

 Do you want to learn more about whales and dolphins in our waters?
 Are you interested in contributing to research through citizen science using a phone
app?
 If so, why not join us for a fun evening of information, stories, discussion and of course
amazing images?

FREE – All welcome

Marine Care Ricketts Point website: http://marinecare.org.au/

Fossil emblem for Victoria

 - a step closer!

Great news! Due to combined efforts of SFA and Bayside Earth Sciences Society, SFA received letters
from the Hon Minister Martin Foley, Minister for Creative Industries and also from Brad Rowswell MP for
Sandringham District taking the fossil emblem for Victoria one step closer to happening. Minister Folley
has asked Creative Victoria to undertake initial investigations with Museums Victoria on what is required to
officially declare a State Fossil Emblem and the nature of a public campaign that can be governed by a
State Committee. We will update you on the progress of this.

We sincerely thank and are grateful to Professor John Long who provided the inspiration and
guidance for SFA to write to the various Ministers to make this happen.

By way of background, Professor John Long has been involved in all three state fossil campaigns -
Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia, and he believes the model used by Western
Australia was the best campaign as it had the most effect on educating the schools and general public on
the significance of palaeontology. In WA submissions were called creating a state wide awareness of the
campaign first, and explaining the need for a fossil emblem. The final decision was made by a Ministers
Committee, of which Professor John Long was appointed as Chair.
Please read this article written by Professor John Long published in The Conversation on the need for
fossil emblems in all States including Victoria by clicking on this link: https://theconversation.com/australia-
needs-more-state-fossil-emblems-but-let-the-public-decide-46930

Bayside City Council update

We're going single-use plastic free!

Council has resolved to remove single-use plastic items
from its facilities

Bayside City Council has resolved to eliminate single-use plastics in the Bayside Corporate Centre and its
libraries by 30 June 2019, and in its community centres by 30 June 2020. Council will also enhance
environmental conditions in relevant policy, tenders, contracts, leases and guidelines, focusing on facilities
leased from Council.

As the custodians of 17 kilometres of foreshore, we have an obligation to take leadership on protecting our
marine environments from the damage caused by plastic waste. It is estimated that 828 million pieces of
litter reach Port Phillip Bay each year from the Yarra River, and 74% of this is micro-plastics from the
breakdown of plastic waste.

Follow the link below to find out what Council is doing to reduce plastic waste, and how you can help. Click
here to view the media release.

'Seal the Loop' bins - call out for local custodians

‘Seal the Loop’ is a Zoos Victoria program which aims to prevent fishing line and other plastic waste from
causing harm to wildlife by providing brightly coloured bins made from recycled plastic in prime fishing
locations. Bayside is fortunate enough to have four Seal the Loop bins, but they need your help!

The bins located at North Rd Jetty, Brighton Baths, Hampton Pier and Half Moon Bay need new
local custodians. Local custodians can be an individual or a community group and would simply need to
infrequently (monthly) monitor and empty a Seal the Loop bin, and provide feedback to Zoos
Victoria/Coastcare on the bin contents.
If this call-out could be distributed to your members, and if you know anyone who would like to help that
would be greatly appreciated!
For more information on the ‘Seal the Loop’ program please click here.

If you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to contact Claire on (03) 9599 4495.

Claire Brace | Sustainability Education and Promotions Officer

Sustainability & Transport
Bayside City Council
Tel 9599 4495 | Fax 9598 4474
Email cbrace@bayside.vic.gov.au

Citizen Scientists needed

Do you want to help us monitor water pollution at our beaches?

Volunteer as a citizen scientist with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and help protect our
beaches. Take photos of water flowing from the Sandringham beach stormwater drain and send them to
the EPA - the nearby signs will show you how. Combined with EPA water quality sensors, the public
information will help us better understand and manage pollution from drains to the Bay.

Department of Environment Land Water & Planning (DELWP) update:

Black Rock Seawall Revetment Wall Update

We are pleased the plans to build a revetment wall along the Black Rock sea wall have been stopped by
DELWP at present. SFA and MCRP have liaised and communicated extensively with DELWP, the wider
community and with local residents to consider the impact on marine life, the beach, for fishermen and
locals in regards to the Black Rock Bluestone Wall Revetment Proposal.
We would like to thank Dr Andrew Pomeroy an expert on Coastal processes and for his coastal report on
the revetment wall. We will keep you posted if we hear from DELWP again.
For your interest here is a seawall restoration project happening in Canada:
https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/stanley-park-seawall-restoration.aspx

Victorians Volunteering for Nature – Environmental Volunteering Plan

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Hon Lily D’Ambrosio MP, has launched the
Victorians Volunteering for Nature – Environmental Volunteering Plan.
Victorians Volunteering for Nature – Environmental Volunteering Plan takes a fresh look to ensure we can
all volunteer for nature when, where and how it suits us. This Environmental Volunteering Plan will expand
and reinvigorate environmental volunteering for all Victorians to get involved.
We are setting a new direction based on sustaining, expanding, valuing and understanding volunteering in
Victoria. Each area has practical and contemporary ideas to support the environmental volunteering
sector, such as improving administration, training volunteers, increasing collaboration and using digital
communication tools to engage and share information.
We also want to celebrate the important environmental, social and economic contributions of our
environmental volunteers. It is essential that our volunteers feel valued and others see and value their
contribution.
We thank you very much for participating in this process through the online survey we conducted in June.
It gave us an opportunity to hear directly how we can better support the environmental volunteering
sector.
To download a copy of Victorians Volunteering for Nature -Environmental Volunteering Plan click here:
https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/home/victorians-volunteering-for-nature
For further information on environmental volunteering please email the Environmental Volunteering team
at environmental.volunteering@delwp.vic.gov.au.

News items of interest

Fossils on an Australian Beach Reveal a Shark-Eat-Shark World

An amateur fossil hunter at first found a single shark tooth. It led to signs of a prehistoric shark
feast. Aug. 9, 2018 See: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/science/sharks-fossils-australia.html

Huge fish found washed up on beach believed to be a Mola mola

A massive fish has been found washed ashore along the Coorong near the mouth of the Murray River in
South Australia, and one expert believes it is a Mola mola sunfish. Read the full story
Plastic and Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet

Please refer to the following website for an informative expose into the key findings on plastic and its
impact on human health:

https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Plastic-and-Health-The-Hidden-Costs-of-a-Plastic-Planet-
EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY-February-2019.pdf The full report is available online at www.ciel.org/plasticandhealth

Tim Wilson Federal Liberal Member for Goldstein

MEDIA RELEASE: $100,000 BOOST FOR FORESHORE HEALTH AT BLACK ROCK &
SANDRINGHAM!

- Developing detailed revegetation plans which aim to establish long term sustainable and manageable
planting in critical areas.
- Installing new fencing to reduce the impact caused by ‘off-track walking’ and improve safety during future
weed control and revegetation efforts in difficult to access areas; and
- Increasing the amount of staged revegetation in consultation with local community groups, such as the
Black Rock & Sandringham Conservation Association;
A re-elected Morrison government will also provide up to $50,000 for the Sandringham Beach and
Gardens Masterplan which involves:
- Developing works to protect new plantings and provide additional stability to the cliffs.
- Installing new fencing at existing informal lookout points; and
- Removing coastal weed species and revegetating these areas with native plant species;
A re-elected Morrison government will provide $50,000 for the Black Rock Foreshore Masterplan which
involves three distinct projects, including:
“We have put the health of Port Phillip at the fore of our local campaign because it is a critical issue for our
community and the people of Melbourne, and this funding will ensure that we can care for two of our most
critical foreshores”, said Federal Liberal Member for Goldstein, Tim Wilson.
A re-elected Morrison Government will invest up to $100,000 in two significant local environmental projects
put forward by Bayside Council to care for Black Rock and Sandringham foreshores.

Brad Rowswell plug on Museums Victoria fundraiser: Click here

THE WONDERS OF RICKETTS POINT MARINE SANCTUARY

Sunfish discovered at Quiet Corner
By Hakan Dellal
 A day in early February this summer saw crowds gathering around a rare sight and certainly an
uncommon one in Port Phillip Bay.
People had gathered to marvel at the huge creature washed on to the shore. A Sunfish, probably
the Southern Sunfish, (Mola ramsayi), one of several species. What most struck the viewer was its
enormous size measuring two meters in length and height, including its fins, though it is likely this
individual was still growing before its demise. Adult Sunfish grow to three meters in length, 4 meters
in height and weigh in at over two tonnes.
These gargantuan ocean goers are harmless to humans, feeding mainly on sea jellies and other
related soft bodied creatures, hydrozonans, that inhabit the surface waters of the ocean, which is
where you will commonly find swimming Sunfish.
These marine animals have not escaped the impacts of commercial fishing, often caught as by
catch and are unfortunately endangered. Furthermore, there are no management plans for its
protection in place, barring one country, Morocco. In fact, most of what we know about Sunfish
comes from information gained from washed up individuals such as the one at Quiet Corner.
By reporting such finds to local authorities we can contribute to learning more about these majestic
ocean swimmers.

Historical images of Bayside

supplied by Peter and Jenny of Sandringham

Below is a photo of the Rotunda bandstand at Sandringham beach probably taken in the 1950s and we
see the general state of the lawns, gardens, etc. Really quite beautiful.
The image above on the left is Wolfgang Sievers' image [Rose series] of dumped general waste that
occurred during the 1960s - rubbish literally dumped on the side of Red Bluff cliff!
The photo on the right is a recent photo taken over summer in a similar position for comparison of the cliff
face. You will notice grass has grown over the rubbish and rubble which is still there and some of it
slumped to the base of the cliff.

Historical videos with Paul Hogan of Sandringham beach!

 Want a good laugh?
These videos were created by Paul Hogan and his crew most likely in the 1970's highlighting the
Sandringham beach in the background, but also some interesting sites in the foreground!
https://youtu.be/wtKsFYJD4_w
Warning this video may offend some viewers!

Historical Bayside Artworks

NSW National gallery, Beach scene Sandringham 1889

Girolamon Nerli 1885-1904

Summer By the Sea

Annual Walk and Talk
 held on 20th January 2019

The annual Summer by the Sea program is organised by the Bayside Environmental Friends Network and
co-hosted by Bayside City Council and DELWP. As previous years, SFA held a Walk and Talk event on
Bayside fossils, rock geology, coastal processes and Aboriginal indigenous history of Bayside. It was held
on Sunday 20th January 2019 at Sandringham beach, led jointly by Dr Vicki Karalis, President and Helen
Gibson, geologist and a SFA committee member.
This successful event was booked out. Here is a photo of part of the group who attended the event:

Copyright: Sandringham Foreshore Association All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is: sandyforeshore@optusnet.com.au

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