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A study investigating the recent changes in natural marine-life habitats
in the Torres Strait region has found that tides, waves and winds are
responsible for dramatic movements of underwater sandwaves - or sandbanks.
Federal Industry Parliamentary Secretary and Member for the Far North
Queensland electorate of Leichhardt, Warren Entsch MP, said the Torres
Strait Islands community relies heavily on dugong, green turtles and juvenile
rock lobsters, whose habitats include local seagrass beds.
"With these habitats so vulnerable to the impacts of sand movement
and the effects this has on the seagrass, clearly it is an issue of importance,"
Mr Entsch said.
"The results from the first of two studies to be conducted this year
by Geoscience Australia into seabed stability, sediment movement and seagrass
dieback in the Torres Strait Islands region have produced some interesting
findings."
Scientists from Geoscience Australia and the Queensland Department of
Primary Industries and Fisheries, filmed sand wave movements at 69 underwater
locations in north-central Torres Strait near Turnagain Island from March
28 to April 17.
Geoscience Australia's Dr Andrew Heap said: "Seagrass beds are important
habitats for dugong and green turtle, which the Islanders fish, so we
wanted to work out why the seagrass disappears over short time frames.
"The cameras showed that some of the sandwaves, up to three metres
high, could move the length of two cars from their original position in
one week," Dr Heap said.
Another survey of the sites at Turnagain Island will be conducted by Geoscience
Australia at the end of the trade wind season in October. Data collected
from both surveys will assist in characterising seabed ecosystems, and
provide crucial information on the nature of the seabed for developing
models of physical and biological processes, and also provide inputs into
management strategies for the Torres Strait community.
The surveys are part of a larger program managed and funded by the CRC
Torres Strait based in Townsville aimed at identifying and quantifying
the key physical and biological processes occurring in Torres Strait.
For more information vist the Geoscience
Australia website
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