SFA Newsletter Winter 2021

Email: sandyforeshore@optusnet.com.au
Website: http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com//sandyforeshoreassociation

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

Dr Vicki Karalis AM
President, Sandringham Foreshore Association
 Dear Friends and Members of the SFA,

We hope you are coping well over our 5th COVID lockdown in Victoria! They are challenging times
for all but teach us to adapt and tolerate changes. Use these times as opportunities to practice
self-care strategies - eat well, exercise more eg along the beach or in parks, pick up a hobby you
have not had time to do before, have a break, and take good care of yourself and your family.
For those who are struggling, help is available:
Coronavirus Mental Well-being Support Services: 1800 512 348

A big thank you to Artemis Siourthas, for helping to put this newsletter together! Huge job!

SFA have plenty of exciting news to share & we look forward to catching up with you all soon via
zoom or face to face:

1. Free lecture on the Bayside fossils, 'Prehistoric Portrait of Place' at the Bayside Gallery
during National Science Week as part of 'Portrait of Place' exhibition to be held
on Saturday 21 August 2021 at 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. Special talks by Dr Vicki Karalis and
palaeontologist Ben Francischelli - explore the jewel in the crown of Melbourne's natural heritage
the fossil collections found in Bayside. Please book your free ticket using this
link https://www.trybooking.com/BSNYM

2. The upcoming annual collaborative 'BESS & MESAC Fossil Expo' will be taking place at
the Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron on Sunday 22 August 2021 from 10:00AM - 2:00PM,
involving Fossil Identification with experts, a talk from palaeontologist Ben Francischelli and
more. Entry to this event is free for members of Bayside Earth Sciences Inc. and is otherwise $5
per person. Book here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=786278&. If COVID-19
affects the function, refunds will be offered.

3. MCRP free lecture by Emeritus Professor Bete Willis on Coral Health in Changing Times
to be held on 5th August at 7.30pm. See more details and zoom link below to attend lecture.

4. Council has approved the extension of the smoking ban beyond Bayside beaches and
include the entire cliff and foreshore reserves. After taking the issue further to ban smoking
along the Bayside cliffs in addition to Bayside's beaches, these areas are now smoke-free! This
will help reduce bush fire risk and exposure of smoke especially by young children. Smoking is a
health risk and the cigarette butts pollute our oceans and harm marine life.
5. The Lost World of Bayside fundraiser. Although the fundraiser has passed, please help by
donating to 'The Lost World of Bayside' to help us continue to reach our target goal of
$25,000! Please use this link to donate: https://museumsvictoria.com.au/join-

support/make-a-donation/the-lost-world-of-bayside-fossils-project/donate
Donations are 100% tax deductible. The donations support Museums Victoria palaeontologists
to continue their valuable work of exploring and scientifically assessing the Bayside fossils and
 bringing international significance to the sites. We sincerely thank a recent donation by Bayside
City Council of $5000, bringing our total community fundraising drive to $22,000.

6. Please connect with us on our newly formed Facebook page by clicking on a "Like":
https://www.facebook.com//sandyforeshoreassociation

We hope you enjoy the newsletter jam-packed with lots of exciting

news and images
With kindness,
Dr Vicki Karalis AM
President SFA

Marine Care Ricketts Point free speaker evening

Special guest speaker: Professor Bette Willis, Emeritus Professor, ARC Centre
of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University.

Click here for zoom link for talk: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/95233025675

 National Science Week 2021
Bayside: Prehistoric Portrait of Place &
BESSI & MESAC Fossil Expo

On the weekend of National Science Week 2021 there are two Bayside fossil events for
you to enjoy!

Saturday 21st August: Bayside Gallery, Brighton will be showcasing the prehistoric history of Bayside
from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.. Dr Vicki Karalis and palaeontologist Ben Francischelli will give fascinating
insights into Bayside's incredible fossils and clues that remain today of our prehistoric past. Bring the
family to see these real fossils up close. The event is free. Hosted by Bayside City Council. Make a
booking here: https://www.trybooking.com/BSNYM

Sunday 22nd August: An upcoming collaborative fossil expo by MESAC and BESSI is taking place at
the Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron (with public entry between the hours of 10:00 am to 2:00
pm). Entry to this event is free for members of Bayside Earth Sciences Inc. and is otherwise $5 per
person. Make a booking here: www.trybooking.com/BSTDM Or email baysidefossils@gmail.com
for further information.
 The Monk Seal: the Lost World of Bayside helps
rewrite history!
5-million-year-old monk seal fossil discovery published in The Conversation and the
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

The fossil is the oldest evidence of the family of seals in the world
Erich Fitzgerald of Museums Victoria, along with fellow researchers James Rule and Justin Adams, detail
the monumental discovery of the identity of fossils found in Beaumaris and Hamilton, Victoria. See links
below for their peer-reviewed article published in late May and the summary in The Conversation.
Monk seals are critically endangered in the wild today, with just 2,000 inhabiting the Mediterranean and
Hawaiian shores. However, around 4-5 million years ago they had a home in Australia where the climate
was suitably warm for them. The onset of an ice age around 2.5 million years ago forced them to move
away from the Southern Hemisphere to other tropical and Mediterranean waters. Monk seals are in a
completely different group from the seals which live in our shores today.
The publications are incredible recognition of research in helping to fill in the blanks of environmental
history, that the Sandringham Foreshore Association (SFA) is proud to support and help raise funding with
the enormous generosity and support of the wider community of Bayside and beyond.

Congratulations and thank you to Dr Erich Fitzgerald and his team for contributing to the
Bayside heritage and science as we grow to appreciate the significance of our coastline even more. Also
thank you to our major sponsors who have been acknowledged in the research papers & publications:
Bayside City Council, Sandringham Community Bank, a branch of Bendigo Bank, Beaumaris Motor Yacht
Squadron, SFA, BESSI, and to the many generous community donors.

To read more about the recent fossil discoveries click on the following links:
The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/the-most-endangered-seals-in-the-world-

once-called-australia-home-162523
Research paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2021.1920639
 Parks Victoria Update

New Fluker Post at Sandringham Harbour

Please help monitor sand movement at the Sandringham Harbour where there is now a new Fluker Post
(SH1) to take photos from. See images above of the new Fluker post. You just need to download the
Fluker Post APP onto your smartphones; this new post is located under the "Sandringham beaches" in the
Fluker post APP. You can upload your photo here.
It has been our observation that sand has built up in the Harbour over since the 1950s.
Help us document these seasonal changes to ensure our shoreline is still healthy in the long run.
Link: https://www.flukerpost.com/map/9/posts/189
 Urban Forests increase the value of our properties.
Photo of Belgravia London
- what Bayside streetscape could look like with an abundance trees planted
everywhere!

Bayside City Council Update

Urban Forest Strategy for Bayside

SFA is collaborating with Council to develop an Urban Forest Strategy that will help boost biodiversity and
habitats within Bayside and develop a more ecologically connected urban landscape, especially by
planting more indigenous vegetation. Piloted in the City of Melbourne with Melbourne University garnering
very positive results, the Strategy aims to increase native understorey plants on land managed by the City
of Melbourne by 20 per cent by 2027. Only few native understorey species are being used in streetscape
plantings due to harsh growing conditions, infrastructure and traffic constraints, and horticultural
limitations. Implementing the Strategy will create more beautiful streetscapes for Bayside residents to
enjoy, and will positively affect bat, bird and insect communities.
SFA feel passionate about this topic.

Council managed and public owned lands such as reserves, laneways, and other open spaces are
precious parcels of land in Bayside and great opportunities to help create urban forests and green
corridors. We need to make Bayside liveable so we can cycle, walk, sit, rest, picnic etc at local parks
without the need to get into a car to access these spaces. They should be available at the end of our
streets, or block near where we live. By converting all available open spaces into urban forests, the
vegetation and trees help to keep the air clean and reduce pollution levels and keep Bayside and the
community cool over summer periods. Urban forests also provide Green corridors for wildlife. We should
not be selling or leasing off any public land for income to pay for more built structures or infrastructure.
This may have short term gains, but infrastructure require ongoing upkeep compared with gardens.
Pocket urban forests will become in greater demand as our population grows and there are more
townhouses built in Bayside, and with any climate changes. We are going through a Climate crisis.

There are other municipalities where communities have raised concerns and commenced petitions to stop
sale of public owned land.
Here is the link to the Parliament website for the petition to stop sale of Council owned land:
https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/petitions/electronic-petitions/view-e-petitions/details/12/364

For example in Bayside, Council is wanting your opinion on the proposal to sell a small piece of land
(102m2) located at 126 Carpenter Street in Brighton to the adjoining owner for $300,000 plus gst. SFA
would not support this. The small area would make a great little vegetation area to enhance the
streetscape.
You can read more about this and have your say by copy pasting the following links into your
browser:
https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/proposed-sale-land-126-carpenter-street-brighton
and here:
https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/Wilson-Reserve

There are other Councils eg Stonnington who are purchasing more land to create Pocket Parks with the
view to develop urban forests. Bayside is already quite built up; we need to help create positive healthy
changes to our environment for future generations to enjoy.
 We are drawn to flowers and beautiful vegetation just as insects are!

Making Bayside Green

On 5th July 2021 Bayside City Council hosted a community focus group meeting with SFA along with
other environmental groups over Zoom. It involved talking about tree protection and retention on private
properties, increasing Bayside's urban forest, supporting vulnerable residents to manage trees and
acceptable levels of Council regulation for trees and vegetation on private land.

Below are beautiful photos of indigenous nature strips in the City of Melbourne - notice the plant palette
and species distribution, and how to rejuvenate the urban landscape! Link: https://cpb-ap-
se2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.unimelb.edu.au/dist/c/359/files/2020/06/Streetscape-Biodiversity-Case-
Study.pdf

Docklands Drive and Clowes Street (left to right). Less flowers, plant coverage and
unattractive mulch have made the former less valued.

SMOKING BAN LAW BAYSIDE

Smoking ban law
The first law adopted by Council about smoking ban on Bayside foreshore was spearheaded by
community groups: eg MESAC, SFA, MCRP, BCS.... Recent revisions based on community feedback
have resulted in the extension of the smoking ban beyond Bayside beaches and include the entire
cliff and foreshore reserves, as well as the liquor ban at the base of Red Bluff Cliffs in Half Moon Bay as of
July 2021. Anyone smoking on a Bayside beach could face a $200 Infringement Notice penalty or a fine of
up $1,000, if prosecuted in Court. This follows the 2019 smoking ban consultation, which originated from a
petition for the Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary only but extended to the whole of the foreshore following
SFA's presentation to Council that led to adjustment of the original proposal, and a unanimous decision at
Council's resolution on 28 April 2020. View a map of the existing smoking ban area.

The smoking ban will improve public health and well-being, and help to reduce the amount of cigarette
butt litter which makes its way from Bayside’s beaches into Port Phillip Bay, protecting our important
marine environments

To read more about the new laws, please click on the link
below https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/locallaw/new-local-law-ideas

Grant appeal success

We are proud and grateful of the continued support by Bayside City Council who recently provided a
Fundraising Appeal Grant of $5000 which has gone towards Museums Victoria palaeontologists as part of
the Lost World of Bayside to continue their pioneering discoveries and research of fossils in Bayside as
described above.

URGENT! SEA URCHINS EATING INTO OUR

MARINE SANCTUARIES

Please contact MCRP if you can help eradication of sea urchins at

Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary eg scuba diving - info@marinecare.org.au

But there may be an alternative solution, according to a recent ABC News report:

Marine experts “urchin” Victorians to eat sea creature to reduce invasion in

Port Phillip Bay.
ABC News: Rachel Clayton

Feel like eating something different while helping out Bayside? Solutions for this don’t immediately come
to mind but Rachel Clayton’s article on ABC News explains that feasting on sea urchins will satisfy that
wish! According to Dr Paul Carnell, the project lead, sea urchins are native to the Port Phillip coastline but
the problem is, in the last 20 years, the native pest have caused major destruction to reefs and have
already demolished up to 90% of Port Phillip Bay’s kelp forests. Their population has boomed. These
reefs and forests are required for biodiversity in Bayside shores, including fish. Another worry is that kelp
forests take around 3 years to grow back after sea urchins are removed from the affected area. This is
where you can help!
The Victorian Fisheries Authority and researchers of Port Phillip Bay sanctuaries want us to begin
catching and eating sea urchins. Even though sea urchins look quite freaky (in both a good and not so
good way), they can be really tasty when cooked, and sea urchin roe (the gonads) actually costs as much
as $40 in Melbourne restaurants! In some Asian countries it is a delicacy. Because there are so many in
Port Phillip Bay, it is hard work for the authorities to cull them to near-zero levels.
So, if you fancy a challenge and an exciting meal, get your sturdy gloves and bag and you can help
protect Bayside biodiversity by catching dinner just beyond the intertidal zone! The link below includes a
recipe as well to check out.

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-23/victorians-urged-to-feast-on-sea-urchins-to-control-
populations/100118378
 Paul Carnell: red outline shows reef in Williamstown that used to be kelp forest but is
now barren due to sea urchins.

Feature Activity Sensitivity Tool (FeAST) – Victoria’s new marine evidence-based

tool for decision making
DELWP’s Marine Biodiversity Policy and Programs team in collaboration with Australian Marine Ecology
and Fathom Pacific have developed a new marine sensitivity and risk assessment tool called the Feature
Activity Sensitivity Tool (FeAST).
Inspired by pioneering thinking and methods applied across the United Kingdom and Europe, this new
sophisticated tool sets out to quantify the nature and scale of potential impacts on the marine environment
arising from anthropogenic activities. The FeAST application operates as a data workflow undertaking a
four-step evaluation process that synthesises the best available scientific information stored in a
centralised cloud database. Using the precautionary principle, users can interrogate the data, generate
reports, and conduct a rapid first-pass assessment of the responses of natural values to human-induced
pressures. Hosted on the marine and coastal web mapping portal CoastKit, this system supports the
provision of information available for desktop reviews and scoping investigations as delivered by
developers, planners, conservation advisors, and policymakers. The application is set to be integrated and
released on CoastKit in the coming months.

More information: https://www.marineandcoasts.vic.gov.au/newsletter

 Remembering David Rhodes
November 19, 1958 – December 5, 2020
Archaeologist & Photographer

It is with great sadness we have learnt of the unexpected passing of David Rhodes (November 19, 1958 –
December 5, 2020).
David was the Managing director at Heritage Insight Pty Ltd, which he founded in 2000 and is one of the
longest-running cultural heritage management companies in Victoria, conducting a wide range of heritage
assessments in Victoria and interstate. He was the lead author on the Port Phillip Bay Aboriginal Cultural
Heritage Project: Stage 2. This innovative research established a baseline of Aboriginal cultural heritage
sites around Port Phillip and addresses the potential impact of sea-level rise and inundation on these
features. This report identified ‘Point Lillias’ as a place of cultural and archaeological significance to the
Wadawurrung people and was chosen to be a part of the Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program.
A supporter of the Sandringham Foreshore Association, he lent his invaluable expertise and
assistance wherever he could. David travelled many times to Bayside to provide us and Council advice,
identify middens and other significant indigenous sites and provide technical reports. David prepared a
technical report [free of charge] for the nomination of Beaumaris Bay to be included for National Heritage
Listing that we submitted in 2019.
We are so grateful and honoured to have had his friendship and assistance.
David gained respect and received praise for his tireless dedication for decades of work on Aboriginal
cultural heritage. His passion will be greatly missed. Our sincere condolences are extended to David's
family, friends, and work colleagues.

DELWP update

Sandringham Edward St Renourishment program

The contractors have now relocated their dredge and pipeline to Sandringham to complete the beach
renourishments at Edward Street Beach and Half Moon Bay. Works began in March this year and were
planned to finish by the end of June 2021, but due to weather conditions and COVID-19 restrictions, the
works continue. Edward St Beach will receive a total of 20,000m3 of sand pumped directly from the
borrow site >700m offshore. The southern part of Half Moon Bay will have up to 5,000m3 of sand
deposited. The design for the renourishment intends to increase the width of the beach to approximately
25m to help protect cliff face erosion, especially in the winter where wave action cuts the beach area from
time to time.

Tests have been done to ensure the sand has no contaminants, are of similar grain size to that onshore
and that there is enough of it available for this significant work. If you notice a darker colour and potentially
an odour, this is due to naturally occurring organics in the sand being exposed to the air. With very
minimal organic content in the dredged sand (<0.11%), it will lighten overtime due to bleaching from the
sun and will become odour-free within days.
For more information, see DELWP newsletter: https://www.marineandcoasts.vic.gov.au/newsletter
Sandringham information:
https://www.marineandcoasts.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/512367/Sandringham-
Renourishment-Info-Sheet.pdf
Edward St sand renourishment near complete with thanks to DELWP
- Sand was pumped off-shore onto the beach using a dredger
- Image 25th July 2021 8am

Historical Images of Bayside

 Thank you, Shirley Joy, local historian, for supplying us some of these beautiful
historical photos of Bayside

Committee members of SFA

Dr Vicki Karalis
President; Medical practitioner, expert in environmental medicine
Alison Horton
Vice President & Public officer; Perfusionist
Helen Gibson
Committee member; Geologist and Renewable Energy advisor
Adrienne Smith
Committee member; IT consultant
Ike Solomon
Committee member; Corrosion engineer
Cassandra Karalis
Committee member; Social Media Coordinator
 Artemis Siourthas
Committee member; Website & Journal Administrator

Free SFA Membership

The Sandringham Foreshore Association is a charitable not-for-profit association. Membership is free. Our
self-acclaimed role is to foster and promote good natural conservation principles to Bayside foreshore
management. Our current focus is to assist public education by aligning ourselves with scientific experts in
fields of conservation and natural environment, and to facilitate effective communication between
community – council and state governments – and established environmental science publications and
position statements.
The role of SFA is to care for and help protect our local beaches and cliffs, but also to educate, raise
awareness and preserve our local archaeological, geological, cultural, indigenous and heritage sites such
as the Beaumaris Bay fossil site.
If you are interested in joining our free membership, to receive notices and our Quarterly Newsletters –
Please respond via our website
http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/MembershipForm

Copyright: Sandringham Foreshore Association All rights reserved.

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

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Sandringham Foreshore Association · Bayside Beaches · Bayside, Vic 3191 · Australia