A special thanks to the wonderful world renowned artist Emma Hack for her continued support to AMWRRO.
Emma Hack Art Prize is proud to announce the 32 finalists (an extra 2 finalists due to aligning scores) to be exhibited the March at The Adelaide Convention Centre as part of The Adelaide Fringe Festival, 3rd – 30th March.
Emma Hack Art Prize winner will receive $5000 (acquisitive) and an Emma Hack Art Prize sculpture by emerging glass artist Zoe Woods.
People’s Choice Prize winner will receive $2000 thanks to Raw Pearls.
Official Launch of all finalists Wednesday 5th, 6-8pm @ The Adelaide Convention Centre.
Official Presentation of Winners – Invitation Only – Sunday 30th March.
All works (excluding the winner of Emma Hack Art Prize will be available to purchase throughout the exhibition. 15% of all sales to be donated to AMWRRO
AMWRRO and Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) remove yet another huge load of rubbish from sensitive areas on Torrens Island.
Rubbish removed from Torrens Island
Over the past 9 years AMWRRO has been conducting rubbish removal operations on Torrens Island and collecting important data as each item removed is documented into survey reports. These reports allow us to track seasonal changes and therefore the rubbish that people and industry disregard into or around the Port River Estuary environments. AMWRRO has found a 75% increase in bait bags and foam esky’s in summer months verses that of winter months.
Unfortunately there is always commonly found industrial items opposite certain sites e.g. chemical drums, welding face masks, large plastic insulating items and buoys with long lengths of rope attached etc.; these items are found scattered across the western beaches of Torrens Island. Opposite the Torrens Island Markets and upstream from the North Arm region hundreds of plastic bag butts are found littering the pristine beaches of Torrens Island.
Hundreds of Plastic bag butts found on Torrens Island
This data is extremely important as all rubbish found on Torrens Island is considered floating debris due to the restricted access to the Island; this unfortunately means these items are also floating in and around Barker Inlet and the Port Rover Estuary regions 24/7, coming in contact with many marine species.
Torrens Island Markets every Sunday at North Arm
Last year AMWRRO and CVA crew removed a whopping 9.75 tons of rubbish from Torrens Island over 19 working days; 6 of which CVA crew attended and removed 4.5 tons. These efforts will again be mimicked in 2014 and beyond.
Additional educational campaigns will be launched in an attempt to reduce the amount of rubbish that is discarded in this extremely important and sensitive area.
A special thank you to all AMWRRO and CVA crew for dedicating so much time and effort to this operation and for continuing to support this important work. We look forward to working with you all in the next round of clean up days in 2014 and beyond.
Ellie making her way out of the Kennards Trailer
A textbook release for Ellie our Southern Elephant seal who was released at 07:00 south of Adelaide.
The AMWRRO crew arrived at Torrens Island at 02:00 to load Ellie into a donated Kennards Hire trailer for the 4 hour road trip to her release location.
Arriving on site for her release at 06:45 (sun rise) Ellie; now weighing a whopping 335kg was ready and waiting for the tailgate to be lowered. After a quick look around she was off and out of sight within minutes of release.
Ellie gained over 95kg whilst in care and considering she started moulting only days after arriving at AMWRRO it is amazing that she pulled through her rehabilitation.
Southern Elephant seals loose approximately one third of their body weight whilst moulting and thanks to the very dedicated team at AMWRRO she was fed the much needed balanced diet, additional proteins and oils during this period which is ultimately what saved her life.
Much to AMWRRO’s disappointment the Department for Environment Water and Natural Recourses (DEWNR) (Minister Ian Hunter MLC) has enforced many new conditions on AMWRRO to stop these animals being taken into care in the future without prior approval.
Last yawn before her long swim back home!
This will prohibit AMWRRO from providing the 24 hour rescue service to the general public for marine mammal issues as any sub-Antarctic species will now need departmental approval before the animal is touched or helped by AMWRRO Rescue Officers.
After hours approval is extremely difficult to obtain due to department officials not answering their phone after 16:59 each day and even harder to contact anyone on weekends.
Ultimately this will lead to animals suffering longer and at times even dying on our beaches without assistance – or will be “dealt with” by the department…
Despite AMWRRO being licensed for these species, DEWNR and Minister Ian Hunter are making our life extremely difficult when it comes to making a difference and saving lives, lives DEWNR and Minister Hunter are responsible for.
