CROKER ISLAND LAND and SEA RANGERS

Hi again  

Recently we picked up a couple devices during our beach cleanup patrols. These devices look like some sort of buoy with a light and solar cells. One had the name 'Cape Finisterre' engraved on it. The only Cape Finisterre we could find on Google Earth was in the north west of Spain. There was no fouling growing on it, so no biosecurity risk, however we sent photos to Biosecurity Australia curious to know what they were and had they really floated all the way from Spain.

Biosecurity Australia confirmed that these devices are used to locate fishing equipment and that there is a very large fishing industry at Cape Finisterre so these devices probably did float all the way from there.

Below is a Google Earth image showing Cape Finisterre.

With the significant and growing issue of marine litter around the world, beach cleanups are a constant feature of our work and will remain so for many years. Another buggy load of marine litter off to the tip.

Currently the spear grass is seeding. When driving off road at this time of the year these seeds are very good at lodging in the radiators of vehicles and then causing over heating problems. Recently we installed some insect screen to protect the buggy's radiator - see below.

For this wet season the big rains are behind us. This means that the country is slowly drying out and allowing us to access more areas. During the wet season trees are often blown down over the tracks - this means that the chainsaws are kept busy track clearing. When I returned two would not even start  so carburettors had to be cleaned and the chainsaws serviced.  Below ranger Cynthia is sharpening all the blunt chains ready for the coming dry season. 

All serviced and ready to go. 

After completing work the rangers are expected to produce a short report on Microsoft Teams. This will usually include photos and a written report. Most of our cameras have an inbuilt GPS so we can overlay the locations where photos were taken onto Google Earth. Some of the rangers literacy levels and computer skills are very poor. This means quite a bit of time can be spent coaching them through this process. With the rangers who are particularly weak, I have to arrange for the other rangers to be out of the office doing other work and then work with the ranger - one on one so as not to embarrass them in front of the others. It can take well over an hour to write just a few lines - it is all about building the capacity and confidence of the ranger. 

Until next time, take care.

Bryan