Hi again
A couple of weeks ago we joined the grandparent's club. This weekend we got to meet our grandson for the first time - very special! He is a little cutie.
Recently we have had a Covid outbreak in Minjilang. This has resulted in quite a few of the rangers isolating and many RAT tests - the new world we live in! We have been kept busy monitoring the fishing sector. As we are in between the wet season and dry season weather patterns, we are experiencing light winds and very flat seas. This has made for increased fishing activity.
Much of the coast line of Croker Island is not accessible via vehicle and all the coxswain qualified rangers were off due to Covid so we used a drone to be our 'eye in the sky'.
The photo below shows a section of coast where there are no tracks - but the drone could check this area - where we had seen a fishing vessel the day before - for evidence of them coming ashore and entering Aboriginal land without a permit.
When one of the coxswain rangers returned to work we were able to do a patrol to the outer islands east and northeast of Croker Island. Below is our ranger vessel viewed from 120 meters over a beach on McClure Island. Being further away from any muddy creeks or rivers the waters around these outer islands is very clearer.
Again the drone was able to be our 'eye in the sky' and save us many kilometres on the water.
While we had lunch one of the rangers (who's family are the traditional owners for these islands) took a walk along the beach with his spear looking for a fish or stingray - both good eating.
As we approached the north west point of McClure Island we noticed what looked like a yacht's mast around on the other side of the point. It turned out to be the BOM's automatic weather station on McClure Island - see below.
From this point we noticed a large section a fishing net snagged on the reef. There was quite a lot more net submerged than can be seen above the water. We will have to return later with some extra gear and remove this. Dealing with marine litter of all shapes and sizes is a regular part of our work.
From McClure Island we headed over to New Year Island which is the island furtherest away from Croker Island. Here we checked on couple of large private yachts. They appeared to be doing all the right things and even provided some useful intelligence on some fishing boats.
We enjoyed an absolute magical day on the water and felt a little guilty that we actually get paid to do this work. We didn't feel guilty for too long as we remembered that some of our work is hard, hot, sweaty and rather mundane.
Until next time - take care.
Bryan and Nancy
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