Macau As per another thread the lies and misconceptions the green movement is spreading is ridiculous and scandalous. I live in the area here is what I posted on the other thread -The dredging is about 30 miles from the reef. -A strong southeasterly breeze causes many times more turbidity than the dredging. -Cyclone Yasi caused massive damage to the reef(research it if you don't believe me) -Local flooding, thousands of times more turbidity. As for damage to the Whitsundays it's 100km away, also the current runs in the other direction and all those resorts on the islands, guess where their sewerage runs. The local community including the professional fishing body are by a large majority in support of the port expansion. The ones that aren't are in general long term welfare dependent oxygen thieves.
here is another post from DasKapitalist I've been boating for leisure and as a professional researcher around this area for over 30yrs, on and off. When not working overseas. That is until JCU retrenched a lot of marine people, and used the money for the law and medicine schools.
Most dead dugongs I've seen between Townsville and Mackay have been drowned in trawl nets; the criss-cross marks are evident. GBRMPA banned trawling in the BGB many years ago. Dugong bodies have drifted northwards from Upstart Bay.
Dugongs are to be found close to shore, in grass bed areas, often near mangroves. This is also where juvenile prawns tend to mass, as well as trawlers.
The outer reef is protected by upwelling from the shelf break. The steric height gradient across the shelf is -20cm onshore, between Cairns and Coffs H. Thus the isallobaric flow is from deep water, up the shelf, and floods onto the shelf flat. Very low nutrient water, which is required by hard corals. That is why the reef proper runs along the shelf edge, and not further inshore. Dredging can do little to affect this, as the isallobaric pumping is driven by the EAC.
The longshore steric gradient is -5 to -10cm between Cairns and Coffs H. Normally the SE trades dive flow northwards. When the wind speed drops below 15km/hr, on shelf flow is southwards, driven by offshore steric gradient. It is how Crown of Thowns infestations normally move southwards, against the SE Trades.
Greenies do not like real science. It is not what they want to hear!
