Tasmania’s Journal of Discovery

A southern right whale has thrilled cruise passengers by taking a leisurely break in the River Derwent off Sandy Bay.

The whale was spotted cavorting off Bellerive early in the week and spent most of yesterday in the waters between Maning Reef and Wrest Point Casino.

“We caught a glimpse of it just off the casino … it just rolled over a bit,” Peppermint Bay Cruise guide Ben Brown said.

“We had quite a few international tourists and a good number from the mainland, so it was pretty exciting.”

He said the tourists were surprised to see a whale so far up the river.

[Via The Mercury]

The world’s biggest wild abalone fishery, which accounts for 25 percent of the global annual harvest, may be under threat from a destructive virus.

The ganglioneuritis virus has been detected in two abalone from waters off Tasmania and tests are under way to determine the extent of the threat.

The virus has already devastated the abalone industry in nearby Victorian waters.

The proposed mill

Timber company Gunns has admitted for the first time its planned Tamar Valley pulp mill may never be built.

The troubled company announced its annual results on the Australian Stock Exchange on August 28, reporting a net profit after tax of $64.5m for the 2008 financial year.

That represents a drop of about 27 per cent on last year’s result.

The result is also lower than a recent downgraded profit forecast of $67m.

Gunns statement says it is still pursuing finance for its planned $2b pulp mill, but has for the first time admitted it may never be built.

Shares in the company recently slumped by 25 per cent in three days and its price closed at $1.67 before a trading halt was announced last week.

[from ABC News]

Our man on the spot, Paul County, captured a winning smile from Tasmania’s own ‘royalty’ when Princess Mary took her children for a stroll through town.

Missing in action was Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who was probably still in recovery mode after a wild last night in Beijing, dancing and drinking at a nightclub where the theme was Hugh Hefner’s raunchy magazine and mansion.

A few days later, and Mt Wellington glows in a clear sky. Squatting stoutly in the path of the Roaring Forties ‘our mountain’ provides a constantly changing tapestry of colour and texture.

Falling snow at noon today hides Mt Wellington

Much of southern Tasmania is isolated this morning after wintry conditions forced road closures around the state.

The Midlands Highway was closed after three accidents involving double-B trucks.

Hobart’s Southern Outlet also iced up and roads further south were also closed to traffic.

West Coast roads are also closed indefinitely.

The widow of celebrated Tasmanian wilderness photographer Peter Dombrovskis is winding down the family business, signalling the end of his range of cards, diaries and calendars, according to ABC Radio.

Mr Dombrovskis’ photographs of the Tasmanian wilderness helped shape the conservation debate, most notably during the Franklin Dam dispute in the early 1980’s, and especially his iconic photograph, above, the centrepiece of the campaign.

Liz Dombrovskis has been reprinting his photographs since his death in 1996, but says she is closing West Wind Press to spend more time with her grandchildren.

“We’ll over the next year run the cards and posters and books and calenders out of stock,” Mrs Dombrovskis said.

“But photographic prints will still be available,” she said.

[From ABC News]

Dangerous Banks is a large shifting sandbar about 35 kilometres off the tip of north-west Tasmania.

Raging currents, winds and giant swells have kept humans at bay, but on June 27 three surfers finally conquered Dangerous Banks, it was revealed this week.

Australian veteran surfers Ross Clarke-Jones and Tom Carroll and young Hawaiian Ian Walsh were towed on to 10-metre waves as part of their odyssey to surf giant winter swells around Australia for a pay television special Storm Riders, which is expected to be released next summer.

Clarke-Jones, regarded as Australia’s most renowned big-wave rider, said: “It was more than wild, it was complete chaos. I’ve never seen an ocean so angry and confused in all my surfing days.

“We managed to catch a few each but must admit that the ocean beat us to a pulp that day.

“We were lucky to have all made it to shore, to tell you the truth.”

The team gathered in Smithton on Tasmania’s north-west coast, and, guided by local abalone diver Paul Critchlow, put to sea equipped with two powerful powerboats, six power-skis and a helicopter.

[From theage.com.au]

Shell weights of marine snails are getting lighter

Tasmanian scientists are worried a microscopic marine snail species found in the Southern Ocean may soon die out due to climate change:

The scientists say it is field evidence that sea life in the Southern Ocean is being affected by warmer water, and if these snails die out it could have dire consequences on the ocean’s food chain.

They took an expedition deep into the Southern Ocean on board the Aurora Australis in February, and collected a number of microscopic marine snails.

The scientists have found the snails have dropped half their shell weight over the past decade.

Dr Donna Roberts says it is evidence that climate change is affecting sea life in the Southern Ocean.

“Many researchers have been assuming we would see this kind of result for the past 50 years and this is the first time we’ve got a measured response to the changing of the ocean chemistry,” she said.

“It’s interesting to know what’s going to happen to commercial fish that eat them because a change in their diet might mean a change in where they actually are living, so it’s not just we might loose one variety of snail it actually could change the whole eco-system of the southern ocean.

“That’s what we’re most worried about that it could completely upset our commercial fish stocks.”

[From ABC News]

Snow and ice are causing major disruptions on Tasmania’s roads this morning, with authorities forced to shut the main highways between the north and the south and to the west coast.

The Midland Highway is shut south of Oatlands, and the Lyell Highway is closed north of Derwent Bridge.

Snow and ice have created treacherous conditions.

The Midland Highway is closed between Melton Mowbray and Mudwall Road, and the alternative route through Colebrook, shown above in a photograph by Laurie Smythe, is barely passable.

[From ABC News ]