The Control of Fire by Birds

Early humans are seen as inventors of fire technology. Now birds of prey such as the the Brown Falcon (Falco berigora) and the Black Kite (Milvus migrans) join the list of those propagating fires deliberately in the Australian savanna woodlands.

Many birds benefit from anthropogenic fires or lightning fires, but narratives of ornithogenic fires have for a long time survived in legends and ceremony in many places around the world.

"Fire provides the opportunity for pyrophilic behaviour by some birds. Brown Falcons, Falco berigora, perch at the fire-front waiting for grasshoppers, frogs, snakes, lizards and small mammals.

Local Aboriginal people believe that Black Kites set fires by carrying burning sticks to new locations and drop them into dry grass on unburnt grounds...I have seen a hawk pick up a smouldering stick in its claws and drop it in a fresh patch of dry grass half a mile away, then wait with its mates for the mad exodus of scorched and frightened rodents and reptiles.

“When that area was burnt out the process was repeated elsewhere. We call these fires Jarulan.”

There is an extensive body of recorded material – some over 100 years old – of Aboriginal myths and legends relating to birds and fire from across Australia." (Source)

 
Sources:
Ornithogenic Fire: Raptors as Propagators of Fire in the Australian Savanna, Bob Gosford, Crikey
Ethnoornithology focuses on the intersection of birds & human cultural diversity.


Image:
Kalila and Dimna, The Fables of Bidpai,  The owls are burned to death by the crows. Syrian unknown master, 1310.
- The animal fables Panchatantra were originally composed in Sanskrit around the 3rd century BCE
- Ramsay Wood believes that these fables provide one of the earliest secular examples of what Lawrence Lessig calls Remix Culture.

The Shark Free Beaches of NSW

The beach is without a doubt the playground for Australians. The formation of national identity is pinned on beach culture. "Australians are islanders and we've come to expect - almost as a kind of birthright, as much as a lifestyle - a certain kind of access to open beaches..." (source) From family holidays (if not in Bali) to national surf events and festivals it is the space to be in. On 2,000 kilometres of New South Wales coast, locals and visitors showcase their beach bodies, swim, surf, play sport and empty their dogs. It appears to be the place of equality. 'Our beach' turf is fiercely defended against 'the other' (Cronulla riots). Its is the only place of summer culture.

The beach as money-making machine
Urban beaches are manicured with fossil fuel and 'renourished' with sand when climate extremes gnaw on the edges. They are artifacts with fences, furniture, nets, signs and flags. Business, surf /events/ competitions - culture, recreation space: gym/sports groups etc monetize this space and depend on it functioning. When the 'cash cow' is closed there is an outcry.

Coastal sprawl and marine urbanisation
Historically the beach turned from a place of work to a (commercialised) leisure ground with the urbanisation of the coast. 85% of people live within 50 kilometres of the coastline today. Coastal sprawl and marine urbanisation seem to concrete the coast from Cairns to Melbourne merging swelling urban centers. The large cities boast degraded biodiversity (and shark nets) and it has become relatively safe to use the beach as if it is a pool. Polluting jet skis, inflatable rescue boats and helicopters are buzzing around swimmers at city beaches for the 'safety of beachgoers'. "Beaches around Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast are protected by shark nets, but there is no meshing on beaches in the far north." (source)

 
More people in shark habitats
Population growth (sea change /tree change etc) on the north coast of NSW brings more human beings into the ocean than ever before. "Data from the Australian Shark Attack File indicates the increase in Australian shark attacks coincides with the increasing human population, more people visiting beaches, a rise in the popularity of water-based fitness and recreational activities and people accessing previously isolated coastal areas." (source)
Swimming, diving and some surfing take place in the shallow water. In the deeper water, the ocean is conquered by new adventurous forms of activities going deeper and further in (paddle ski, kayaking, surfing, diving, windsurfing and whale watching in tinnies etc) These plastic-aided adventure activities take place well beyond the flags and far from the mainland.

"Let's not forget the ocean is the domain of the shark." (source)
Various (no take) refuges for marine biodiversity have been established along the coast. Sharks keep the ocean healthy. "Sharks and other ocean predators help protect the ocean's carbon stores by keeping other wildlife in check." (source)

How the presence of sharks and risks are further increased
Heating the ocean through our combustion of biomass seems to benefit the ancient marine predator that has been in the ocean for the last 400 million years. Various human activities, like polluting rivers, throwing fish offal into the beach, fishing or tourism operators using bait to deliberately attract sharks increase the presence of sharks and risks.

 
Shark encounters
Recently there have been 13 shark encounters, including one death off the north coast of NSW this year. (source) Various groups react in fear and want sharks culled or repelled. "Surfers on NSW north coast call for partial cull of sharks after recent months" (source) "Long-time surfers say they are now scared to get into the water." (source) The "far north NSW communities call for shark nets, immediate action to prevent shark attacks." (source)

Extinction - we are working on it...
"Australians in particular have a peculiar, pathological feeling about sharks." (source) Ideally the species should be wiped out (like so many other Australian species) so that man can industrialise the aquatic territory without fear. In the marine habitat, the shark is framed as usual as 'the problem' that needs a 'solution'. A feel-good self-deception, also known as denial could serve to kill this 'monster' and conquer the space for human purposes once and for all. Whatever 'fix' will win, it must be cost effective and be based on technology or fossil fuel. The aim is to 'cleanse' the 'playground' of the competing apex predators (sharks, crocodiles, etc.) so that no people or business interests are harmed. It is known that there is "no “silver bullet” for deterring sharks or stopping attacks." (source). No method is 100% effective, but doing anything would soothe the mind and business as usual could continue. To turn the ocean into a shark-free pool might continue to be a pipe dream.

Risks

The comparative 'tolls' for shark mauling, dog attacks and killings by motor cars makes one wonder, that if by that logic one ought to cull dogs and take these deadly combustion machines off the roads:

• There have been 15 shark-related incidents on the NSW coastline this year, 12 of them on the north coast. (source)
• There were 1,191 dog attacks in the 3rd quarter of 2014/2015 in NSW. (source)
• There have been 260 people killed  in NSW from crashing vehicles so far this year (the injured are not included) (source)

"The day you fail to find sharks cruising your favourite beach is the day you should really start to worry." (source)



Resources:
Concrete coastlines: it’s time to tackle our marine ‘urban sprawl’
http://theconversation.com/concrete-coastlines-its-time-to-tackle-our-marine-urban-sprawl-38175

Australian Shark Attack File
https://taronga.org.au/conservation/conservation-science-research/australian-shark-attack-file

New South Wales beaches closed for 24 hours after shark attack
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/aug/23/new-south-wales-beaches-closed-for-24-hours-after-shark-attack?CMP=soc_568

Surfers on NSW north coast call for partial shark cull
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4291914.htm

There is deep unease about sharks in northern New South Wales, 02.10.2015
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/02/could-big-game-fishing-solve-the-problem-of-shark-attacks

Ballina Mayor David Wright fears Richmond River water quality could be to blame for shark activity
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-21/shark-meeting/6635678

Recreational fishermen may have unwittingly helped attract sharks to Coffs Harbour beach 16.06.2015
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-16/recreational-fishermen-might-have-unwittingly-helped-attract-sh/6549142

A dramatic increase in shark fishing, fuelled by the lucrative shark fin market, is threatening already endangered species along the NSW coast
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fears-for-endangered-species-as-shark-fin-market-grows/2007/08/11/1186530673607.html

Man bites shark, The day you fail to find sharks cruising your favourite beach is the day you should really start to worry.
http://conservationbytes.com/2009/01/07/man-bites-shark/

Ellison, Elizabeth (2014) On the beach : exploring the complex egalitarianism of the Australian beach. In Horatschek, Anna-Margaretha, Roseberg, Yvonne, & Schaebler, Daniel (Eds.) Navigating Cultural Spaces : Maritime Places. Rodopi, Amsterdam, Netherlands, pp. 221-235. (PDF)

Updates:
Shields and smart buoys: new technology to protect sharks and people 06.10.2015
WA Premier tells Broome to 'quietly get rid of crocodiles' on Cable Beach to protect tourism abc 09.10.2015

One of the Margaret River region's two surf life saving clubs is experiencing a downturn in membership due to increased shark activity."Going to the beach is an inherent part of the West Australian lifestyle" abc 15.10.2015

Darimont CT, Fox CH, Bryan HM, and Reimchen TE (2015) The unique ecology of human predators. Science 21: 858-860.

The NSW government announces a $16m high-tech strategy to combat shark attacks along the 2,000 kilometres of beach line. 25.10.2015 SMH

"Recreational users want to go and enjoy the water undisturbed or without the fear of being disturbed by a shark." Professor Bax 28.10.2015 abc

Shark attacks hit NSW North Coast tourism’s bottom line 30.11.2015 coffs coast advocate

Shark nets used at most beaches do not protect swimmers, research suggests  Guardian 09.02.2016

Two rare Japanese stingrays killed by Queensland's shark control program on the Gold Coast
"Successive governments have recognised the vital role the shark control program has played in protecting human life at those beaches which attract tourists from all over the world and throughout the year.” abc 22.02.2016

IMAGES:
A crowded ocean, tiles Sydney
Man in Ocean, tiles
Shark mural, Coffs Harbour
Shark without a fin, Coffs Harbour Jetty

Yet Another Traffic Incident - Questions of a Gadfly

Internal combustion powered bikes of all sizes are common in the Bellingen area and NSW. The mostly unlicensed, unregistered and uninsured trail bikes/motorcycles drive on private lands, public roads, forests and National Parks. The roaring noise pollution can be heard over great distances.

Recently a woman walking across a pedestrian crossing at a shopping centre was was hit by a motorcyle. "Five young people were allegedly involved in a 'callous' hit-and-run incident...the CCTV captured the group driving dangerously." Police reported that "at this time of year of course you've got kids on school holidays... sometimes kids are unsupervised" (source) The woman "suffered catastrophic injuries" (very severe head injuries) and her life support was switched off. Andrea Lehane, 34, left behind two small children and a partner.

As with the usual daily car-nage there are a few days of news of the 'mini-motorcycle crash'. With such 'accidents' follows the usual public mourning (on social media) which takes the form of roadside memorials, candlelight vigils, altars, plastic balloons, flower arrangements and the collection of money. After that they all proceed to 'hit the road' of climate extremes again and 'business as usual.'

 
In a car dependent nation, 'accidents' are integral to this mode of transport. The 'road toll' appears to be like a sacrifice to fossil fuel mobility. The daily killing and maiming, the 'hit and run', road-kill and road-rage, driveway 'incidents' and burnouts hog the news. Vehicles are 'out of control' in a dysfunctional system of mobility.

In the above case charges have been laid: " Caleb Jakobsson, 18, has been charged with culpable driving, failing to stop and render assistance, unlicensed driving and using an unregistered motorcycle. "

"A 17-year-old from Seaford has been charged with reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering persons, as well as charges for unlicensed riding of an unregistered vehicle..." (source)  A 15-year-old boy was released without charge." (source).

Questions a social gadfly might ask:

Why is it unsafe to walk on a pedestrian crossing in a public area?
Why is it risky to walk?
Why did a human being have to die?

Why were minors out of control?
Why were the children/adult so ‘calous’ to not stop at the pedestrian crossing?
Where was their socialised ‘impulse control’ to refrain and stop once they realised a person was injured?
Will the carers of the offending children change their pedagogic regime?
What did the parents/ carers think where these unlicensed and unregistered trail bikes were going?

Who gave permission for minors to ride these machines?
What sort of 're-creation' (for children) is this?

Why is this suffering and damage bestowed on a household?
Will the damage done to those left behind be 'compensated' by the families of the minors?

Why were unregistered bikes tolerated in the street/ suburb and city/state?
Will people intervene when seeing/hearing vehicles not allowed on roads?

Where was the effective enforcement?
Will the regulator/s take action?
Why is motor racing as 'sport' or 'recreation' modelled as desirable?

Why are all participants and social agents so tolerant of lawbreaking?

Will anything meaningfully change?

Links:
https://www.productsafety.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/974443

Images:
Angels (Angelus Novus) - a meditation on progress

Hate Crimes Against Wombats

Ten wombats, including four feeding mothers were deliberately run over and killed by a SUV driver at Bendeela camping ground, Kangaroo Valley, abc 20.09.2015


On the Making of Biodiversity Guardians 

Updates:
Footage emerged of a driver appearing to deliberately swerve at a dingo on Fraser Island, World Heritage 02102015

Image:
John Gould, Vombatus ursinus,"Mammals of Australia", Vol. I Plate 55, 1863, via Wikimedia Commons

The Eels of Bellingen and the Making of Biodiversity Guardians

The scene
The Bellingen River community has just recently allowed the totem of their river, the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle, (Myuchelys georges) to go the way of the dodo. After a mass mortality event it is now listed as a critically endangered species. (PDF)

The event
Soon the 'Bellingen Eel Fishing Championship' will take place. The maltreatment of the endemic Longfin Eels (Anguilla reinhardtii) is 'terrific family fun' promising that 'the kids (will be) amused during the holidays.' (source)

The options
One could instead educate young Australians about the unique fauna and its environment, but the usual 'take, chuck and run' culture is perpetuated.

The eels
Since ancient times, the living fossil has fascinated humans as it has a very mysterious life-cycle. Till today knowledge of freshwater eels and their oceanic migrations and spawning in the tropical Pacific is very limited. Once in their life they travel some 850 km away from their home using smell and magnetism to spawn in unknown locations. During their 6 - 12 month journey they do not feed.

In the EU the Anguilla anguilla is now critically endangered (PDF). After numbers dropped by 99% in 20 years, they have proposed a fishing ban. (source) In NZ the species is overexploited. The Japanese eels are at risk of extinction. The American eel is also in danger of extinction (source). The Taiwanese eel is now perilously close to extinction. (source) It is now uncool to kill and eat the species in many countries.
 
The young guardians
The media abounds with (young) Australians torturing, maiming and killing Australian wildlife and pets. Drive-by shooting of livestock occurs or the latest fashion is killing by bow and arrow. Hate crimes against wildlife are common. Here, here, here, here, here, here, here etc
 
It is possible that individual animal cruelty is just an expression of a national mindset of excelling at the extinction of Australian biodiversity. "Australia is recorded as one of the countries with worst extinction records in the world." (source) Unique animals and plants are allowed to slip into extinction.

On the making of empathy
It has been found that preschool children in NSW "showed callous and unemotional traits such as lacking remorse or empathy for the feelings of other people." The psychopathic traits found could lead to anti social behaviour against their own species (bullying, family violence) or cruelty against any creature.

The undeveloped emotional skills can be acquired by interacting with offspring and teaching "the parents how to be very warm, involved and loving with them to see if that reduces those callous traits over time." (source)

"Respecting other forms of life is not an intrinsic value – it has to be taught, and it has to be learned. While there are certainly exceptions, I am of the opinion that unless you discourage children from that sort of behaviour, it will proliferate into adulthood...Unless we can convince children to respect other species, we can expect to continue failing to elicit much sympathy for the plight of global biodiversity." (source)

Sources:
The Mysterious Incredible Life-cycle of Short-finned Eels PDF
Oceanic migration behaviour of tropical Pacific eels from Vanuatu, Marine Ecology Progress Series

Psychopathic traits found in preschool children by University of NSW researchers, SMH 10.09.2015
Innate cruelty and exploitation: does biodiversity stand a chance, Conservation bytes

Updates:
Eight wombats deliberately run over and killed at Kangaroo Valley camping ground: police, abc 
Hate Crimes Against Wombats
Two teenagers refused bail over torturing farm animals to death in Dural, abc 23.09.2015

The Family Fishing Festival now changed its sustainability ethos from measure and brag to measure then put the fish straight back into the water. "From Friday to Sunday, there were hundreds of adults and children dipping a line in the water from the Nambucca River up to south of Muttonbird Island, including on the banks of Deep Creek, Kalang River, Bellinger River, Bonville Creek and Boambee Creek." The Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun,  13.01.2020

Images:
Tiles northern NSW
Moray eel graffiti
Young human, deficient in empathy, graffiti
Young human, graffiti

The Cerura Moth, The Scott Sisters and Nature Depictions

This hairy moth was hanging out where coastal rainforest trees are allowed to be. Cerura australis (Lepidoptera) is attracted by the perfume of the Flintwood tree (Scolopia braunii). It is the favourite food plant of its larva.

Both moth and tree were depicted by the scientific illustrators and naturalists the Scott sisters, Harriet (1830–1907) and Helena (1832–1910). Their book 'Australian Lepidoptera and their transformations' was published in 1864.

The father and co-author took possession of 2560 acres of prime land on the Hunter River estuary in 1827. Ash Island was seen as a 'paradise for naturalist'. For thousands of years the Worimi and Awabakal people had cultured this tidal wetland into a biodiversity hub. Alexander Walker Scott, an entomologist of the day invited other explorers, like Ludwig Leichhardt to his tropical place and even "offered to clear 10 acres in the district, construct a cottage and establish a vineyard for Leichhardt."(source). With time the usual degradation took place at the hands of settlers: subdividing, clearing, draining, agribusiness and finally industrial use of the landscape. In 1866, AW Scott went bankrupt and sold the Ash Island property. (source)

The young women had many years to depict 'paradise' and functioned as 'lady’ plant collectors to 'male experts' as was common in colonial days. "Their father’s bankruptcy forced the sisters to seek payment for their art and endure the perceived social shame for doing so." (source) Excluded from careers, universities and learned societies they continued to draw and paint Australian animals and wildflowers commercially till the end of their life. The artists were largely forgotten (in the land of pesticides) until there was an exhibition in 2011. (source)

 
One outstanding aspect of these 'amateur' naturalists was, that Harriet and Helena were drawing from live animals. "Most natural history illustrators of the time worked with long-dead, pinned specimens that were faded and lacked colour."(source) They refused the 'pinned' appearance of butterfly and moth cadavers and let them live. They also refused to depict 'the thing' in its decontextualised form. Like Maria Sibylla Merian before them they displayed the mutualistic symbiotic relationships between flora and fauna. The plants and the animals are shown at various stages of their cycles as an educational understanding of living creatures.

The scientific minds and the market demand an encyclopedic knowledge and repository for present and future disposability. Till today 'nature' is classified for the logistics warehouse of man. The 'thing' is still pinned, cut, tagged, frozen in vaults yearning for the self-made catastrophe. The bio-diversity of the ecosystem is reduced to a free service to humanity.

Removing a living organism from its larger environmental context in mind and practice allows for the reduction of life into mere stuff, living beings become mere material for one species' industriousness or the collector's wunderkammer.

The 'thing', once removed from its habitat/ biome can be utilised or exterminated by us and we can remain in proud denial about the basis of our life being pulled from under our (and others) feet.
 
It is also popular to have individual bird sound repositories for example. The 'thing' is without it's home habitat. The soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause: " is interested in a given habitat’s entire soundscape—its “biophony”—(he) finds the single-species paradigm absurd...each living organism in a biome evolves in situ to find its own acoustic niche, based either on frequency or time, so that “their utterances are not buried by other signals.” Thus, each animal sound, plus the sounds of the wind in the trees, or waves on a beach, fit together like pieces of a puzzle to create the kaleidoscopic composition we hear. According to this theory, animals change their sounds when their habitat changes." (source)

A perception and depiction of the whole in situ could contribute to the continuing existence of the web of life.

Today Ash Island is part of Hunter Wetlands National Park.


Images:
Cerura australis
Detail of hand coloured lithograph by Harriet Scott from A.W. Scott, “Australian Lepidoptera and their transformations drawn from the life”, London, 1864

Car Racing in the Home of the Koala

The koala calls the North Coast forests of NSW its home. Coastal sprawl and deforestation fragment and thin their habitat. The path to the next yummy canopy becomes ever longer and more dangerous. Settlers and their industry demand roads that bulldoze their way through forests 'dripping with koalas'. Many animals are injured and killed by motorists in this process. Their packs of roaming dogs hunt and maul the threatened species. Record-breaking temperatures, "extreme weather events, such as killer heat waves, devastating droughts and intense, flooding rains" unleashed by us will not enhance the life of the koala or any other being.

This weekend it is time again to roar racing cars through Coffs Coast subtropical hinterland. The wonder of 'sustainable' motor racing will take place on forest roads between the Nambucca and the Orara river valleys. Motor 'sport' "is a glorious, lovely thing, all noise and violence and sliding sideways between trees at 100 mph." (source) Dust and noise pollution is generated in abundance.

1400 people donate their free labour to showcase this motor spectacle over four days. Wardens "will use airhorns to scare" the marsupials up the trees. "The numbers of animals that get run over are very low" we are told. (source)

"Population numbers on the East Coast fell by 40% between 1990 and 2010, and in other areas like the Pilliga Forest, the population has crashed by 70% in 10 years." (source)

According to the criteria of the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW this event does not seem to constitute an 'activity to assist a threatened species'.


Koala, threatened species profile 

Car ploughs into spectators at Rally Championship
 
Staging Car Races in Nine State Forests of NSW 2014

Celebrating Fossil Fuel Culture on Forest Roads  2013 

Update:
Racing drivers generated a lot of dust in a landscape cracked by drought. They complained that Valla was too hard “to navigate due to excessive dust and inadequate lighting.” Maybe they will refrain from driving with ‘impaired vision’. 16.09.2015

WRC on collision course in forest habitat : Norwegian rally driver, Mads Østberg was admitted to hospital after a collision with a logging truck. FOUR crashes during September's World Rally Championships have sparked calls for a re-think of next year's event. 17.10.2015 coffs coast advocate

Image:
Koala, Brehm's Life of Animals