mrmoshe

Mother in Law fish to blame. Pete. ___________________________________ NINE family members, including three children, from a remote Territory community are being treated for food poisoning after eating a locally caught fish. The family group from Angurugu on Groote Eylandt were diagnosed with potentially fatal ciguatera poisoning from a gifted reef fish, known as a mother-in-law fish. Four seriously ill adults were flown to the Royal Darwin Hospital yesterday. A 40-year-old woman is in the High Dependency ward. Two women, aged 54 and 52, and a 45-year-old man are in a stable condition. They are likely to be monitored for two to three days. There was no fish left for authorities to analyse. Director of the Centre for Disease Control in Darwin, Vicki Krause said the poison can be very serious when it accumulates in the body. "Initially people will normally get nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea," she said. "They can then go on to have a tingling feeling around their lips, a tingling around their hands and their feet, they can get intense itching, headaches and muscle aches. They can also get a slow heart beat and low blood pressure." Symptoms arise between 1 hour and 30 hours after eating. Ciguatera is a poison found in coral beds.

Sad news. A man has drowned in Sydney harbour today during that violent storm lashing the city. He died after capsizing a dinghy while trying to secure a boat being damaged by the high winds. Here is the story from today's S.M.H. Pete. _____________________________________________ Storms bring death, miss dam A man died after his dinghy flipped as he tried to secure a boat during wild weather on the harbour on Sydney's North Shore this morning, police say. The 38-year-old man was working on a waterfront building site at Mosman about 8.40am when he saw a boat moored nearby being damaged by the wind, police said. He launched a dinghy and headed towards the boat to secure it, police said. The dinghy apparently flipped over, throwing the man into the water, police said. Passing NSW Maritime boating officers were first on the scene and pulled two men from the harbour, a spokeswoman said. Police said the unconscious man was taken to Mosman wharf by the Water Police. Police officers performed CPR until ambulance crews arrived, a NSW Ambulance Service spokesman said. The man was in cardiac arrest and taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition, he said. Police said the man died shortly after. He was yet to be formally identified, police said. Heaviest rain in months Storms dumped some of the heaviest rain on Sydney in months, with significant falls also in both the Illawarra and Hunter regions. The western suburbs reported heavy falls, some exceeding the average for the whole of September, but the Warragamba Dam catchment once again missed out. Apart from localised flooding, there have been no reports of damage, but the State Emergency Service has warned the region to batten down with gale-force winds expected later today. The heavy rain caused havoc for commuters, with flooded roads and traffic delays. The Roads and Traffic Authority NSW reported flooding on roads at Hinchinbrook, Fairfield, Drummoyne, Cheltenham, Thornleigh, Dee Why, South Windsor, Liverpool and Audley Weir. Traffic lights were blacked out at Newtown, Belrose, Kings Cross, Kensington, Darlinghurst, Ingleburn, Marayong, Webbs Creek, Bowen Mountain, Hilltop, Blacktown, Avoca, Scarborough, Shellharbour and Bowral. Most of Sydney's major motorways were affected by the wind and rain, an NRMA spokesman said. Some cars travelling through big puddles have suffered auto-electrical failure. By 6am, the NRMA had been called out to 221 roadside service jobs. Flights in and out of Sydney Airport have been delayed by the strong winds, an airport spokesman said. Rail services have also been affected. Train services on the North Shore, Western and Northern lines were delayed by up to 30 minutes after a tree fell on the line at Waverton, a RailCorp spokeswoman said. CityRail said there were heavy delays on South Coast line services. Trains in both directions were delayed because of damage to the line between Scarborough and Waterfall. A replacement bus service was running between Thirroul and Waterfall. There was no information on when regular services would be restored. Flooding forced the closure of Eastwood station, in the city's north. A replacement bus service was arranged to run in both directions between Eastwood and Epping stations. Passengers were advised to travel directly to Epping for a train service. Flooding was also reportedly affecting Martin Place in the city. Strong winds had caused 15 minute delays to Manly ferries and water flowing over the weir at Parramatta had closed its Rivercat wharf, a Sydney Ferries spokesman said. He said the Parramatta Rivercat would start from Rydalmere until further notice, with buses running between the wharves. Bus services were running on schedule, a State Transit Authority spokeswoman said. The Bureau of Meteorology says 90.6 millimetres of rain deluged metropolitan Sydney city between 9pm and 5am. Rain misses Warragamba Dam Sydney's September average is 68.6mm, but up to 5am today Parramatta had received 74mm, Granville 73mm and Homebush 62mm. There was also steady rain on the city's North Shore with Chatswood recording 39mm, Turramurra 32mm and Frenchs Forest 29mm. However, Sydney Catchment Authority figures show the Warragamba catchment received only 15mm to 9am this morning, not enough to boost the dam level significantly. In the Hunter and Central Coast, Gosford recorded 30mm and Nora Head 25mm, but it was patchy in some areas with less than 10mm at Cessnock. In the Illawarra, Wollongong reported 26mm, Bellambi 52mm and Camden 41mm.

G'day Mick, Here's one from Victoria (hence the luderick title) Sounds yummy. Pete. __________________________________ Baked Luderick Chef: Peter Coulton Degree of difficulty: Low Cooking time: 45 minutes You need: 1 kilo Luderick 1 medium onion ½ cup claret 1 rasher bacon chopped garlic 1 red chilli ½ teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon paprika ½ teaspoon ginger Method: 1 Luderick around 1 kilo. Clean the fish, make sure you remove the black from the inside of the fish. After cleaning rub the inside and outside of the fish with salt and pepper, and stuff with the onion, garlic, paprika, cinnamon and chopped bacon. Lay the red chilli, thinly sliced, over the fish, and sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon and dot with butter. Place fish in a well-greased tray, pour over the claret and bake in a moderate oven, basting often for ¾ hour.

Hi Fletcher. I fished narra this afternoon for 3 bream..all going 25cm to fork (all released) and something that spooled me before spitting the hook. It took me by surprise and the drag was down fairly tight too. Might have been a stingray or a small jew. I am using light line at the moment. All fish on cut pillies. Some nice size flatties in the lake on the chew at the moment also. Nailed a 65cm model last week. You might try the end of Robertson St...seems to be OK at present..or even Wimbledon Avenue. The caravan park is due to begin sand dredging any day now (they were supposed to begin last week but no activity yet) Another good spot is near the cricket nets at the Northern end of the lake near the footy oval...always a few fishos there hunting flatties near dusk. Best of luck. Pete.

R.I.P Vale..Steve Irwin. You were so passionate about our wonderful country and it's remarkable wildlife. You will be sadly missed by millions of people around the world. A great ambassador for our country. Pete. Stingray fatalaties are extremely rare and this looks like a freak accident. Here is an article from today's paper on stingray risks: Stingray risks: David Williams There are 480 known species of stingray and "a stingray lashes its tail only as a defensive measure when it is caught, stepped on, or otherwise disturbed", says Museum Victoria. According to a 1995 publication, Dangerous Marine Creatures - Field Guide for Medical Treatment, stingrays are the largest of the venomous fish. The tail of the stingray carries at least one barb or spine that may be up to 37 centimetres long. "Penetration of a body cavity by a stingray barb may cause major morbidity and even death, particularly with cardiac injury, and requires early surgical referral and management," it states. Penetrating cardiac injuries have generally been fatal, the publication said. In 1938, an adult women died after a stab wound to the heart by a stingray. The autopsy showed that the ventricles had been completely transfixed by the barb. An Australian soldier died in 1945 after a stab wound to the left heart while swimming in seawater baths near Melbourne, Victoria.

A side splitter there Pete.

Thanks Flattieman...always a good read on Friday nights with your great tidbits we all missed in the news. Thanks again...keep 'em coming. Pete.

Did anyone catch Channel Nine's News tonight? They had a report on heavy metals contamination of seaweed in Sydney Harbour. It is apparently poisoning marine life that feeds on the seaweed, which inturn is also poisoning the fish that eat that marine life. Just another chapter in the sorry saga of the effects of the dioxin contamination which brought about the ban on commercial fishing in the Harbour this year. Here is the text of the report which aired on Channel Nine tonight: Pete. _____________________________________________ Seaweed a deadly diet for Sydney Harbour shrimp Thursday August 31, 2006 By Dale Paget National Nine News EXCLUSIVE: Earlier this year we learned dioxin had poisoned fish in Sydney Harbour — now there's more bad news. Scientists are warning that harbour seaweed is contaminated with heavy metals and it's taking a catastrophic toll on some marine life. The contamination was revealed after University of New South Wales experts tested seaweed from the harbour floor. "They are at high enough concentrations to cause the death of small crustaceans," marine biologist Dr Emma Johnston told National Nine News. The most vulnerable are tiny shrimp-like creatures that eat the poisoned seaweed. The study reports that up to 75 percent of their offspring are not able to survive the toxic diet. "These small animals may be tiny but they are also the food for larger animals such as fish," explained Dr Johnston. The source of heavy metals such as lead copper and zinc is diverse — anti-fouling paint on boats as well as urban and industrial runoff are major contributors to the pollution. Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said some was dumped in the harbour along with dioxins decades ago when pollution controls should have been better. "Of course heavy metals have got into the seaweed and into the seabed," he said. Dr Johnston believes the levels are an indicator of the potential for further damage to marine life. "The contaminations in the seaweed are as high as we find elsewhere in the world in heavily polluted harbours," she said. Half of the harbour still has to be surveyed but Rushcutters Bay and Mort Bay at Balmain are heavy metal hot spots where scientists warn marine life is in jeopardy.

Correcamundo Flattieman. Your French is very good, even for a 2nd language. My apologies to any French Fishraiders out there. Pete.

Yeah probably right. Here's a quote from the dolphin: "je suis un dauphin français et ne donne pas une merde" Get out your babelfish translators folks!! Pete.

He must have just "Flipper"ed out!!

Unusual creature from the deep Wednesday, 30 August 2006 by Michael Thompson You will certainly not find it in your local fish co-op and its strange almost prehistoric appearance makes it more suited to some primeval sea than the waters off the Camden Haven. However a group of Diamond Head campers came across the strange creature from the deep on Friday August 18 washed up at the southern end of South Beach. The ribbonfish or more correctly known by its scientific name of Lepidopus caudatus is a rare visitor to our shores. That is because the two metre long fish lives at depths of up to 1000 metres in the temperate waters off the south eastern coast of Australia. Despite several attempts by the campers to return the fish to the ocean the ribbonfish with its huge five centimetre eyes and long thin body continued to swim back to the beach. "I've never seen one before. It was still breathing when I saw it and there were no obvious injuries on it," National Parks and Wildlife ranger Andrew Marshall said. "It had a very primitive looking mouth and tiny teeth with small bumps all over its textured skin and a long whip tail." The rare fish which is being kept on ice at the Laurieton fish co-op will be transported by refrigerated truck to the Sydney fish markets next Monday to be picked up by staff from the Australian Museum. Australian Museum fish collection manager Mark McGrouther says the fish will be preserved and photographed and added to their enormous collection of fishes which are kept for research purposes. "Being a deep water fish we don't know much about the ribbonfish but they probably eat small bony fish, squid and planktonic crustaceans," Mr McGrouther said. "The fish will help us to establish their distribution range around Australia." _______________________________________________ Here's a pic of one from another site: Pete.

Here's one pissed off dolphin in France: I wonder what the locals did to make him do this: Pete. ________________________________________ Dolphin runs amok off French coast An enraged dolphin has been terrorising the French Atlantic coast for several weeks, attacking boats and knocking fishermen into the sea. "He's like a mad dog," said Hneri Le Lay, president of the association of fishermen and yachtsmen of the port of Brezellec, in Brittany. "He has caused at least 1,500 euros ($2,530) worth of damage in the past few weeks." The dolphin, named Jean Floch, has destroyed rowboats, overturned open boats, flooded engines and twisted mooring lines. Two fishermen were knocked into the sea after the dolphin overturned their boat. Jean Floch has been a popular and familiar sight along the coast of Brittany since 2002. But experts say that he must have been excluded from his group recently to have turned so violent. According to Sami Hassani, of the Oceanapolis Department of Sea Mammals, "because of their dominant personalities and their sexual maturity, males could become dangerous."

Sand dredging in Narrabeen Lake is due to begin this week. 43,000 cubic metres of sand is to be removed either side of the Ocean St. bridge. There were some worries of it impacting on the sea grasses in the area, but they seem to have taken that into account. Here is the story from today's Manly Daily: Pete. _____________________________________________ Project won't harm seagrass John Morcombe 30Aug06 EXCAVATION of sand at the mouth of Narrabeen Lagoon is expected to start this week, with about 43,000cu m to be removed and used to nourish the Collaroy-Narrabeen beachfront. The contractor, Kingston Civil Constructions, will drape silk curtains to prevent turbid water affecting nearby seagrass beds. The project is being jointly funded by Warringah Council, Pittwater Council and the State Natural Resources Department, which has contributed $500,000 towards the project. Work is expected to be completed by December. The sand will be removed from the lagoon entrance, to the east and west of the Ocean St bridge, and operations will be run from the Birdwood Park car park. There have been seven major clearance operations at the lagoon entrance since 1975, with the most recent in 2002, when about 40,000cu m of sand was removed. A council spokesman said the removal of sand from the lagoon's entrance is an integral part of the management of the lagoon. Warringah Council customer and community services director Gary Thomson said no seagrass beds would be affected by the sand clearance. ``Pollution control devices will be put in place during the dredging, including silk curtains where the machinery is operating.''

Hmmm. seems that there is yet another restriction coming for boaties. It now looks like it's going to be illegal to drop an anchor off Narrabeen Beach and Clovelly/Tamarama Beaches. This latest retriction is from The Australian Communications and Media Authority and is to protect the undersea cables which come ashore at Narrabeen and down South at Clovelly. The proposed restriction will extend to 40 nautical miles to sea. Yikes. Here is the press release from ACMC on the proposal: :Pc=PC_100695" target="_blank">http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.131352:ST...D::Pc=PC_100695</a> See map of where the proposed restrictions will extend: http://www.acma.gov.au/acmainterwr/_assets...ion%20zones.pdf Here is the story in today's Manly Daily.. Pete. ___________________________________ Ban would sink business John Morcombe 30Aug06 TWO Manly ferries scuttled off Narrabeen could be off-limits to divers and local dive operators could be put out of business under a proposal to ban boats anchoring in a huge zone off Narrabeen Beach. The Australian Communications and Media Authority is proposing to ban anchoring within 2km of the Southern Cross Cable and the Australia Japan Cable, both of which come ashore at Narrabeen. The idea is to protect the cables which carry international voice and data traffic. The banned area extends east from Narrabeen Beach for 40 nautical miles (75km) but allows for a small area around the wreck of the Duckenfield, which sank off Narrabeen in 1889, in which anchors can be dropped. But critics of the proposal say the authority is ignorant of the existence of the ships' graveyard further off Narrabeen Beach, where about 12 vessels of various types have been scuttled to form an artificial reef. Two of the scuttled vessels are the former Manly ferries, Dee Why and Bellubera, which were scuttled in 1976 and 1980, respectively. A former minesweeper, a linseed oil tanker, a dredge and a tug were also scuttled to form the artificial reef. Access to popular fishing and diving spots off Long Reef would also be affected. Southern Cross Divers owner Barry Hallett said his business at The Spit would be ``decimated'' if the proposed ban proceeds. ``It will stop us diving there,'' he said. ``I specialise in deep diving, which is deeper than the recreational depth of 40m, and this ban would decimate my business. ``The ships' graveyard is slap-bang in the middle of the proposed exclusion zone and it's where most of my business is conducted. ``It's just not viable for us.'' Pro Dive training manager John Shaw said the proposed ban would effect the operations of the Manly business for which he works. ``It will not only affect the business but also the safety of it,'' he said. ``Normally we drop an anchor off Long Reef and the divers use it as a point of reference or they follow the line to the bottom. ``When divers have to decompress, they normally hang on to the anchor line. ``What is proposed is overkill.'' Dive operators hope to meet Australian Communications and Media Authority officers to discuss and submit objections, which must be received by the authority by November 10.

Here's a blast from the past. Who remembers the SS Minnow? The boat on which Gilligan and the crew were shipwrecked in the the 1960's TV series. Well...the boat has been put up for sale in Canada. And no...Ginger & MaryAnne aren't included in the sale as deckies! Here's the newspaper article: Pete. ____________________________________________ Gilligan's ship up for sale. THE ship that stranded the crew and eclectic passengers of 1960s' television classic Gilligan's Island on an uncharted desert island following a torrential storm is up for sale. The SS Minnow set out on a "three-hour tour" with actor Bob Denver (Gilligan) and his gang, who wound up as castaways for three years on US primetime television, and their buffoonery was replayed around the world for many decades. "It's the same boat that was on Gilligan's Island ... They used it when they went out on the water," said agent George Schultz, who is selling the boat for a retired friend, Canadian Scott Taylor. The vessel, named after former US Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow, whom show creator Sherwood Schwartz was quoted as saying "ruined television", is the third of four boats used in the sitcom, according to a fan website. One was towed to Kauai for beach scenes. Another was rented for the opening credits in Honolulu Harbour and the other was a prop built by television studio CBS in the second season. Taylor's Minnow was filmed in the opening credits of the second season at Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, Mr Schultz said. According to the show's theme song: "The weather started getting rough/the tiny ship was tossed/if not for the courage of the fearless crew/the Minnow would be lost." Indeed, the real Minnow capsized off Canada's West Coast during a trip from Alaska in 1993 after hitting a reef, ruining all of its electrical systems. Its American owner agreed to sell it to Mr Taylor for a mere 3500 Canadian dollars ($4165) if he agreed to restore the 11m mahogany Wheeler Express Cruiser - which he did, sinking more than $US180,000 ($237,500) in repairs into it. Mr Taylor only discovered later that the boat, then named Bluejacket, was the famed SS Minnow from the television show, Mr Schultz said. "He knew the make of the boat and they're good boats, so he bought it and afterwards he learned the truth when he compared the serial numbers," he said. Its registration has since been changed to match its stage name, he added. For $C99,000 ($118,100), a new owner could buy a piece of television nostalgia, Mr Schultz said, and take it out for a "three-hour tour" - or more. Mr Taylor "has had some good trips on it," he said. "And he has never become shipwrecked."

Collecting lemonade bottles to get the threepence deposit back at the local milk bar. Sure did boost the two shillings pocket money my folks gave me each week. Ahhh memories! Pete.

Wow!! You DID have a good day amongst the blackfish. Some good feeds at your place over the next week. Well done on a top day. Pete.

I was down at Narra Lake as well this arvo (land based) and managed a nice flattie at 66cm on cut pillie. Didn't he go!! The drag on my new Stradic reel has never screamed so loud. Unfortunately I left my digi at home not expecting to catch much today, so no piccie. She was released right away as most this size in the lake are good old breeders. I also managed a few just sized bream on white bait and was busted off in the weeds by another that also had the drag screaming. Tried plastics for a while for bugger all bites. All fish released. T'was good fun catching them though as I was hanging out for a session after being home bound for days looking after a sick missus. Pete.

Beer & fishing usually go hand in hand.... BUT!!..... Here's some more fishing ads for your enjoyment: pete. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/24795/never_...hing_with_beer/ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/186208/fishing/ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/112365/great_fishing/

Thanks for the tip Ken, I just switched to Mozilla and boy oh boy...it's far superior to IE..thanks. I also d/loaded the spyware program and found 17 spyware items on a 3 month old machine. It's a real eye opener to how malicious some seemingly innocent web sites are using this stuff. Thanks again for the tip and I'll make sure I keep up with the updates. Pete.

Someone must have told this bloke to REALLY get into shark fishing!!! Pete. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2415/anything_for_fishing/

Nice little session there Shane. Some nice fish landed and a good day out to cleanse the angling soul I'm sure. Wish I had done the same, but stuck at home looking after who's not feeling too well today. Well done, and all on plastics too. Pete.

Great report. it's so nice to see we have such pristine wilderness still left within such a short distance of the big smoke. Let's hope the Government never make it easy to get to these areas so that every man and his dog go down there and spoil what looks like such a gem. It's great that you put in the hard slog just to get to this beautiful area...must have been a wonderful experience to see the majesty of those cliffs and the crystal clear waters at the bottom. I bet you froze your butts off overnight though as it was bloody cold up that way. Well done on a fabulous adventure...and well done nailing a few browns to boot. Pete.

Thanks Mick, I'll follow your lead again this week and added one other for a 4 leg place parlay. Melb Race 8 ...Number 11, Sunshine Power. Good luck to you. Pete.