"Sheree Marris on ABC's Catalyst program" by Admin
Last night (April 8, 2008, Catalyst featured Sheree Marris, Parks Victoria Board member, Kama Seatra writer, the Octopus... Read More
MESA is a national organisation that brings together people interested in the study and enjoyment of coastal and marine environments.
MESA provides a forum for sharing ideas to facilitate the development of leading environmental education and interpretation programs.
MESA also promotes the sustainable use of marine and coastal environments through education.
Seaweek is a national initiative conducted annually to focus community awareness, provide information and encourage an appreciation of our marine and coastal environments. Each year a different theme is chosen.
Seaweek is a celebration of the uniqueness of our "Ocean Planet"
Our aims are to:
Support educators in delivering best practice marine education in the Australasian region
Promote networking through the MESA website, forums and the MESA newsletter "Undercurrents"
Facilitate training, workshops and conferences for members
Develop community understanding, appreciation and action for the marine and coastal environment through activities.
Encourage and contribute to national and international marine education initiatives.
April 2008
Special Offer for MESA Members
A Reef in Time
The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End
A new book by Charlie Veron
A copy is available to a MESA member who wishes to review it. Email the web manager if you are interested.
Information Sheets, Sawfish videos,Teaching activities and more online
In 2008 Seaweek’s theme is "Extinction - a Saw point" highlighting the plight of the declining sawfish.
“Sawfish populations have declined over the years because of pressures imposed on them from fishing and modification of their habitat. Sawfish are vulnerable to most forms of fishing in particular net fisheries as at any size their toothed rostrum is easily entangled in the mesh“
Your school's task is to design and construct a banner highlighting some aspects of this year's theme relating to threatened Australian marine species.
CANBERRA, March 2 AAP - The green sawfish has been listed as vulnerable under federal
environmental laws, making it illegal to catch the fish within 200 nautical miles of the Australian
shoreline.
The sawfish, which takes its name from its flattened head and elongated snout studded with up
to 28 pairs of teeth, is virtually extinct in south-east Asia and rare outside of northern Australia.
"This listing will make it illegal to kill, harm or take green sawfish in Commonwealth waters," Environment Minister Peter Garrett said in a statement. "The green sawfish faces ongoing threats from accidental catch in fishing nets, from illegal fishing for fins and rostrums - the distinctive saw-toothed snouts - and from habitat degradation through coastal development."
The green sawfish was once found as far south as Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, but is now rarely found south of Cairns. It is listed as endangered in NSW waters, vulnerable in the Northern Territory and totally protected in Western Australia.
The International Sea Turtle Society convenes an annual symposium to bring people together to promote the exchange of information that advances the global knowledge of sea turtle biology and conservation
The International Youth Coastal Conference 2008 19th to 22nd October 2008
Townsville, Queensland, Australia
The International Youth Coastal Conference is the culmination of a process. Students prepare 40 minute workshops to present to their peers at the conference on a marine or coastal topic, relevant to their local area.
Lloyd and a student holding
a model BioSUB.
Photo: Border Mail
Atlantica Expeditions A working group known as the Atlantica Expedition has set the goal of establishing the first undersea colony for permanent human habitation. A crew of former astronauts, NASA engineers, aquanauts, medical personnel, filmmakers, educators, and people from other walks of life has been assembled to participate directly.
The crew includes Australian Lloyd Godson. Lloyd recently won the $50,000 Australian Geographic "Live your dream" wildest adventure competition for his BioSUB project. The project was an international sensation, resulting in Lloyd being named as the Australian Geographic Society's "Adventurer of the Year Award" for 2007.
International Pacific Marine Educators Conference '08 Marine educators worldwide will gather in the tropical Australian city of Townsville to share resources and to continue to ongoing efforts to build a network aimed at ensuring the health of the Pacific and the communities who depend upon it. The conference dates are October 16 to 21, 2008 and web conferencing will allow virtual participation for educators who are unable to travel to Australia.