The Marine Environment of the sand flats of RALPHS BAY

As a child I often accompanied my father, a natural history photographer, to the virtually pristine Ralphs Bay, the only marine development then being the defunct canal. Our favourite location for wading birds’ nests was a small, sandy spit, which is still there, but the nests have probably gone.

As an adult, I have led many excursions to the mud and sand flats of the same area, to teach others about the importance of the natural environment of these habitats. They are not just sand and mud, but where many animals and algae live, usually on or just under the top layer of sediments. Only centimetres lower, the anaerobic (no oxygen) area begins where natural bacteria and fungi change and recycle used chemicals into nitrates which in turn produce nitrogen to be dispersed back into the atmosphere again. Recycling also includes the ultimate return of critical plant nutrients to the water. All wetlands in the world have these major functions and therefore are vital to the future as we know it.

Until recent years, wetlands were often used as land-fill or rubbish tips, and even more recently, residential areas. Environments like Ralphs Bay have a natural job to do by providing habitats for marine animals and producing clean air and water. To interfere with these systems only adds to environmental problems already happening.

Elizabeth T.
Taroona