Happenings at last week’s Meeting
We were back at the Sailing Club for this week’s Meeting and President Charles began the proceedings with the Toast and then asked Tony for the Invocation (well read Tony. Ed.). Charles then welcomed our Guests, Pauline Porcaro and Simon Brookes and our Guest Speaker Jeff Wier from the Dolphin Research Institute. He then handed the Meeting over to tonight’s Chair, Bob Donaldson.
Bob read out the apologies and then gave a brief introduction to Jeff, noting that the Institute was in Hastings and Jeff had been a founding member some 20 years ago and was now the Executive Director. Bob then handed the floor to Jeff.
Jeff began by talking about the fact that we have pods of both Common and Bottle Nosed Dolphins that inhabit Port Philip and Westernport Bays on a permanent basis. They share the Port Philip Bay with some 7 million humans and seem to have immune systems which allow them to bounce back from pollution events, like those that occur after heavy rainfall, much better that their counterparts at other spots along the southern coastline.
The Institute has been conducting long term studies on the two types of Dolphins and Whales that inhabit our southern coastlines. They have been building a catalogue of the Dolphins as their dorsal fins act like fingerprints with no two being alike. At the moments they have 260+ identified individuals and have seen a steady growth in numbers between 2005 and 2023. In addition, they have the Two Bays Whales Project to monitor and document whales as they migrate passed our coast. An interesting point that Jeff made was that there are no credible studies, worldwide, that indicate that wind farms have any detrimental effect on whales.
As well as the whales and dolphins, the Institute works on tracking and improving the local environments. Jeff noted that Wester Port Bay had lost much of its mangrove forest, and this had a detrimental effect on the environment. Other areas being studied are birds, seagrass meadows, soft coral and the dying kelp forests. He pointed out that our Bay assets are far too precious to risk losing.
Lastly, Jeff spoke about the Institutes education programs. One of their success stories is the creation of I See, I Care ambassadors from local high schools who learn the environmental message and then pass that on to other local schools. There are over 40,000 children being peer-taught each year with 9000 ambassadors, some of whom progress to being University interns.
After taking a lot of interested questions from the Members, Bob thanked Jeff for taking the time to give his talk. (and allowed him to eat. Ed)
After dinner, Bob called for the Presidents Report.
Charles briefly spoke about the Dromana Community Gardens urgent need for Members. Membership is $10 p.a. and there are Tuesday morning workshops at which the Members help maintain the Garden. He also spoke about next week's Committees Meeting and about the attempt that will be made to add more structure to the Meeting and its Agenda. Tony added that he will be tracking attendance at these Meetings as well as the more formal Sailing Club Meetings.
The Chair now called for the Treasurers Report and the Secretary’s Report. Both Reports were – Nil so he proceeded to Directors Reports.
Mark reminded the Meeting that the Movie Night was the 18th and announced that the response from the cluster had been promising.
Chris asked for volunteers for the Bunnings BBQ on the 19th. He also announced that we had had a promising and positive response from our Market stallholders regarding our dates conflicting with the “new” Red Hill Market at Seawinds.
Next, we had Members Reports.
Marion spoke about our Open Gardens on the 19th of November. Volunteers were needed from 10 until 4 for such things as signs and collecting money. 4 people will be required at Elaines and 8 will be needed at Judiths.
A quick Lotto draw, won by Greg, was followed by an even faster Fines session.
Bob handed the Meeting back to Charles who thanked all our Guests and declared the Meeting closed at 7:58 (early!! Ed.)
