Sydney's noisy locals

Author Michael Troy

Nestled beneath the grand sandstone entrance to Sydney Harbour is a marine reserve, a place where Sydney's rich marine environment really bustles. Winter is probably the busiest period with tenants and visitors on the move. Around late May the water temperature suddenly drops to 16 degrees as the warm tropical currents lose their influence. The water becomes clearer but is sort of wilder and more erratic as the days alternate between crisp, calm sunny winter conditions and wild storms.

National Parks and Wildfire Service Ranger Julie Bourne has been living in an old house in the quarantine station just above the colony and for years has monitored their progress, tracking them with small radar transmitters. The little penguins mate for life and she knows them all virtually by name now. While nothing is more spectacular than watching two penguins race through the water chasing and feeding on a school of fish, on the land they are vulnerable. Last year a single dog killed nearly ten birds when he gained access to their rookery through an unsecured building site. The locals on Smedleys Point keep an eye out for the birds but could do little to prevent this tragedy. Many residents report strange boats late at night and even have penguin ladders in their pools to let the birds enjoy a swim safely.

The local sailing school "Penguinsail Manly" is named after the little birds. As the yachts glide past every day the penguins bark and call out, often racing along beside the bow of the yacht’s which have flying penguins depicted on the bow. They probably find some comfort in the yacht’s size as during Autumn in late April the penguins often have "raft ups" of up to 20 birds near Quarantine beach to fool predators they are a bigger stronger creature.

As the harbour gets cleaner the fish and their not so welcome predators have returned. One group of trainee sailors in February last year were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a large tiger or bull shark racing past the boat as it pursued a school of fish near Davis Marina. The locals say sharks were pretty common a few decades ago with a huge white pointer beached on the mud flats near North Harbour in the late eighties. An attempt by ocean world staff to rescue the giant only resulted in its drowning when its gills filled with water as it was dragged backwards into the deeper water.

While the penguins are Manly’s most famous locals , there's a lot more going on in these waters. For example in "The Sound" as it is officially known (the area between the heads or entrance to Sydney harbour), up to 550 species of fish have been known to visit. The sheer scale of this diversity can only be explained to tourists by pointing out that in the whole of the United Kingdom there are just over 100 varieties of fish. One of the hardest to spot but most beautiful locals is the Weedy Sea dragon. A magnificent creature it looks just like a piece of floating seaweed. The seadragons are one of hundreds of marine animals sharing four types of habitat in the one small area with seagrass meadows, rocky reefs, seaweed beds and even sponge gardens all within a five minute boat ride of Manly ferry wharf.

As the first blasts of winter hit Sydney in June the humpback highway also swings into full speed just offshore. Around 4,000 of the maxis of the ocean now pass Sydney in the first few weeks of the month, many of them each year follow the same path and pass the heads at precisely the same time down to the day and hour each year. There's a few new comers each year of course and some even stop in for a quick break on the long journey from the Antarctic feeding grounds to Harvey Bay in Queensland. Other whales also pop in from time to time. In August 1999 a southern right whale nicknamed Alex stayed in north harbour for several weeks, causing traffic jams of onlookers and scaring one of the local sailors with a wild breach just near his dinghy. This year three southern right whales visited north harbour in August and trainee sailors nearly collided with them off Reef Beach. The whales obviously didn't mind the traffic though as the stayed in the harbour for several days and attracted world headlines after cavorting underneath the Harbour Bridge.

In November the local birds will be joined by their cousins from America, the shear waters. They fly across the Pacific in their millions and if all goes well, lay their eggs on exactly the same day in late November on Australia's east coast. In 2000 terrible storms took a devastating toll on the young birds with tens of thousands collapsing and dying in sight of the safety of Sydney. Scientist Nick Klomp from Charles Sturt University described the event as a "beach wreck" but with 23 million of the birds known to visit Australia he said the species would easily survive. Nick has also used radio transmitters to track the small birds (commonly known as mutton birds) as they fly from Sydney to the Antarctic to feed during their breeding season. He believes few people understand the daily battle to survive that so many creatures go through right on our doorstep.

For a group of trainee inshore skippers from England this wild side to Sydney has many aspects and in mid winter navigating the waters of Sydney harbour under full sail in the darkness is an experience they say they will never forget. As they glide silently under the rugged cliffs of north head following a bearing of zero degrees they realise that there's an untamed part of Sydney, probably the only city in the world to still have wild places in its midst. Pulling into the marina at midnight they head home to their beds, still beaming from such an adventure just five minutes from their homes.

Penguins of Manly

Did you know that Little Penguins or as they are sometimes called Fairy penguins are only found in Australia and New Zealand.

The colony at Manly (in a secret location) currently has 47 breeding pairs and is one of only five mainland colonies in South east Australia.

Penguins only like water between 5 and 30 degrees. Because unlike other birds they cannot pant to cool down they cannot tolerate land temperatures above 35 degrees and Port Stephens is about as far north as they will go. Their northern most breeding area is Manly and another colony on Lion Island near Pittwater.

It's Been a Tough Life at Manly

In the 1940's penguins were common around Manly but locals kept their breeding areas a secret. They had good reason to do so as in 1954 the Sunday Telegraph reported 300 penguins were shot at North Head for reasons unknown.

In 1956 a tar spill from roadworks killed 100 at Collins Flat. Now urbanisation has restricted the suitable breeding areas while foxes, cats and domestic dogs have taken a heavy toll.

On one night in 1995 eight penguins were killed by a single dog in a residential street while in 1985 a single dog which swam from a moored boat also killed about ten penguins.

There have also been reports of jetkiers harassing penguins although some scientists suggest the birds agility in the water would make this highly unlikely. After all they avoid the jetcat every day. The birds however need a combination of rocky foreshores and rough vegetation to survive as well as a healthy harbour.

The Manly colony is listed as in danger and officially protected although as was the case with the recent oil spill at Gore Cove the birds need help to remain a viable population. Boat owners have a responsibility not to harass or disturb the birds which are often a spectacular and welcoming site on Sydney harbour.

Penguin Watcher's Guide

There's still hope the Penguins of Manly will stay and here's a little information about their day to day lives. Penguinsail and Manly Yacht Club are also helping with a scientific study of their feeding habits and you can help by logging on with sightings on HTTP://LIFE.CSU.EDU.AU/PENGUINS or for more information on this project jump to http://abc.net.au/news/features/stories/s57478.htm Life for a penguin begins in the winter months.

June - August

Between JUNE and AUGUST the penguin blokes return home from the sea to reconstruct or dig new burrows and to attract the local sheilas. So in winter its a busy period in Manly as work begins in earnest and the allure of love on the rocks is around.

Penguins often have only one mate and retain the same one for life. However like humans there are a few tarts and on average one in four birds changes mates every year.

Late August to November

most colonies only one chick survives but in Manly (must be the air) both chicks usually make it. It takes 33 to 37 days for the eggs to incubate and hatch with both parents And its time to pay the price for the winter courtship. A clutch of two almost identical white eggs weighing about 55 grams (compare it to the ones in your fridge) is laid. In taking it in turn to forage or sit on the nest.

November

Spring is well underway when the chicks appear in November. The chicks cannot raise their heads when first hatched and their eyes remain closed until the second or third day when an eyeslit becomes evident. They are covered in down and remain in the burrow until fledged. Adults again alternate in feeding duties and staying at home. Usually for about 2 to 3 weeks after hatching.

December

The chicks are described as fledglings and more independent. They will be left alone all day and may sit outside their nests waiting for both parents to return home. This is a social period and in the middle of twilight season for yachties. Often in the sound as dusk approaches up to 20 or 30 birds will gather for a quick chat before returning to their nests. As the yachts glide past we often get a close up view at this arvo chat.

January to April

And many of the chicks are getting too big to stay at home. Generally after 7 to 9 weeks the chicks leave the nest and head out to sea to mature.

In Manly there are some late leavers though as they are known to double brood which means they have two sets of chicks. One early and one late. They are the only known colony to do this. Also local availability of food at this time is vital as if there's not enough the chicks will starve.

Scientists are still not exactly sure what they eat but it looks as though they like small schooling fish like anchovies , pilchards and hardyheads. All of which are often in plentiful supply around the Sound in summer as the warm tropical currents bring a fish bounty.

March to May

Autumn and March, April, May and its time for The Moult. Sounds disgusting but the adults have seen the kids off and are looking for a new frock to wear for winter. They need time to fatten themselves up before this big event. Luckily there's been plenty of fish in the harbour this year so the birds are well placed to moult.

When moulting they must remain ashore and cannot forage until their new plumage is waterproof. Once its okay they're off for a real Seachange where they hang out till its time to come back again.

The young birds often come back each year to moult but will not be ready to breed till about 3 or 4 years of age. Many however its thought disperse to other colonies - see the world or just never come back. It's a bit like humans really.

Harbour Facts

Do you know how Sydney harbour formed? About 6 thousand years ago the sea rose to its present level after an ice age. Up until then Sydney harbour was actually a river valley carved out of Hawkesbury sandstone terrain of steep hills long narrow gorges , deep rocky valleys and intricately eroded cliffs. The central ridge of North Head consists of Aeolian sand dunes overlaying sandstone. Remains of basalt dikes are visible at Bottle and Glass, Bradleys Head and North Head. The soils are typical Hawkesbury sandstone - highly erodible, shallow, stony, infertile quartz sands. Doesn't sound too good but in reality plants had adapted well to this environment with their vegetation of heath, scrub and woodland. However any increase in nutrient from urban runoff can have damaging effects. Hence its not hard to see where weeds and runoff has caused problems.

 Davis Marina wishes to thank Michael Troy for providing us with these interesting articles

 6/2/9