Sandringham Foreshore Association Newsletter

Winter Edition 2015

SANDRINGHAM FORESHORE ASSOCIATION (SFA)

Founded January 2007 ABN 42947116512

A CHARITABLE NOT FOR PROFIT VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION

SFA

PO Box 52

Sandringham 3191

E-mail: sandyforeshore@optusnet.com.au Website: http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/

From the president of SFA, Dr Vicki Karalis

Welcome everybody to our winter newsletter. We hope you are coping well and managing to get out regularly for beach walks despite the cold weather. Professor Tim Flannery We are blessed to have an article written by our patron Professor Tim Flannery about our Bayside environment and helping to keep it clean. I was particularly impressed with his comment "I volunteered to clean the beach around it, picking up plastic bags and other hard rubbish, but after nearly choking on the

stench as I waded through the sickly grey sewerage-like sludge that filled the Cowderoy Street drain, pushing aside the dead birds and toxic scum as I went, I gave up." This is why we love Tim - for his passion, ongoing commitment and caring for our local environment. Many of us continually pick rubbish during our daily walks and it is inspiring that Tim is willing to get his hands dirty and continue being a great role model for our community. Liz Dawes In this issue we also feature Liz Dawes, another inspiring local who lives in Sandringham who has moved from strength to strength after the sad loss of her beautiful son, Connor in 2013. Liz is well regarded and highly respected by our local community. Earlier this year she made us proud as a worthy recipient by being recognised as Bayside's Australia Day Citizen of the Year. The enormous work as Executive Director of the Robert Connor Dawes (RCD) fund dedicated to Connor to raise funds for brain cancer research is inspiring. Please support her cause. As an active member of our community, Liz is also a regular walker of our local beach which she highly values. Please support the RCD fund by contacting Liz directly: liz@rcdfund.org Update on erosion of the Sandringham beaches We met with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Bayside City council to discuss and provide feedback to the report, Sandringham Sand Management Plan, prepared by Cardno Coastal Engineers. This report has now been finalised. For a copy of the report, please contact me directly. We would value your feedback. Fluker post research for monitoring of Sandringham beaches DELWP in conjunction with Bayside City Council, have installed two Fluker Posts at the base of the Royal Avenue groyne and on the Sims St ramp. Beach users are invited to take photos from these fixed points and send through to the web link to monitor the beach profile changes. See the below for more information: https://picasaweb.google.com/114676241519217510044/SAN1Sandringham https://picasaweb.google.com/114676241519217510044/San2Sandringham A Fluker Post allows passers-by to take a photo from the exact same perspective on different days, which they can send to the Fluker Post Research Project. Photos are then arranged in chronological order and stored in an online database. Dr Martin Fluker of Victoria University developed the project and said the posts aim to monitor the visual condition of the changing

environment, and engage with the community. As the beach changes over time we will now have a visual record of that. SFA are organising a demonstration of the Fluker posts on our beach to be held on Saturday July 18th at 11am, at the top of Tennyson St ramp [adjacent to the Sims St parking at Sandringham beach] with Dr Martin Fluker.

Everybody is welcome to attend. We hope that the monitoring of our beach will not delay the necessary management to prevent further erosion of the base of our cliffs from wave action that we see typically over summer-autumn starting from February till May, especially with storms, and again in September with sand movement. For more information please view the following link: https://www.facebook.com/fluker.post

Red Bluff cliffs This beautiful photo illustrates the differences in the Red Bluff cliffs. It was taken by Doug Gimesy, a professional photographer who grew up in Sandringham. He has many photos illustrated on the National Geographic website. Click these links to view Doug's amazing wildlife and landscape photos: http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/tags/gimesy/#discussed

www.facebook.com/DougGimesyPhotography

www.instagram.com/doug_gimesy

Note the Red Bluff cliffs have changed very little apart from some upper cliff erosion due to weathering of the soft Red Bluff sand. The harder Beaumaris sandstone at the base of the cliffs has changed very little. This stone is richer in iron phosphates, which explains why it is slower to erode from wave action. Thanks Doug!

A word from Doug Gimesy

The photo of Red Bluff Cliffs in the foreground was taken from a 1908 post card kindly supplied to me by the Sandringham and District Historical Society Inc.

I grew up in Sandringham and used to climb these cliffs when I was a young boy - nearly 50 years ago.

The cliffs have always been altered by erosion, however I wonder how the rate we see today has been altered by human made climate change, and what changes human impact will continue to have?

Has the rate of natural erosion increased or decreased over the past 100 years since this photo was taken, and how will this rate of change play out in the future I wonder?

Editors Note: Doug Gimesys remarkable composition inspires a walk to the cliffs. While youre there, take a closer look at the lower middle surface area flattened-out from persistent and often clumsy foot-traffic over the soft tan-coloured sedimentary sands. We can all be a little more careful up there and prevent the likelihood of the cliffs being closed to public access, should traffic erosion become further exaggerated. On recent hikes around various parts of ocean-side Malibu and Santa Cruz (California), I found parts of the beach are closed to protect similar features (though not sufficiently to prevent a keen hiker at low tide).

Beaumaris Bay Fossil site (BBFS) update Excavation of site is prohibited Did you know it is an offence to excavate the fossil site and cliffs and carries a maximum penalty of $2000? Please view this sign recently displayed by Bayside City Council at the BBFS.

Fossil finds at BBFS - please email us your interesting fossil finds. These images were discovered and photographed by Murray Orr, a local resident passionate about the fossil site. They are fossilised oyster shells and one is a bivalve fossil shell aged about 5 million years old

National Science Week period (Saturday August 15th to Sunday August 23rd) We are excited by the free presentations and activities organised by MESAC at the Beaumaris Yacht Club during the National Science Week period starting Saturday August 15th till Sunday August 23rd covering key aspects of science and research, natural history and management of Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary and Port Phillip Bay. High quality and engaging sessions will be delivered by experts across many subjects: marine research, geology and fossil beds, foreshore plants, Port Phillip Bay history, Aboriginal Heritage and the role of citizen science and how to participate. The expo of events will raise the profile of MESAC the (Marine Education Science and Community Centre) a new venture to re-build the Beaumaris Yacht Club into a multi-user community facility on the foreshore of the marine sanctuary. For more details see program featured details below and to book for all sessions click on the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/mesac-national-science-week-under-the-lens-at-ricketts-point-port-phillip-bay-tickets-16651127972

The Great Bay

By Professor Tim Flannery Palaeontologist, Environmentalist and Patron of SFA I grew up beside Port Phillip

Bay, just up the road from

Melbournes most striking

natural feature, the Red Bluff

cliffs. In those easier days as a

child I was allowed to wander to

the beach to fish, beachcomb or

swim.

When I was 10 I took up snorkelling, and at 15, scuba diving. From

Sandringham to Mornington I came to know the bays waters intimately. I

loved it in all of its seasons - even mid-winter, when my face would ache from

the freezing water. In that season life was in suspended animation like a

frozen tableau - but the water was crystal clear. As the spring rolled on,

strange visitors arrived. Big-eyed, silvery elephant sharks, made bizarre by a

fang-filled pseudo-mouth atop their head, would slip into the Bays shallows to

lay their eggs. I caught one once, thinking Id feed the family, but was repulsed

to discover that its flesh was green.

Later in the season vast schools of baitfish would arrive. Floating

suspended in the mass of fish, they would cast a fishy shadow around me,

despite the violent dashes of the barracouda scattering them on all sides.

Relentlessly surging north, always north, they manifested the irrepressible

pulse of life itself.

Then came the season for dusky flathead, and flounder, which would lie

disguised on the rocky reefs, awaiting the chance to eat, and reproduce.

The background to all this activity was the reefs that lined the shore, their

rocks encrusted with pink and purple coralline algae. Cricket ball-sized heads of

temperate water coral, yellow and orange pot-shaped sponges, and feather-

headed worms studded the pink and purple, bringing astonishing colour and

variety. Under rocks lurked multi-coloured starfish, colourful crabs, shrimps,

worms and blennies. To me, the waters of the Bay were as glorious as any

tropical sea. Perhaps more so, because the tropics are boringly uniform across

the Pacific, while many of the glories I saw in the Bay were ancient Gondwanan

survivors, unique to southern Australia.

I left Melbourne in January 1980, aged 24, to study in Sydney. I cant

remember my last dive, but Im sure that I had no idea Id be away for 32

years. Then, in 2013 family drew me home. The first thing I did was to revisit

my favourite underwater haunt the rocky reef at Beaumaris. For me, it is a

special place almost a sacred place a touchstone of memory and

experience so vivid I frequently dream of it. What makes it important is that its

rocky reef is a fossil bed containing he bones and teeth of creatures that lived

in an ancient Bay more than 6 million years ago. The teeth of sharks larger than

those of any great white, and the jaw bones of mighty sperm whales, lay on

the bottom there, awaiting pick-up by a curious boy. I had discovered the place

when I was 9 years old and had dived it hundreds - perhaps thousands - of

times searching for fossils.

When I plunged into the water in 2013 I knew immediately that the place

of my childhood was gone. Instead of a beautiful rocky reef covered in coral, I

floated above a cesspit of green scum. Algae were growing on every surface,

and it had trapped a layer of mud that had suffocated almost all of the life that

once thrived there.

In the weeks that followed, I snorkelled at my old haunts from Mornington

to Black Rock. Everywhere I saw sickly green algae crowding out temperate

corals and other life. The phenomenon is well known to biologists who study

partially or completely enclosed waterways. Its called eutrophication, and its

caused by an excess runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus. With a surface area of

nearly 2,000 square kilometres Port Phillip Bay is huge, so it takes time for

eutrophication to be felt. But it also takes a very long time to flush out

pollutants, because only 1% of the bays water is exchanged with the ocean

each year.

The truth is that Melbourne is slowly strangling its bay. Year by year the

suburbs creep further south alongside its waters, and the infrastructure builds

up, with more hard surfaces and less greenery to let storm water soak into the

soil. So every storm carries ever-more dog shit, rotten food, spilled petrol and

oil, excess lawn fertiliser and other toxic substances straight into the bay

through the 300-odd barrel drains (more than one for every kilometre of

shoreline) that act like open sores on virtually every Melbourne beach.

Some of the nations most expensive real estate fronts Cowderoy Street,

West St Kilda. But the Cowderoy Street drain looks like it emanates from the

slums of Mumbai, rather than the affluence of Australia. I volunteered to clean

the beach around it, picking up plastic bags and other hard rubbish, but after

nearly choking on the stench as I waded through the sickly grey sewerage-like

sludge that filled the Cowderoy Street drain, pushing aside the dead birds and

toxic scum as I went, I gave up. That such private opulence and public squalor

can exist side by side in Melbourne speaks of something repugnant buried

deep in our society.

Ive asked environmentalists why Melbournians tolerate the filth. Some say

the Bay so industrialised its beyond hope; others its only used on a few

summer days a year, so nobody cares. Having returned from Sydney, where

residents would lay down their life for the Harbour, that is shocking to hear.

Thirty years ago Sydney Harbour was as polluted as the Bay. But hard work and

pride have restored it.

So what needs to be done for the Bay? Some work has already been done.

The Yarra is cleaner than it was 30 years ago, the banks of the Merri Creek

have been magnificently restored, and the Elwood Canal no longer stinks

enough to make you gag. But those odious barrel drains continue to discharge

their slow poison. They need reed beds to catch and soak up the toxins. In

most places theres more than enough flat land to do this. The Andrews

Government has pledged to get rid of the 50 worst level crossings in the state.

What about cleaning up the Bays 50 worst barrel drains?

But the Bays problems do deeper than drains. Flathead are the staple of

Bay fishermen. When I was a kid anyone could catch 30-40 flatties, all over 30

cm long, in a day. The species has declined by 97% in recent years. In the 70s it

took a male flathead 7 years to grow to legal take size of 27 centimetres. Today

it takes up to 13 years. Many have pointed to dredging as a cause, but the

decline predates dredging. More important might be the reduction of the

ghost mud shrimp, the sand flatheads food species. In the 1970s it was

present on muddy bottoms in astronomical numbers. Today its totally absent

from many areas. Surely overfishing isnt helping. The Bay desperately needs

more marine reserves. Those that exist are pitifully small, their margins

thronged with fishermen eager to take anything that wanders outside their

bounds. The Bays margins have also been battered by inappropriate

development. Even the Beaumaris fossil bed has been partially destroyed to

make a car-park for motor-boat users.

In Sydney, great swathes of harbour-side natural vegetation have been

reserved, inappropriate infrastructure removed, and commercial fishing

banned. As a result, fish stocks recover spectacularly. Enormous kingfish,

bream and other species are now a common sight in Sydney Harbour. Even

southern right whales have returned. When I moved to Sydney in 1981 such

things were unimaginable. The Harbour and the Bay were pretty much equally

blighted. But the people of Sydney have cared enough to make a difference.

Surely we Melbournians can, over time, do an equally good job with the Bay

The Sydney Harbour Authority has done much good. A powerful Port Phillip

Bay authority, properly funded and accountable, could deliver the strategic

vision, and the means of delivering it, that the Bay requires. It also needs a

much beefed-up a Port Phillip Bay Institute of Marine Sciences. Research might

show that seaweed farms could soak up the excess nutrient now poisoning the

Bay. We might even be able to reintroduce species. An old resident at Black

Rock once told me that as a child he used to dive for crayfish among on the

rocky reefs there. Imagine that crayfish in the Bay.

The alternative business as usual is ghastly to contemplate. Last year

experts feared that an algal bloom would develop in the Bay. We dodged that

bullet, but inevitably the nutrients will build up until one summer, a vast algal

bloom will be triggered. A toxic Bay, its waters green with algae and covered in

dead fish, it shores piled with stinking vegetation and animal life, will be the

result. The people of Melbourne must have enough pride in their citys

astonishing natural heritage to grant their children a better future than that.

Copyright Prof. Tim Flannery. Published in www.themonthly.com.au

Bayside City Council update Draft Sandringham Foreshore Master plan Discussions to date with stakeholders and Council consultants, Matt and Nelly from Thomson Berrill Landscape Design have taken place in preparation of the draft Sandringham Foreshore Master plan process. For further information please contact Amy Weir of Open Space Planning and Policy Officer (Monday, Tuesday & Friday) at Bayside City Council New Friends of Bayside Support Officer Jill Robinson We would like to take this opportunity to thank Barbara Jakob for her invaluable contribution to the Bayside Environmental Friends Network and passionate approach to environmental volunteering in Bayside as the former Friends of Bayside Support Officer. We sincerely thank Barbara for her work with friends, volunteers and Council since 2008 and wish her all the best for the future. Jill Robinson is passionate about Bayside's natural environment, having grown up in Beaumaris and demonstrates a keen desire to engage with the broader community to highlight the significance of and protect Bayside's flora and fauna and promote volunteering opportunities. Jill's background involves over nine years of volunteering experience at numerous organisations in Australia and abroad (inclusive of Bayside Community Nursery and The Briars Nursery, Mornington Peninsula). Jill has directly managed volunteers at the Koori Night Market and has six years' experience at the Port Phillip Eco Centre in a variety of roles including coordinating environmental projects, events, marketing and corporate relations. Jill also has extensive customer service and retail experience and qualifications that include a Bachelor of Social Science and Environment and a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology, Indigenous Studies, Philosophy and Politics). This position will be based at the Bayside Community Nursery as a precursor to the development of the retail area as a hub for Bayside's environmental volunteers.

MESAC Update

Science Week Activities 2015 (August 15th - 23rd) Location: Beaumaris Yacht Club Activities & Talks over the Science Week MESAC offers a series of free presentations and activities during the 9 day National Science Week period - covering key aspects of science and research, natural history and management of Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary and Port Phillip Bay. Sessions will be delivered by experts across many subjects: marine research, geology and fossil beds, foreshore plants, Port Phillip Bay history, Aboriginal heritage and the role of citizen science. Science Week will raise the profile of MESAC the (Marine Education Science and Community Centre) a new venture to re-build the Beaumaris Yacht Club into a multi-user community facility. The Schedule follows: Saturday August 15 - 9:30 to 12:30 Marine Science and Research in Port Phillip Bay The session will cover important topics and questions from the extensive Discovery, Science and Research across the diversity of species and habitats in Port Phillip Bay: What does research in the marine national parks and sanctuaries tell us? How big a threat are marine pests? What is the ecology of the Burrunan dolphin species? Presenters and Topics

Dr Mark Norman, Museum Victoria: The importance of scientific discovery for the

incredible marine life of the Bay.

Dr Matt Edmunds, Australian Marine Ecology: The ups and downs of life in the

marine parks and sanctuaries in the Bay 18 years of monitoring.

Jan Carey, University of Melbourne: Marine pests What are the pests and how are

they spreading in the Bay.

Dr Kate Charlton-Robb, Australian Marine Mammal Conservation Foundation: The

journey of discovery: Port Phillip Bays unique species, the Burrunan dolphin.

From 1:30 pm: Coastal Foreshore and beach walk -led by Marine Care Ricketts Point volunteers. Marine Photographic Competition voting.

Sunday August 16 - 9:30 to 12:30 Natural History of Port Phillip Bay This session will provide an insight into the amazing pre-history of the local Beaumaris geology and fossils at the close of the Miocene period, some 5.5 million years ago. It will cover the history of Bay sea levels over the more recent thousands of years and examine the evidence whether the Bay almost dried up in this period. The Aboriginal history of use of the Bay will be explored. Presenters and Topics

Prof. John Buckeridge, RMIT University: The geology of the local rocks at Ricketts

Point and fossil history over millions of years.

Dr GR Holdgate, University of Melbourne: Did Port Phillip Bay nearly dry up between

~2800 and 1000 cal. yr. BP.

Adam Magennis, Cultural Heritage Advisor, Mornington Peninsula Shire: Aboriginal

culture and coastal middens.

From 1:30 pm: Beach Walk Fossil History led by John Buckeridge. Marine Photographic Competition voting. Saturday August 22 - 9:30 to 12:30 Marine Environment issues and solutions for Port Phillip Bay The pollution of our rivers, seas and oceans by manmade plastics is now recognised as a major global environmental problem. This threat to the health of the Bay requiring science and community action. This session will inform of the physical and chemical impacts of plastics upon aquatic life including pollution from micro-plastics. It will also present results of studies into the interaction between kelp forests and sea urchin barrens in the Bay, and inspire action to restore the important shellfish reef habitats in the Bay. Presenters and Topics

Assoc. Prof. Mark Osborn, RMIT University: Plastic Pollution in our Rivers, Seas and

Oceans.

Neil Blake, Port Phillip EcoCentre Director & Port Phillip Baykeeper and Fam Charko,

Port Philip EcoCentre: Tracking Plastic Pollution in Port Phillip Bay.

Dr Paul Carnell, Deakin University: Kelp forests and urchin barrens in Port Phillip Bay.

Chris Gillies, The Nature Conservancy: Bay shellfish regeneration project.

From 1:30 pm: Rock pool life survey: Sea Search - led by Gould League and Marine Care Ricketts Point volunteers. Marine Photographic Competition voting. Sunday August 23 - 9:30 to 12:30 Community involvement and Citizen Science This session will explore some of the fantastic marine and coastal programs that have been supported by volunteers in recent years. It will provide opportunity for sharing volunteer and friends groups projects and citizen science activities that support management of

marine protected areas, the Bay and Victorian coastline. Includes Reef Watch, Great Fish Count, the Two Bays program, Coastcare and Beach Patrol. Presenters and Topics

Chris Smyth, Victorian National Parks Association: Volunteer involvement in

conservation.

Randall Lee, Environment Protection Authority Victoria with Natalie Davey, Saltwater

projects: Science and community engagement studies in Port Phillip Bay.

Dr Ross Headifen, Beach Patrol Australia.

Parks Victoria and Coastcare: Local volunteers groups - Community involvement and

action.

12:30 pm: Science Week closing words Bayside Mayor Felicity Frederico Marine Photographic Competition Judging and Winner. From 2:00 pm: Rock pool life survey: Sea Search - led by Gould League and Marine Care Ricketts Point volunteers. Weekday Presentations

Monday August 17 Friday August 21 10:00 to 11:00 am Monday August 17 - 10:00 to 11:00 am Batting 4 Bayside An informative presentation by the Friends of Native Widlife on the life and needs of Bayside's 10 species of microbats. Batting4Bayside aims to learn more about microbats in Bayside through community-based research, and to ensure there is effective action to conserve them. Presenter: Elizabeth Walsh, Friends of Native Wildlife Weekday Program Tuesday August 18 - 10:00 to 11:00 am Birdlife of the foreshore and sea birds A fabulous opportunity to learn about the birds along the Ricketts Point coast and rock platforms with local experts who will provide identification and bird watching tips. Includes an outside foreshore walk and talk demonstration. Presenters: Michael Norris and Kim Croker: Weekday Program Wednesday August 19 - 10:00 to 11:00 am Foreshore Plants & Coastal Protection Join the Bushland Coast Crew who look after the foreshore and vegetation for an informative presentation on the indigenous flora and fauna management within the coastal reserve. Includes an outside foreshore walk and talk. Presenters: Citywide: Scott Withers and Andy Ross

Weekday Program Thursday August 20 - 10:00 to 11:00 am Local Aboriginal heritage Gain an understanding of the rich Aboriginal history of Rickets Point and Beaumaris and how Aboriginal people used the local plants and animals with local history experts. Includes an outside foreshore walk and talk. Presenters: Bob Whiteway and Ray Lewis Weekday Program Friday August 21 - 10:00 to 11:00 am Wildlife & Landscape Photography Improve your knowledge of wildlife photography with an experienced landscape and wildlife photographer. Suitable for beginners and those with a passion for capturing the natural world on film. Presenter: Pauline Reynolds BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL: to book for all sessions https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/mesac-national-science-week-under-the-lens-at-ricketts-point-port-phillip-bay-tickets-16651127972

Weeding of Bayside coastline organised Bayside Bushwalking Club Next working bees at Black Rock scheduled for winter:

Tuesday 7th July, 9 am to noon

Location:

Meet at 8:50 am at Half Moon Bay car park, Melway 85 H3. (B15 car park). The area to be weeded is on the Black Rock side of the car park, about 100 m from the meeting point. You will need to sign a registration form for Council insurance purposes.

Purpose:

Remove as much Cape Ivy as we can before it flowers and sets seed.

Preparation:

Please dress for gardening, bring gardening gloves and your own morning tea for a 10:30 am break. Bring wet weather gear if it is likely to be damp and a small hand cultivator or garden fork is useful for getting at roots and runners.

Support:

Bayside Council through Citywide Services will support us with bags and personnel to direct the location of weeding and cart away the removed weeds.

Non-BBC members will be very welcome.

Contact Rob Carseldine [rob.carseldine@bigpond.com] or just turn up on the day and register.

Wildlife in Bayside Vicki took this photo of a brown snake at Black Rock beach earlier this year. Fortunately it was not alive- almost certainly run over by a car crossing Beach Rd. It is a wonderful sign of the varied wildlife found in our coastal scrub:

The police to the rescue; discarded dead snake into the bushes:

SFA profile of Liz Dawes, Sandringham resident & Bayside's Australia Day Citizen of the Year 2015

Liz Dawes:

I have a walking loop I take from our home on Royal Avenue with our two dogs Maddie & Marley several times a week: down the stairs and left to Red Bluff and back up the ramp. Every single time I walk this I feel how lucky to have this beautiful beach virtually outside our door. Most weekends I walk with my husband Scott, our dogs and sometimes kids to one of the cafes for breakfast in Sandringham. We walk along the beach to get there, along the beach, over the rock outcrops and up to the Sandringham pavilion. It's a beautiful way to begin our day.

Liz Dawes is the Founder and Executive Director of the Robert Connor Dawes (RCD) Fund, operating in Australia and the United States. Driven by her son's own battle, Liz is leading a new movement; inspiring the young and young at heart to support pediatric brain tumour matters in the areas of Research, Care & Development. Prior to starting the RCD Fund, Liz was Founder & Director of the creative fundraising business, Art By Kids, which she sold to focus her energy on building Connor's legacy. Lizs experience includes presiding over community committees including American Women's Association, Firbank Grammar & Brighton Grammar Parents Association. Before moving to Australia, Liz held various sales & marketing management positions at the

Brady Corporation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Liz graduated with a BBA in Finance/Marketing from the University of Wisconsin. In 2015, Liz was recognized as Bayside's Australia Day Citizen of the Year. The Robert Connor Dawes (RCD) Fund supports brain matters in the areas of Research, Care & Development. Inspired by a big heart and brain, the Robert Connor Dawes (RCD) Fund was created in 2013 in the memory of 18 year old Robert Connor Dawes. We are battling brain cancer and supporting pediatric brain matters in the areas of Research, Care and Development in Australia & the United States. This involves contributing funds to brain tumour Research, supporting young people with at home rehabilitation Care like music & yoga therapy, as well as Development initiatives inspiring the next generation of brain cancer practitioners & researchers. We do this because the brain is where the heart lives. Beach cleaning Have you noticed our beaches are cleaner due to the enormous efforts of volunteers with Beach Patrol? But they need your help! More volunteers are required particularly to pick up the growing amount of plastic! For more details about your local Beach Patrol contact Ross Headifen at admin@beachpatrol.com.au We hope you have enjoyed reading the winter edition of the SFA newsletter 2015. Yours with kindness, Dr Vicki Karalis, SFA President SFA committee members: Alison Horton, Vice-President Salva Crusca, Secretary Mental Health worker Craig Francis, Treasurer Ike Solomon, Engineer Helen Gibson, Geologist and editorial assistant Paul Hede, Architect Adrienne Smith, IT consultant Cristian Silver, Editorial assistant

Free SFA Membership The Sandringham Foreshore Association is a charitable not-for-profit association. Membership is free. Our self-acclaimed role is to foster and promote good natural conservation principles to Bayside foreshore management. Our current focus is to assist public education by aligning ourselves with scientific experts in fields of conservation and natural environment, and to facilitate effective communication between community council and state governments and established environmental science publications and position statements. The role of SFA is to care for and help protect our local beaches and cliffs, but also to educate, raise awareness and preserve our local archaeological, geological, cultural, indigenous and heritage sites such as the Beaumaris Bay fossil site. If you are interested in joining our free membership, to receive notices and our Quarterly Newsletters Please respond via our website http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/MembershipForm