SFA E-Newsletter April Autumn 2015

Sandringham Foreshore Association Newsletter Autumn Edition
April 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
Announcing Professor Tim Flannery - Patron of SFA

It gives me great pleasure to announce Professor Tim Flannery is now our
Patron! We are so honored to work closely with Tim to help further our
mission to protect our natural assets here in Bayside. Tim grew up in
Sandringham, is a palaeontologist who discovered many unique and rare fossils
at the Beaumaris Bay fossil site donating most of these to Museum Victoria,
later dedicating his life work to a number of national and international causes
to help raise awareness of environmental issues such as Climate change. In
2007 Tim was awarded Australia's highest honours and appointed "Australian
of the Year"! We are so proud!
Tim Flannery has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers and has
named 25 living and 50 fossil mammal species. His 32 books include the award
winning The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers, which has been translated
into over 20 languages. He has made numerous documentaries and regularly
reviews for the New York Review of Books.
In 1998-9 he was a visiting professor at Harvard, and is a founding member of
the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a director of the Australian
Wildlife Conservancy, and has served on the International Board of WWF.
He received a Centenary of Federation Medal and in 2002 delivered the
Australia Day address. In 2005 he was named Australian Humanist of the Year.
In 2011 he was made a Chevalier of the Order of St Charles.
In 2007 he co-founded and was appointed Chair of the Copenhagen Climate
Council. In 2011 he became Australias Chief Climate Commissioner, and in
2013 he founded and heads the Australian Climate Council. He serves of the
Sustainability Advisory Boards of Siemens and Tata Power (India).
Our Bayside community are proud of Tim and his amazing achievements; we
are honored to have him as our patron! Tim is a fine role model for our young
children.
Professor Tim Flannery at the Beaumaris Bay fossil site event 22 Feb 2015
Photographer Pauline Reynolds
Beaumaris Bay Fossil site (BBFS) of International significance event held on

22 February 2015
Despite temperatures soaring to 36 degrees, over 1000 people (children and
families) from all over Victoria attended the event. The event exceeded our
goal of raising awareness of the significance of the fossil site, and has helped to
secure its ongoing conservation and natural heritage value. Over $860 was
raised by SFA in gold coin donations which will go towards publication of a
comprehensive book on the Fossils of Beaumaris Bay by Mr Ray Lewis OAM of
MESAC.
Please view our website for more details of the BBFS event:
http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/FossilEvent2015
Fossils of Beaumaris E-fossil book
Please find a copy of the Fossils of Beaumaris by Erich Fitzgerald and Rolf
Schmidt of Museum Victoria instigated by Vicki Karalis of SFA by clicking on the
link to download your own electronic copy (when your see the books front
cover, go below to the download button)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/258768609/Beaumaris-Fossil-Book
Update on erosion of the Sandringham beaches

We were pleased to recently meet with our Mayor of Bayside City Council
Felicity Frederico, Kelly Crosthwaite Acting Regional Director of Port Phillip of
the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Sally
Patterson Program Manager Coastal Projects, Port Phillip Region of DELWP for
a walk on the Sandringham beaches to demonstrate and discuss continuing
erosion on our beach and cliffs north of both the Royal Avenue and Southey St
beaches particularly at this time of the year with sand shifting to the north
leading to annual sand depletion. We also discussed the build-up of sand
around the Sandringham Harbour. Soon we are meeting with the DELWP and
Bayside City council to discuss and provide feedback to the draft report Sandringham Sand Management Plan prepared by Cardno coastal engineers.
This report has been developed to review in detail sand management options
proposed by community members as part of the Bayside Coastal Processes
Forum held in October 2013. We will keep you up to date.
See photo taken at Tennyson St beach 19 April 2015 Note the exposure of the
stumps belonging to the old beach houses on the Sandringham beaches
(probably around 1950) once embedded in the sand dunes and base of the
Sandringham cliffs! The first stump appeared about 1 year ago. With storms
and wave action resulting in further cliff erosion and retreat, the rest of the
stumps are now exposed!
Royal Ave beach April 19th 2015 - note lack of accessibility and further cliff
erosion just north of the Royal Ave groyne
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 number of plastics! For more
details about your local Beach Patrol contact Ross Headifen at
admin@beachpatrol.com.au
SFA would value your feedback on the state of our local beaches by voting on
our poll: http://sandringhamforeshore.tumblr.com/poll
Draft Region Coastal Plan

The SFA recently provided feedback for the Draft Region Coastal Plan available
on this link: http://ccb.vic.gov.au/staging/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/DraftCentral-Region-Coastal-Plan.pdf
____________________________________________________________
Release of the Victorian Coastal Council Strategy
We are pleased to announce the release of the Victorian Coastal Strategy 2014
(VCS) by the State Government. The VCS is the Government's policy
commitment for coastal, estuarine and marine environments in Victoria.
The VCS 2014 builds on the achievements of previous three iterations of the
Strategy and addresses five key issues: Managing population growth
2. Adapting to a changing climate
3. Managing coastal land and infrastructure
4. Valuing the natural environment, and
5. Integrating marine planning.
http://www.vcc.vic.gov.au/page/victorian-coastal-strategy-2014 to download
report
Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron development update

Look out for updates on the BMYS development using this link:
http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/planning/environmental-assessment/projects/beaumaris-motoryacht-safe-harbour
Have your say or read comments about the Beaumaris Bay Fossil site on
www.nobeaumarismarina.com
Sign a petition FOR preservation of the Beaumaris Bay Fossil Site in the face
of potential expansion of the BMYS.
http://www.nobeaumarismarina.com/petition/
SFA Profile of Richard Casley
An experienced fossil collector and presenter at the BBFS of International
Significance event held on 22 Feb 2015
The Beaumaris coast line has been known to produce fossils for over a century.
My father accidentally found is first sharks tooth perhaps 40 years ago whilst
waiting for his turn to waterski and then quickly found several more. When I
found one of his teeth in storage I asked him to take me to the same beach.
From as young as 12 I had been to the beach with my father to look for sharks
teeth and other fossils and for some time I could not find anything interesting.
Then I remember finding my first tooth, a broken but rather large one and on
that same day I found 3 more. It seemed that from that day forward I had
gained an eye for fossils and my collecting days had surely begun. I think I was
about 15 when collecting fossils became a hobby and this was initially all from
Beaumaris. I used to catch a train, followed by a bus, once a fortnight at low
tide for 2 hours of collecting regardless of the weather. The early days were
some of the most exciting as it seemed that with each visit I would find
something new. At age 17 I discovered fossil beds at ground level and this
vastly improved my results. Over many years of collecting from these fossil
beds which slope downwards and into the water have lead me into deeper
waters each year. When licensed to drive and equipped with my first car I
decided to search for other fossil bearing localities in the state. This has lead
me to several quarries and coastlines, including the Geelong Cement Quarry
and Dutton Way beach at Portland. I have small collections from these and
other sites.
Collecting at Beaumaris eventually required me to take up snorkelling and
when the headaches from duck diving became too frequent I later took up
SCUBA at about age 20. Even with SCUBA gear I have not collected from water
any deeper than 4m, and never more than 100m offshore. A typical day at
Beaumaris would often yield 5 or more teeth but I have found as many as 20 in
one day. For several years I had a goal of finding a display worthy megalodon
tooth at Beaumaris but so far it has eluded me. I have found 2 partials but
never the complete tooth. At age 26 I decided that to maximise my chances of
finding a megalodon tooth I should travel to wherever in the world they are
most common, and my research indicated this would be north or South
Carolina or Florida.
It took 3 months to build up a good network of local experts and then in 2002 I
spent a week diving in South Carolina with a true local expert. Together we
dived fast flowing and black water rivers to search for megs in waters infested
with both sharks and alligators. As well as finding at least 1 meg each day I
found a real giant, measuring 6.25 inches and fully serrated. I had achieved my
goal.
Upon returning to Australia for many years I could not bring myself to collect
at Beaumaris knowing that I would probably never top my South Carolina
experience. I focused on related hobbies, largely fishing and more SCUBA

diving. My interest in diving with sharks had lead me to find them and feed
them but based on some close calls I would not recommend this to others.
Realising the craziness of letting such an important interest fade I decided to
plan another overseas diving trip. This time it would be mainly to North
Carolina. With 2 years of planning I gained extra dive qualifications to dive
deeper waters and use more complex air mixes. In 2013 Along with another
fellow diver I flew to North Carolina, chartered a boat along with other divers
to 50miles off the coast, followed the anchor line to a depth of 40m, tied a
string line to the nearby reef swam out a short distance and then dug in the
sand at the sea bed to look for fossils. The trip proved fruitful once again. I
found up to 80 small teeth in a 25 minute dive, and normally 1 meg per dive.
Upon returning home I decided I would always keep up the hobby and I'm now
just as excited by finding the same fossils which I have been finding since I was
15. Along the way there have been several moments which stand out. To me
each tooth is so special because when I find one I know I'm the first to have
ever laid eyes on it and that often the fossils I find have not even seen the light
of day for 6 million years since before they laid down to fossilise. In fact my
memories associated with each find are so strong that in most cases I can
recall where each fossil was located, how it was orientated and how I felt when
I found it. I've met many interesting people along the way and must thank the
late Colin McRae who would often identify my finds whilst volunteering for the
museum of Victoria in the 90's.
I hope that the fossil beds are around for many years to come and I look
forward to seeing a third generation collector in my family. These days I would
rather see how happy a small tooth can make any stranger that I bump into on
the walk from the beach back to my car, yet I still attempt to add 1 display
worthy fossil to my collection at he end of each hunt and I know that there is
still something out there waiting for me to find it.
Everyone should give collecting a go and see if you like it.
Enjoy tram rides in Bayside in the 1950s available on the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFxM1r9s3KM&list=PL7779333938C9E51
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ucApsY1iY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jPG3_rI3sk
[Historic Trams in Australia by Gezza1967]
We hope you have enjoyed reading the autumn edition of the SFA newsletter.
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
Paul Hede, Architect
Adrienne Smith, IT consultant
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

SFA E-Newsletter April Autumn 2015

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Sandringham Foreshore Association Newsletter Autumn Edition

A CHARITABLE NOT FOR PROFIT VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION

From the president of SFA, Dr Vicki Karalis

Announcing Professor Tim Flannery - Patron of SFA

Beaumaris Bay Fossil site (BBFS) of International significance event held on

Update on erosion of the Sandringham beaches

Draft Region Coastal Plan

Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron development update

experience. I focused on related hobbies, largely fishing and more SCUBA

Dr Vicki Karalis, SFA President

Free SFA Membership

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