THE Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula branch heads back into the water at Point Leo on Saturday. The event, which is expected to see hundreds of volunteers helping surfers enjoy their time in the waves, is the first for this year. The January event was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions and Saturday’s day at the beach will include taking precautions with sanitisers available and equipment being frequently cleaned. The number of people attending the event will fall safely within state government limits and there will be restrictions on crowding around the Point Leo Lifesaving Club. A maximum 140 surfers are…
Author: Keith Platt
CELIA Furt has been “horrified” by the cast-offs being thrown to seagulls at Hastings. While on one of her regular trips “to say hi to the pelicans” near the boat ramp, Ms Furt’s attention was drawn to a group of seagulls feeding in the grass. She discovered they were eating loaves of mouldy bread. “People still think that feeding seagulls, pigeons and other birds, is good for them. They think that they are feeding them but, instead, they are killing them,” Ms Furt said. “If they want to feed birds, they must only feed them what’s right for them, what…
A LACK of scientific evidence has seen all but one of the shire’s 11 councillors decline to call for a ban on the slaughter of kangaroos on the Mornington Peninsula. Cr David Gill said kangaroo shooting should be stopped because “we don’t know how many there are and how many are being killed”. His move failed to get the backing of even one councillor and lapsed without a vote being taken at the council’s Tuesday 9 February meeting. Cr Gill’s motion called for a ban of kangaroos shooting “until scientific research is undertaken justifying the need for this practice and…
DOLPHINS have become victims of their own popularity when they come close to shore in Western Port. After years of becoming an attraction at Balnarring for appearing to swim alongside racehorses being exercised in the shallows, there are now concerns about dogs also joining the dolphins in the water. Dolphin Research Centre executive director Jeff Weir said he had received reports of “dogs, paddlers and swimmers pestering dolphins in Western Port”. He had also received “many calls” about vessels in Port Phillip doing the same. In December, the DRI launched a campaign to persuade boaters to keep their distance from…
CAMPING at Mornington Peninsula Shire-run foreshore reserves at Rye, Rosebud and Sorrento continued despite COVID-19 outbreaks over the New Year period. The shire says it has not changed protocols announced in late November to allow limited numbers of campers. Campers were allowed in as from Saturday 2 January to avoid large gatherings over Christmas and New Year. The shire’s property and strategy manager Nathan Kearsley last week said camping on the foreshores was “operating at about 40 per cent capacity and extra cleaning of the amenity blocks is in place”. The shire was regularly reviewing its risk plan and making…