Snapshots of stewardship: a multi-day training in Coen, QLD

Snapshots of stewardship: a multi-day training in Coen, QLD

by Veronika Biskis

Continuing our work with the Lama Lama Land and Sea Rangers, SARA was invited to provide training in sawfish monitoring for the Rangers and the local community in Coen, QLD in July. The entire journey was documented by the talented Don Silcock, who was not only capturing the trip, but delving into untold stories from Elders in the region.

The trip to Coen was a first for us – travel via plane! The SARA team is well versed in the two day trek up from Cairns in the troop-carrier, but with funding from the Engaging Science Grant received this year, we were able to hitch a ride on an 8-seater Cessna. Unsurprisingly, the Cape looks just as incredible from above, and is always the reminder for just how remote our work is.

Figure 1: (L) The PDR from the Hinterland Plane (R) Nikki and Barbara at the Coen Airport

Alison Liddy of the Lama Lama Land and Sea Rangers organised a workshop with the Junior Rangers for the first evening. Dr Wueringer presented to some new and familiar faces on fundamental principles such as food webs, healthy ecosystems, as well as hands on techniques in field science. We are extremely lucky for the opportunity to talk about traditional and modern methods in caring for Country with the next generation of local scientists.

Figure 2: The junior rangers mastering sawfish ID and how to tag sawfish. 

The second day was aimed at citizen scientists, recreational fishers, and the Rangers. Participants learned about sawfish biology, survey methods, and tagging. After the event, Elders shared stories of growing up in Coen and seeing sawfish in their youth. These rare examples of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) create real context in understanding changing environments. Don Silcock documented this connection to Country throughout. In the afternoon, we headed to the famous Exchange Hotel, where locals continued to share their past experiences with sawfish.

Figure 3: (L) Barbara presents to the community in Coen. (R) Revising sawfish ID with Lama Lama Land and Sea rangers. 

This whirlwind trip to Coen, Queensland, marked another milestone in our ongoing effort to involve the entire community in sawfish conservation, whether that’s kids, Traditional Owners, visiting fishers, the Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger program or Queensland Parks. Don’s photographs captured not only the educational aspects of the trip but the cultural significance, helping to build a visual narrative that will resonate with audiences beyond the Cape. This trip would not have been logistically possible without funding from grants like Engaging Science, allowing for citizen science and collaboration between organisations from across the state.

Figure 4: (L) Barbara, Nikki and Alison speak with Brian Ross. (R) from left to right: Lama lama ranger, Alison Liddy, Barbara Wueringer, Nikki Biskis, Don Silcock

Unexpected mail

Unexpected mail

by Nikki Biskis

In September 2018, SARA received what is probably the cutest scientific interview of all time. Billy, Charlie, Dylan and Jayden of Birmingham Primary School in Mount Evelyn, VIC, had some very creative questions regarding sharks and rays. So, naturally, four lucky biologists from the SARA team responded right back to these curious minds. Some of our favourites are below!

  1. Do some sharks fight?

Sharks do not really fight very often but bigger sharks do scare off smaller sharks. If two sharks are swimming straight towards each other the smaller shark is the one that will move out of the way to let the big one carry on swimming. Big sharks can also eat small sharks!

  1. Do sharks mean to eat people?

No! Unlike humans, sharks don’t have any hands, so they can’t pick things up to figure out what they are. Instead they take a bite. Only once they take a taste of something can they be sure of what it is. Humans are not on the normal menu for sharks. So usually once they taste us they don’t want another bite.

  1. Do sharks smell oil?

Sharks have an incredible sense of smell, so it is very likely they can smell oil. Nearly two thirds of a shark’s brain is for thinking about smells and they can sniff out just one teaspoon of fish blood from a swimming pool sized area of water.

Outreach, outreach, outreach

Outreach, outreach, outreach

By Barbara Wueringer

Even if your research is extremely meaningful, there is a high chance that most people outside of your field have never heard of it. Even if your study species is extremely endangered, unless it is a cute flagship species (think panda, elephant, rhino), there is a chance that many people including local stakeholders do not know much about it.

The second most important pillar of your work as a scientist, right after producing good quality science, is to communicate your science with those who need to know about it. Social media is important, but in many cases you are ‘preaching to the converted’ as even on twitter someone will have to search #EndangeredSpecies or #Shark in order to find your post within the short period of its lifetime.

Whenever we want to affect a status quo, we have two options: the top down approach and the bottom up approach. Both are equally important! For example, if we want to reduce the number of single use plastic bags in the system, we need to convince companies and governments to ban the bags (top-down), but we also need to work with consumers (bottom-up) who might otherwise unknowingly undermine a ban on bags by asking for single use plastic bags at the supermarket counter, thus creating consumer demand.

One of the most effective, fun and rewarding ways of conducting outreach is to work with local schools. In the last year, which is also our second year of working with volunteers, Sharks And Rays Australia has finally commenced its outreach program in local schools. In an area the size of Germany, that is only inhabited by 28,000 people, a handful of visits in local schools mean that we were able to speak to almost 1% of the population during these school visits, and 4% of all inhabitants under the age of 14.

During our school visits in Aboriginal communities, we do not ask children about the traditional uses of sawfish. Under Native Title law, Indigenous Australians are allowed to capture and eat sawfish for personal consumption only. Many Indigenous Australians are protective of their customs and we respect that. But already the simple question of “Hands up if you’ve ever seen a sawfish!” can provide quantitative insights into current abundances of these animals. In one of the schools, around 90% of the kids had seen a live sawfish before!

After we have explained to the kids what sharks, stingrays and sawfish are and why they are in trouble around the world, we play a game with them, the Food Web Game (download it for free here https://www.sharksandraysaustralia.com/SARAFWG1-4.pdf). The game uses local food webs of species that the children know. While the kids colour in the sheets, we explain some of the cool facts about each species to them. Afterwards the big question is who eats whom and once that is established, we pick an animal out of our food chain and ask the kids what happens if this species is overfished, thus teaching them about the importance of maintaining a natural balance.

So far, the feedback has been incredible. The volunteers are stoked to meet the locals, the kids love it, and so do the teachers, as our visits provide the kids with a real world insight into the classroom science they are taught. I personally hope that the presence of female scientists in their classroom will also help some of the girls to realize that STEM science is not for boys only.

This blog post was written for the Save Our Seas Foundation. Access the original post here

It was also published in ‘Inside Ecology’ magazine, which can be found here