| The view from Ralph’s Bay is peaceful. The water is flat and still, sheltered by Droughty Point which also mercifully blocks any view of Sandy Bay’s phallic Wrest Point Casino. From here all you can see of Hobart are the bush-framed houses of Taroona and the mighty cliffs and forests of Mount Wellington. Look up and you see the white underbellies of pied oystercatchers flapping their shiny black wings, their long curved beaks pointing into the gentle breeze.
Look closer, though, and the scene is far less idyllic. On the beach shells and pebbles mingle with chip packets and plastic bags. Environmental weeds grow amongst native plants in the thin line of vegetation that separates the beach from the highway.
In a state that is famed for its natural beauty, with iconic coastal areas such as Freycinet and the Tasman Peninsula, Ralph’s Bay would would not normally rate a mention. The Tasmanian Greens and local conservation groups might not be expected to be that fussed over what happens to such a degraded area while the long running fight to stop the logging of old growth forests continues.
In recent times, though, “Save Ralph’s Bay” has become a catch-cry for locals angry at a proposal for 500 waterfront properties and a marina to be built in the bay on 46ha of artificial “islands”.
Many of the locals may be mostly interested in preserving the view across the bay. However the greatest threat to the development comes not from the residents of surrounding houses shouting “not in my backyard” but from a group of much quieter residents living underneath the glistening water. Spotted handfish, according to the CSIRO, are Australia’s first endangered marine fish, and they live only in the Derwent River and surrounding estuaries.
A little over a month ago the male spotted handfish would have been courting his mate, trying to impress her by raising and lowering his mowhawk-like dorsal fin. Once courted, the female generally spawns her eggs around a sea squirt (a jelly like invertebrate) to anchor them to the river bed, and she stands guard until they hatch nearly two months later. The hatchlings are less than a centimetre long. Two years later they’ve grown to just seven centimetres. The largest of the species ever recorded was 13cm long.
An array of black spots on a gold and white background cover the handfish’s pear-shaped body. No two of the species have the same markings, which means CSIRO researchers are able to track the movements of individual fish. What’s been found is that they generally do not move far from where they hatch.
This may be because, unlike most fish, the spotted handfish prefer to walk. Their name derives from their spiny hand-like fins which they use to waddle around the floor of the river. Yes, they can swim, but they are not in a hurry to get anywhere, really, and spend their lives slowly walking about the depths of the Derwent feeding on shrimp and amphipods.
No-one is quite sure why the species’ numbers have dropped so dramatically. Up until the 1980’s the fish was regularly seen around Hobart’s waterways. Numbers steadily declined, and between 1990 and 1994 only two reliable sightings were reported. One theory is that they are being displaced by the northern pacific seastar, a feral pest which feeds on the sea squirt.
Spotted handfish do not cope well with disturbance of the riverbed, which is why some people are concerned that building large islands in their habitat may further reduce their numbers. Recently Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell asked his department to consider whether the spotted handfish should be regarded as “critically endangered”. If they decide it should, then he may rule that the Walker Corporation must take its development elsewhere and leave this bizarre, rare fish in peace. |