Flowing down a northern Queensland river during the wet season, Splash
finds himself swept out past the mangroves to the sea, but instead
of reaching his beloved Great Barrier Reef he gets caught in the east
Australian
current. The east Australian current flows south along Australia’s
east coast, bringing warm water from the reef down to meet the cooler
water of the southern oceans.
In contrast to the calm waters of the
reef, the waters of Australia’s
southern oceans experience the roughest conditions of all the oceans
surrounding Australia, but like the reef are rich with an abundance
of marine flora
and fauna.
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Coastal Waters of the Southern Ocean
While floating around the southern oceans, Splash meets Flip the penguin,
who is one of three guides he will have on his visit to this region.
Because fairy penguins are one of the northernmost penguins, Flip likes
to brag to his Antarctic cousins about the relatively warm water of his
home (warmer than the Antarctic, at least) and likes to be seen decked
out in sunglasses and a colourful Hawaiian shirt. The water in this region
is still quite cool, so tanks in Sydney Aquarium holding animals from
this region have to be chilled, no mean feat in summer! Some of the animals
of this region include the odd but elegant weedy sea dragon and the alien
looking giant cuttlefish, the largest species of cuttlefish in the world
and one of the more intelligent animals on display at the aquarium.
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Flip is also our guide through the Sydney Harbour displays.
Although everyone associates penguins with very cold
areas, there are fairy penguins in Sydney Harbour, so
this is an area familiar to Flip. Sydney Harbour is a
typical southern rocky shore environment, where waves
and tides are the major influences. In the intertidal
zone, conditions vary dramatically. Part of the time
submerged under the sea, at other times exposed to the
air under blazing sunshine or soaking rain, the plants
and animals of this region must be able to withstand
everything from fresh to salt water, from drying out
to drowning, from hot days to frosty nights and from
gentle waves to pounding seas.
Despite the hostile environment,
there is a huge diversity of life not always visible
on first glance, as many shore
animals are well camouflaged and others take shelter
out of sight. Intertidal plants and animals have an amazing
array of body shapes that adapt them to life on the rocky
shore. To prevent drying out, some animals have ‘doors’ that
close, trapping water inside. To resist the force of
waves, some have a large strong foot with which they
grip and anchor to rocks. Others glue themselves permanently
in place.
Because of the warm east Australian current,
Sydney Harbour is also often home to visitors from the
north, tropical
animals which get swept down as eggs or tiny babies in
early summer. Some are able to live all year round, but
not reproduce; others succumb to the cold when the water
temperature drops again in winter.
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Still hanging around near the coasts, Splash meets Sebastian the fur seal,
who is our guide through the fur seal oceanarium. Although seals are mammals,
Sebastian likes to think of himself as a shark. One of many mammals that
have returned to the sea to take advantage of the bountiful food there,
fur seals have evolved many of the streamlined features of sharks and other
aquatic creatures and are adept hunters of fish and squid. Equipped with
large eyes, adapted for seeing clearly underwater and powerful front flippers,
fur seals can find and catch even the fastest of prey. Sensitive whiskers
help to guide the food into the mouth for the final grab and also assist
the seals in locating food or obstacles in dark or murky water.
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Getting away from the shore and out into the open ocean, Sebastian introduces
Splash to his idol, Razor the shark. Razor is our guide through the awe
inspiring Open Ocean Oceanarium, home to huge stingrays, large shoals of
fish and, of course, an impressive array of sharks of several species.
The largest sharks on display are our grey nurse sharks, some of which
are 3.5 metres long and weigh over 300kg. Although their frightening arsenal
of teeth are constantly on show as they swim past with open mouths, grey
nurse sharks are a harmless fish eater and are more endangered than dangerous.
Once persecuted to near extinction, these beautiful animals are now fully
protected in Australian waters.
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Tiger Shark
About 180 species of sharks live in Australian waters, but only about 10 of these are considered potentially dangerous to humans.
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