Queensland: a coveted coastline

We used Queensland as a case study introducing a lesson on coastal environments.

The coast of Queensland is environmentally sensitive, because it combines areas of outstanding natural beauty and important economic activities.

The Great Barrier Reef, that stretches 2300km along the coast.

Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast. Almost 20 millions of tourists visit Queensland each year.

As these two pictures show, it is at the same time a very natural and a very artifical area, which makes the development and management of these shores very complex.

Lately industry has also developed along the coast, bringing threats such as increased marine traffic, oil spills, coral bleaching...

Abbot Point is becoming one of the largest bulk and coal ports in the world. The activities there include dredging, which is a major threat to biodiversity.

An increasing number of Australians move to live by the sea, some want to make a living out of it, but many consider that they also need to protect it, in order to maintain this very attractive way of life… and keep selling seashells by the seashore!

This is why sustainable development is central in Queensland’s economic development: the reef is constantly monitored, as the website www.reefbase.org shows:

Besides the government implements new strategies such as ecotourism: "an ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation", says the non-profit organisation Ecotourism Australia.

On the Australian coast, human activities, development and welfare depend on how the sea is considered: should it only be seen as a source of profit, or as an asset to humanity and biodiversity?

Scientific experimentations

En cas de pollution aux hydrocarbures des mers et océans, on utilise souvent des agents dispersants. Ce sont des tensioactifs : du liquide vaisselle concentré. Cela permet de diviser la nappe d'hydrocrabures et de la disperser dans le colonne d'eau grâce aux courants.
Voici deux béchers : ils contiennent de l'eau et de l'huile ; dans celui de droite ont été ajoutés des tensioactifs.

Les matières organiques constituent la principale source de pollution de l'eau qui avoisine les milieux urbains. Nous avons choisi de déterminer la concentration en dioxygène dissous dans l'eau de l'Huveaune et l'eau de mer afin de voir si ces eaux étaient polluées, à la date des prélèvements, par les matières organiques. En effet, la décomposition par les bactéries des matières organiques entraine une diminution de la concentration en dioxygène des eaux.

Réactions entre le dioxygène dissous et les ions manganèse (II) :

 Titrage de l'échantillon par les ions thiosulfate en présence de thiodène :

Résultats :

Origine de l’eau	Volume versé à la burette (ml)	Teneur en dioxygène (mg/L)	Qualité de l’eau
Huveaune à la Valentine	13,8	10,6	excellente
Huveaune à son embouchure	16,4	13,1	excellente
Eau de mer au large	14,9	11,9	excellente

Une production personnelle d'Iheb Hallek. Une interprétation du film de Yann Arthus Bertrand : "La Méditerranée notre mer à tous".
http://youtu.be/0cumXbXCIw4


Mer Méditerranée - carte - FB Provence © Eric Gaba/Creative commons

Our visit to the villa Méditerrannée by Tiphaine

 This school year, we went to visit the villa Méditerrannée a lot of times. It is explained by the fact that we have a project called “City by the sea “ this year. Our trip to Belfast was also part of this project.

The visit of the villa Méditerrannée I liked the most was the last one. We watched a very inspiring movie, talking about the Mediterranean sea. I think that the main theme of this movie was sharing cultures. It showed us that we needed to learn to live together, to accept new cultures and strangers. We could see the sea from a social point of view, not an underwater point of view as we saw it during our last visits. It really made me think.

The afternoon, we participated to a sort of debate. Well, some of us participated. A man from a company called “Ifremer” told us about his job, and then, answered our questions. It wasn’t the part I liked the most, it was a bit too scientific in my opinion, but it was still interesting to learn some of the things he said. 

Outing at the Villa Méditerranée

Copyright. Yann Arthus Bertrand. France 2

On May 16th, the oib section and some other students went to an outing at the villa méditerranée.
In the morning, we saw an amazing movie of Yann Arthus Bertrand about the mediterranean sea. Indeed, it was a most interesting movie which told us the story of mediterranean peoples from the Antiquity to today. It also dealt with the water issue all around the sea and some of the strategies which are or were used by the different countries and peoples. It showed us a lot of countries such as Libya, Lebanon, France, Greece, Egypt...
The afternoon was, to me, less interesting, indeed, we had the intervention of a sea specialist of the Ifremer who used a lot of technical terms which I, most of the time, didn't understand. I guess it was more interesting for the students of the science project who had the chance to ask questions about the sea to specialists.

Our second visit

Copyright. Ifremer

When we went down to the  "Villa Méditérranée", we had the chance to attend a mini conference with an IFREMER specialist. IFREMER is a marine research organization and the specialist was able to answer almost all the questions about the sea we had prepared for him. I was very interested by the things he showed us. IFREMER does a lot of different things from plain scientific research to environmental protection. I learned that they were the ones to find the titanic, along with an American organization. I am very interested in marine biology and I thought the field trip was very useful for us.

http://wwz.ifremer.fr/webtv/Patrimoine/Titanic

Our visit: Discovering a film

Copyright. Yann Arthus Bertrand

When we went to the Villa Mediteranee we saw a movie on the mediteranean sea.  It talked about how the mediteranean sea linked the countries together, but it used different topics (History, culture and religions, pollution, wars, architecture). We learned about the History of all those mediteranean countries but we also learned about things that are more recent like the lack of water, the war between two religions or the threatening pollution. 

All the images were truly splendid and unusual because they had been filmed from a helicopter. In the background there was a deep voice narrating stories about the different countries and soft traditional music which helped to put an atmosphere. In the video we saw alot of different colors, clothes, buildings and faces, I thought it was a beautiful video.

http://www.france2.fr/emission/mediterranee-notre-mer-tous
http://www.francetvinfo.fr/documentaire-la-mediterranee-vue-du-ciel-par-yann-arthus-bertrand_516659.html

http://edinburgh.stv.tv/articles/276217-newhaven-gala-day-edinburgh-marathon-junior-race-and-a-garden-party/

This is the poem about the sea I find inspiring.

It is known sea food
Puts you in sea mood
It is known the sea floor
Extends to a sea shore

These are common sea facts
Like when sea waves are calm and free
Crashing to the shore endlessly attracts
Everyone to take of in jest and flee
See not and hear not, there is no evil
Above and below sea level

Most seaports
Have a seaside resort
And most seafronts
Have a sea restaurant

But many rooms with a sea view
Are yet to see a sea rescue
Or watch a sea adventure
With any or at least one sea creature
Like a sea mammal
Or a sea animal

These are common sea facts
The sea has such beauty to attract
With sea shells
Woven from sea spells
To treasured sea beds
And to cherubic sea birds

You need seamanship
To take a sea ship on a trip
Or fly a seaplane
As a sea captain

There have been sea battles and sea bandits
The sea is a venue people love to use to meet
There have been sea monsters and seaquakes
Believe you me some of these myths are not fake
And now I have given you a little sea taste
I urge you not to let these sea facts go to waste

These are common sea facts
On your knowledge they most have made an impact!

Sylvia Chidi

Visit to the « villa Mediterranée »

My last visit to the Villa was really interesting. It was about the sea and everything that is related to it; we had an exhibition talking about fishes, algae, boats and pollution they caused, and we also saw a movie. That movie was made of different parts of other movies, about the Mediterranean Sea. I didn’t really like it because everything was mixed up and it was hard to understand, there were no obvious messages or actions that could have helped us.

Our school has a project with the Villa Mediterranée, in my optional science class we made a project explaining pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and especially in Marseille. Working on it made me realize how polluted it was and that people have to react and do things to keep our beautiful sea healthy.

Alicia

That's the photo I chose to represent the sea.
I think this represents the sea to me because I live in Marseille, which is near the sea and I often see boats and there are boats on this image. In the background there's the "Frioul", a small island near the coast. I've been to that island quite a lot so it's important for me to be in the picture.
Alicia

http://www.theamazingpics.com/tall-ship-sails-off-towards-worlds-end-australia/#.U5qQCPl_t0w

Sea Fever

BY JOHN MASEFIELD

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Morgan 

Second visit to the Villa Méditerranée.

 ©CNRS/IN2P3

The last time we visited the Villa Méditerranée, it was linked with our project on the sea. We saw some videos, some photos, and thanks to them we realized how important it is to preserve our sea, our méditerranée. We also attended a debate where a man from an organization whose goal is to study our maritime world. The organization was "Ifremer" (English: French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea). It was really interesting. Some students asked questions (that we had prepared together) and the answers have helped us to complete our job on the sea. It was very interesting to see what is present under the sea, what kind of fishes live in the sea. When we learn more about it, we realize we don't really know what we swim in. We live on a coastal area. We'd better, therefore  be a bit more aware of what the sea is really. It's not a simple "big pool" of water ; there's a real life under it, a vast amount of diverse creatures.

http://wwz.ifremer.fr/