March 2017 GOLLY WALK

“GOLLY, we must be mad!” Although conditions and visibility were far from perfect five brave members jumped into the water at Mettam’s Pool on March 22 to conclude our beachcombing and planned snorkelling event. Their exit was almost as fast as their entry!

Our preceding walk along the beach did not reveal any startling finds but there were enough ascidians, molluscs, cephalopods and algae to satisfy our curiosity. The waterproof Beachcombing cards produced by the Department of Fisheries a decade ago proved to be very useful and informative as members marvelled over ascidians and humans being within the same phylum: Chordata.

The ring bound cards are no longer available from Fisheries but can be downloaded, Beachcombers Field Guide.pdf. You could then arrange to laminate and waterproof them.

Member Rae Kolb broke off from her coast care job to point out some of the plants that are being used to stabilise the dunes. We were able to see the difference between the two spinifexes used – S. hirsutus on the fore dune and S. longifolia on the crest and further back. The former is more salt tolerant as its leaves are covered with fine hairs – an adaptation common to many species growing close to the sea’s edge. It reduces the loss of water as well limiting the entry of salts into the leaves.

Mettams Pool is located within the Marmion Marine Park, the first marine park declared in Western Australia. It celebrated its 30th anniversary the week before our visit. The pool itself was originally called Lennards Pool but was renamed Mettams Pool in the 1940s. It was named after Frank Mettam, a local resident who patiently removed part of the reef to make a safe ocean swimming pool for children and the elderly.

Don Poynton