​Port Adelaide

Oct 28, 2015 by wilderness-eadams

The first part of our excursion began at Garden Island boat ramp. Here we walked along the jetty to observe the mangroves and look for dolphins. On our way to the dolphin cruise, the amount of rubbish caught up in the mangroves caught my attention. This pollution remained consistent as we travelled along the port river; noticing many buildings, manufacturing

Mangroves are flowering plants that live on the edge of the coast between the land and sea. The Mangrove areas are vital for the habitat of marine species along with proving them nutrients and feed for the dolphins. There are a lot of human related threats towards the mangroves in Port Adelaide. Mangrove forests have been used as sewage outfalls and even dumping grounds, killing plants and animals. The waste from boats, factories and humans littering is constantly damaging the mangroves in Port Adelaide; leading to harming the marine life. If the mangroves continue to get damaged and die, the dolphins will move somewhere else for food and an overall decrease of marine species will occur.

Adelaide’s environment needs to be looked after much more efficiently to not only keep the dolphins, but the natural habitat that makes Port Adelaide so unique. There are different projects currently taking place, currently AWWRRO and the Australian Government are adding Grey Mangroves to the Port River estuary to try maintain the amount of Mangroves. The newly planted mangroves will be fenced off for a few years to allow the mangroves to grow efficiently. I believe humans can make a difference to maintaining the mangroves and marine life by simply being aware of their actions and whether they’re being environmentally friendly or not. 

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