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Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association
The Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association (SOSSA) is an Australian natural history research and conservation organisation. It is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. It was formally established in 1994 by members of the New South Wales Albatross Study Group Lindsay Smith and Harry Battam to be an umbrella organisation for groups involved with biological research on, and concerned about the environment of, the Southern Ocean. However, its origins go back to the start of long-term banding studies of albatrosses by Doug Gibson and Allan Sefton on the coast of New South Wales in the mid-1950s, with SOSSA continuing one of the longest-running albatross research programs in the world. SOSSA is also involved in research and conservation of little penguins in New South Wales, making its data sheets available to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and being represented on their Little Penguin Recovery Team. SOSSA operates monthly public pelagic trips from Wollongong to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Parks And Wildlife Service (New South Wales)
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment responsible for managing most of the protected areas in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the NPWS is a state agency rather than a national one, with similarly named counterparts fulfilling comparable functions in other states and territories. History The NPWS was established in 1967 when the Fauna Protection Panel and the Parks and Reserves Branch of the NSW Lands Department were amalgamated under Lands Minister Tom Lewis . Lewis also established a charity, the National Parks Foundation, to assist the NPWS in raising funds for conservation. The first Director of the NPWS was Sam P. Weems, formerly of the US National Park Service. Seven years after the founding of the NPWS, various state laws regulating flora and fauna were consolidated together into the ''National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974'', which remains the enabling legi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithological Organisations In Australia
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds. It has also been an area with a large contribution made by amateurs in terms of time, resources, and financial support. Studies on birds have helped develop key concepts in biology including evolution, behaviour and ecology such as the definition of species, the process of speciation, instinct, learning, ecological niches, guilds, island biogeography, phylogeography, and conservation. While early ornithology was principally concerned with descriptions and distributions of species, ornithologists today seek answers to very specific questions, often using birds as models to test hypotheses or predictions based on theories. Most modern biological theories apply across life forms, and the number of scientists who i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port Kembla, New South Wales
Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 8 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex (one of the largest in Australia), a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point (Port Kembla), Red Point: its first European sighting was by Captain James Cook in 1770. The name "Kembla" is an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal word meaning "plenty [of] wild fowl". History Before Port Kembla was an industrial suburb of Wollongong, it was a town with a remarkably self-sufficient society, a growing commercial centre, and a vibrant civic life. Town subdivision began in 1908, and by 1921 there were 1622 residents. Economic expansion propelled further population growth. Port Kembla derives its name from its proximity to Mount Kembla. Industrial change A copper smelter and refinery, the Electrolytic Refinery and Smelting Company of Australia, began pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Five Islands Nature Reserve
The Five Islands Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located in the Tasman Sea, off the Illawarra east coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The reserve comprises five continental islands that are situated between east of . The Five Islands are Flinders Islet (Toothbrush Island), Bass Islet, Martin Islet, Big Island (also called Rabbit or Perkins Island) and Rocky Islet. History The reserve was originally dedicated as a fauna reserve in 1960; it is considered significant for its biological and Aboriginal heritage values and is managed by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. At the height of the last ice-age some 18,000 years ago, with a lower sea-level, the islands were part of the mainland. When Europeans first visited the area around and immediately south of Sydney in the late 18th century, the mainland coast opposite the Five Islands was occupied by the Tharawal people. Cattle and rabbits were introduced to the islands before 1861. In 1867 a h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buoyancy. Cuttlefish have large, W-shaped pupils, eight arms, and two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers, with which they secure their prey. They generally range in size from , with the largest species, the giant cuttlefish (''Sepia apama''), reaching in mantle length and over in mass. Cuttlefish eat small molluscs, crabs, shrimp, fish, octopus, worms, and other cuttlefish. Their predators include dolphins, sharks, fish, seals, seabirds, and other cuttlefish. The typical life expectancy of a cuttlefish is about 1–2 years. Studies are said to indicate cuttlefish to be among the most intelligent invertebrates. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Oystercatcher
The sooty oystercatcher (''Haematopus fuliginosus'') is a species of oystercatcher. It is a wading bird endemic to Australia and commonly found on its coastline. It prefers rocky coastlines, but will occasionally live in estuaries. All of its feathers are black. It has a red eye, eye ring and bill, and pink legs. Taxonomy John Gould described the sooty oystercatcher in 1845. Its species name is the Latin adjective ''fuliginosus'', "sooty". Two subspecies are recognised, the nominate from the coastline of southern Australia and subspecies ''ophthalmicus'' from northern Australia. The southern subspecies is larger and heavier than the northern. The northern one, with a more yellowish eye ring, is found from the Kimberleys across the top of the country to Mackay in central Queensland. There is considerable overlap, as the southern subspecies has been found up to Cape York. Subspecies ''ophthalmicus'' has been thought distinctive enough to warrant species status and needs further inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thalassarche
The mollymawks are a group of medium-sized albatrosses that form the genus ''Thalassarche''. The name has sometimes been used for the genus ''Phoebetria'' as well, but these are usually called sooty albatrosses. They are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, where they are the most common of the albatrosses. They were long considered to be in the same genus as the great albatrosses, ''Diomedea'', but a study of their mitochondrial DNA showed that they are a monophyletic taxon related to the sooty albatrosses, and they were placed in their own genus. Taxonomy The genus ''Thalassarche'' was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach with the black-browed albatross as the type species. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''thalassa'' meaning "sea" and ''arkhē'' meaning "power" or "command" (from ''arkhō'', to govern). The word ''mollymawk'', which dates to the late 17th century, comes from the Dutch ''mallemok'', which means ''mal'' – foolish and ''m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles (including birds) from which they diverged in the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. Around 6,400 extant species of mammals have been described divided into 29 orders. The largest orders, in terms of number of species, are the rodents, bats, and Eulipotyphla (hedgehogs, moles, shrews, and others). The next three are the Primates (including humans, apes, monkeys, and others), the Artiodactyla ( cetaceans and even-toed ungulates), and the Carnivora (cats, dogs, seals, and others). In terms of cladistics, which reflects evolutionary history, mammals are the only living members of the Synapsida (synapsids); this clade, together with Saur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Penguin
The little penguin (''Eudyptula minor'') is a species of penguin from New Zealand. They are commonly known as little blue penguins or blue penguins owing to their slate-blue plumage and are also known by their Māori name . The Australian little penguin (''Eudyptula novaehollandiae'') from Australia and the Otago region of New Zealand is considered a separate species by a 2016 study and a 2019 study. Taxonomy The little penguin was first described by German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster in 1781. Several subspecies are known, but a precise classification of these is still a matter of dispute. The holotypes of the subspecies ''E. m. variabilis'' and ''Eudyptula minor chathamensis'' are in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The white-flippered penguin (''E. m. albosignata'' or ''E. m. minor morpha albosignata'') is currently considered by most taxonomists to be a colour morph or subspecies of ''Eudyptula minor.'' In 2008, Shirihai treated th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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