Tasmanians will gain a new appreciation of the often misunderstood Tamar River with a new expo that aims to educate the community on the waterways.
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Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery curator of natural sciences David Maynard said he hopes the information they provide will help pique interest in the river.
“One of the things we always try to do is increase the care factor, particularly for the Tamar,” he said.
“It’s such a great waterway, and if we can provide the community with more information about what’s in it and how it ticks, hopefully they’ll take a greater interest in it’s management.
“You really need to get to the other end to appreciate how diverse the estuary is, so it has a misrepresentation as a silty pond and it’s not that at all.”
Mr Maynard said QVMAG will be there to show underwater video and still images, and will discuss some of the issues facing rivers, estuaries, and oceans.
“We’ll be along to show some of the underwater video, underwater imagery, and also do some interpretation about how the climate is changing and how that might affect what the Tamar and Bass Strait is now, and how that might change in the future.”
NRM North’s Megan Dykman said climate change is already affecting the estuary.
“With changing climates, the water currents will change as well,” she said. “Being in Northern Tasmania, we’re really at the front line of some of that change,” she said.
“It’s really important for us to get more baseline information about these habitats so that we can look for those changes over time.”
“A lot of people probably wouldn’t be aware, but the Tamar is home to some very diverse and very unique communities of plants and animals.
“These are all habitats that are part of a much bigger system, so anything that we do at this end can affect some very rare creatures down the other end of the estuary,” she said.
Event organiser and Sea Dragon Dive Group member Michael Jacques said the emphasis on the expo is sparking curiosity.
“You can come along to if you live diving, canoeing, or just walking along the beach,” he said.
He said there will be interactive displays, robots, creature displays, video links to CSIRO labs, and more.
The Big Blue Marine Community Expo will take place at Albert Hall on February 11.