‘Heartbreaking’: Platypus entangled in rubbish saved, after significant amount of rubbish in Hobart Rivulet
A female platypus entangled in rubbish has been saved after large volumes of rubbish from a local tip was discharged into the Hobart Rivulet.
Tasmania
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A platypus entangled in plastic has been rescued after rubbish was discharged from a Hobart rubbish tip into the Hobart Rivulet.
Hobart Rivulet Platypus and Platypus Guardian documentary maker Pete Walsh saw a female platypus entangled in rubbish while he was photographing different platypuses in the Rivulet on Tuesday.
“A platypus just popped its head out, and went away and then last night I was looking through the images and I was so shocked when I saw the one that just popped its head out had got rubbish around its body,” he said.
First thing Wednesday morning, Mr Walsh went looking for the platypus.
“It took two and a half hours and then magically I bumped into her after seeing a couple of other platypuses.
“It usually takes ages to be 100 per cent to be sure if they haven’t got rubbish on them.
“She was the least impressed of the last four platypuses I’ve removed rubbish from. She’s pretty feisty and I think just her nature, she’s a lot more timid than some of the other animals. She was not impressed.”
Over the weekend, large volumes of rubbish was discharged from a Hobart rubbish tip after a wild thunderstorm. Overnight on Tuesday, Hobart had severe gusts of wind with wind speeds up to 98km/h.
“Once the rubbish is in the waterway, it’s like a bomb ticking away,” Mr Walsh said.
“We’re going back to the Rivulet because now the water has dropped, there’s a whole new layer of rubbish you can get to.”
Tuesday: ‘Heartbreaking’: Rubbish contaminates platypus rivulet habitat
A significant amount of rubbish has flown into Hobart Rivulet in the same area that has previously killed or injured local platypuses.
After wild weather over the weekend, the rubbish had flown through the outfalls behind Degraves St in South Hobart from the site of a Hobart tip.
While there have been no reports of injured platypuses, Hobart Rivulet Platypus and Platypus Guardian documentary maker Pete Walsh said this wasn’t the first time the tip had discharged into the rivulet.
“Previously, three platypuses got tangled in rubbish in the same section of the water way from the city tip (which leaked rubbish) directly into the platypus’ habitat. The platypus has died or gotten injured because of that,” he said.
“It’s heartbreaking to see an animal, a local platypus, injured because of our inability to manage rubbish.
“It’s really upsetting and even when you are able to rescue an entangled platypus, you have to release it back into that same waterway that you know will be polluted with rubbish again.”
Mr Walsh said it was too early to tell if wildlife, including platypuses, had been injured.
“Litter is more of an insidious problem. It dumped all of this fresh rubbish into the waterway and some of that is going to settle down in the cracks of the rocks – however long weeks or months later, there will be a platypus that is coming along and disturbing that rubbish,” he said.
“Community clean-ups along the bank is a great thing to do after a flood, but in a way it’s too late because the rubbish that causes the problem for platypuses is already in the waterway. “The solution is to prevent the rubbish entering in the first place and that’s the city’s responsibility,” Mr Walsh said.
“The residents of Hobart, we make that rubbish we are a big part of that problem, but we are relying on the city to manage the handling of that rubbish.”
In a joint state statement, Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds and chair of the council’s city water committee Ben Lohberger said the amount of plastic which ended up in the rivulet was “not acceptable”.
“While blown soft plastics can come from all directions during extreme weather, the Council owned landfill at McRobies Gully tip was likely to be the major source of this plastic pollution,” they said.
“We’re concerned that the current operational practises and protocols at McRobies Gully are not sufficient to prevent the release of plastic into the rivulet or that we have clear enough arrangements for the clean up.”
The two are calling on the acting CEO to investigate how much plastic went into the river, consider possible infrastructure improvements and to organise clean-up events after extreme weather events.
Hobart City Council acting city life director Karen Abey said McRobies Waste Management Centre has several strategies to mitigate loose plastic.
“These strategies were implemented in advance of the severe weather event that occurred on Saturday night,” she said.
“While we can prepare the site as much as possible, it is unrealistic to expect that no waste will escape the landfill. We also know that during such severe weather that hit Hobart on the weekend, it is not only waste from McRobies that can make its way into the Hobart Rivulet.
“A permanent step to prevent plastic escaping from the landfill is to close it permanently. This is being done in a systematic way as part of the ongoing closure of the McRobies landfill by 2030.”
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