An advocate for a curious sea creature that plays a key role in marine ecosystems has proposed that a key habitat in the Mooloolah River to be protected.
A 350m stretch of the river along La Balsa Park, Buddina, has what appears to be one of the most diverse populations of nudibranchs in the world.
Nudibranchs are a type of sea slug or shell-less snail that come in a variety of shapes and colours, and range in size from a few millimetres to 300mm.
They feed on fish eggs, algae, sponges and other things, including water organisms too small to see, and are said to contribute to the balance of the marine environment.
Gary Cobb, of Buderim, has documented 714 of the world’s 3000-odd species of nudibranchs in the Mooloolah River near La Balsa Park.
Mr Cobb wants a protection zone established off La Balsa, extending from the shore to about 12m out in the river, where fishing, boating and jet-skiing would be banned.
“Nudibranchs and people floating about looking at nudibranchs – that’ s all we want,” he said.
Mr Cobb said the zone needed to be kept clean for nudibranchs and safe for divers and underwater photographers.
“There’s so much fishing line and hooks and sinkers. It’s sad to see fish swimming around with hooks and lines hanging out of them,” he said.
“You see a beautiful seabed with all these species growing in it and you have about 20m of fishing line stretched across and scraping all the stuff off the rocks.”
Mr Cobb has put his proposal to Sunshine Coast Division 4 councillor Joe Natoli, who recently raised it with the council’s group executive of liveability and natural assets, David Haddrill, and anticipates further discussions.
Cr Natoli said creating a protection area would not just be a matter for the council, but also Maritime Safety Queensland, to consider.
He acknowledged that the La Balsa stretch of the Mooloolah River was important for nudibranchs.
“It’s not like there’s only one species that has been identified in that area. New species are being documented,” Cr Natoli said.
“They keep coming back to that one spot. There’s something about it bringing them back to that spot.”
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Cr Natoli said the relocation of a marker buoy for watercraft could be a simple way to steer boats out of the area but banning fishing, although beneficial, would be more difficult.
“It would be a big call to try and ban fishing in the area but the water we’re talking about is a 350m stretch,” he said.
“It’s not a big area being excluded for the sake of protecting something that for the species is crucial, basically.
“The big questions is how do we protect it and how do we manage it?”
Mr Cobb said the exact reason for the diverse population of nudibranchs in the river was not known, although the climate, tidal movements and underwater rocks suited them.
“It can only be one thing: magic. What makes it so diverse with the Mooloolah River is we are in the temperate zone; there’s a flow of water twice a day in and out of the ocean, which brings in nutrients,” he said.
A species of nudibranch noticed by researchers diving in the river between 2017 and 2019 was named after La Balsa Park, Naisdoris labalsaensis.
Many Sunshine Coast beachgoers will be familiar with the blue dragon nudibranch, Glaucus atlanticus, which sometimes washes up on beaches.
Mr Cobb has been interested in nudibranchs for more than 30 years and has a nudibranch species named after him, Murphydoris cobbi.
Besides pushing for a protection zone at La Balsa, Mr Cobb has applied to the Unicode consortium for a nudibranch emoji to raise awareness of the creatures.
“They have a land snail so why not a sea snail – a sea slug?” he said.
Mr Cobb runs a Facebook page with more than 50,000 members called Nudibranch Central, as well as a nudibranch website, and liaises with fans and researchers all over the world.
He recently featured in an article about nudibranchs in the Smithsonian Magazine, published by the world’s largest museum, education and research organisation, the Smithsonian Institution.
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