Thread: The dirty secrets of Sydney Harbour.

Originally Posted by Fatso

The brown paper bags bring back memories .

I always thought that was a Qld "Thing"

Originally Posted by trout1105

I always thought that was a Qld "Thing"

" Dont you worry about that " The old brown paper bag has been around for donations or otherwise down the ages . Some pretty interesting stuff went on back in the 70s / 80s in the old Builders Laboures days in Sydney .

As a kid in the early 60s I used to catch the Manly ferry and the one thing that remains in my mind was the disgusting state of the harbour - rubbish everywhere and the water was not green but brown - the other thing that I remember was the disgusting smells on the train while getting into the city as it passed through the inner southern suburbs on the way to Central Station.

12 years later I was diving in Sydney Harbour in 74/75 and 76 and even then - visually the harbour had improved a hell of a lot - the blind mullets were still around but the surface of the water was basically clean and it was green. Underneath it was a different matter as there was a lot of rubbish on the bottom but the water column was cleaner than it had been before. The rubbish that was in the harbour has settled on the bottom and rotting down into the sediment along with all the heavy metals from earlier years. Certainly less was going into the harbour but the stuff on the bottom was still there.

Now 40 years later most heavy industry on the harbour is gone along with the rubbish - what is left is heavily regulated so there is not a lot of fresh industrial waste going into the harbour.

However the crap in the sediments from years gone by is still there, storm water management is still poor so lots of rubbish still gets into the harbour. Also a major worry are harbour side developments where contaminated soils are disturbed and they find their way into the harbour despite the efforts of the EPA. The replanting of mangroves up the river will help lock this up but it will always be there.

Overall the harbour looks pretty good compared to what it was 60 years ago but now the dangers in the form of heavy metals and decayed material still lurk in the sediment and will probably remain an issue forever.

Yes it is not pristine, but major gains have been made over the years.

Garry

As usual, there are only two cities on our East coast, according to southern media. And now, Sydney has a rat infestation.



Rats are starting to run the show in Australia's eastern cities