Anja Taylor
After four weeks on the road, we're heading to South Australia's Coorong Wetlands. It's where the mighty Murray River meets the Southern Ocean and feeds into the Coorong Lagoon. It's hard to believe that, back in 2009, this wetland was at crisis point. Natural drought and human overuse of water caused the region to run dry. But in 2010, rains fell upstream. The Murray began to flow again and water reached the Coorong. We're here to find out how the Coorong has recovered. And first, to get a picture of how vast this area is, I'm taking to the skies.

It's spectacular! Look at all those birds.

The Coorong stretches 140km south-east towards Victoria. It's a unique mix of fresh and seawater environments.

It's just beautiful from the air.

It's often described as the 'Kakadu of the South'.

Can you give me an idea of how bad it was when it was at its worst?

Jason Higham
There was no passage, no connection between the Coorong and the Southern Ocean and the lakes. And there was certainly two dredges, or a dredge, working here full-time to keep the Murray mouth open.

Anja Taylor
Because otherwise it just would have completely sanded up and that would've been it?

Jason Higham
Yes. The whole environment itself was right on the very edge. If we'd gone another year, it's no telling what that implication would've been for the lakes and the Coorong.

Anja Taylor
But with breaking of the drought, the barrage gates that had been closed since early 2007 were reopened.

What was the reaction when the gates opened? It must have been pretty good news.

Jason Higham
I don't think it'd be wrong to say that everyone was doing a bit of a dance down here. We were all pretty happy. It's amazing how far the environment can be pushed and still recover and become as healthy as it is today.

Anja Taylor
So you've succeeded?

Jason Higham
We've certainly succeeded partially in looking after the Coorong. But the job's not over yet. There's lots more work to do.

Anja Taylor
In October, 2012, the Federal Government announced they would return up to 3,200 gigalitres of water to the Murray-Darling Basin. That's the equivalent of 3.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. But as we'll find out, it's not just the amount of water returned, but how it's managed, that's so vital to the Coorong recovery.

Dr Derek Muller
For many waterbird species, the Coorong provides a critical refuge. David Paton's been studying the birds in the Coorong for over 12 years. And even a bit of rain doesn't deter him.

Assoc Prof David Paton
This is one of probably the four or five best wetlands, as far as birds are concerned, in this country. Sad thing has been, for the last 10 or 12 years, it's been, basically, a slow decline in everything. And although many people blame the drought, we are pretty adamant that the driver for this was not sufficient water going over the barrages during the drought periods. It's a forced drought onto the system, which has caused the problems for it.

Dr Derek Muller
So, how do you go about counting the number of birds out here?

Assoc Prof David Paton
So, it's a big system - it's really long - so we've broken the Coorong up into 1km strips. There's about 110 of them that we go to, and we start at one end and just systematically work our way up the whole Coorong. So this system here starts down at that point and you just work your way along this whole bay, systematically looking with your binoculars. So, there's a sharp-tailed sandpiper roosting up the end there.

Dr Derek Muller
Although some bird populations returned, some species have not. Migratory birds like the sharp-tailed sandpiper and green shanks are at half their population, and fairy tern numbers are critical.

Assoc Prof David Paton
Used to be 1,500 of these in the 1980s. Round a bout 2,000 just before the drought came in. It's now around about 300. And it's probably a function of these systems taking more than a year to get back to full productivity.

Simon Pampena
With Derek checking on the birds and Anja in the air, I was keen to find out just how the Big Dry had affected the fish of the Coorong. And, like the birds, some are doing better than others.

Hey! Qifeng! Hey! Hey! Have you caught anything?!

Dr Qifeng Ye
Yeah. Yeah.Caught a few species.

Simon Pampena
Come on! Bring 'em in! OK, what've you got there?

Dr Qifeng Ye
This is a baby flounder.

Simon Pampena
It's a tiny flounder, it is! Look, you can see the two eyes on the one side.

Dr Qifeng Ye
Yes. Cute, isn't it?

Simon Pampena
Oh, it's gorgeous. How old do you reckon this guy is?

Dr Qifeng Ye
They would be less than three months old.

Simon Pampena
Wow! He's good eating, this fish.

Dr Qifeng Ye
When they grow up.

Simon Pampena
When they grow up. Of course.

Dr Qifeng Ye
This is one of my favourites.

Simon Pampena
This is a bit of an hors d'oeuvre size at the moment.

And also coming back are Australian salmon and yellow-eyed mullet.

Oh, he's gorgeous. So that's a good sign, to see those fish in the estuary?

Dr Qifeng Ye
Yeah. After the restoration of the flow, some of the important commercial species stay. They recover gradually.

Simon Pampena
Right.

Dr Qifeng Ye
So, that's a good sign.

Simon Pampena
Thanks for coming back.

Dr Qifeng Ye
Yes.

Simon Pampena
We like to see you.

Dr Qifeng Ye
A kiss.

Simon Pampena
They're definitely better cooked.

Simon Pampena
But for black bream, it's not such good news.

Dr Qifeng Ye
I think has been since the barrage shut in 2006.

Simon Pampena
Since 2006 you haven't seen that particular species.

Dr Qifeng Ye
Yeah, we're still doing the monitoring to see whether they recover or not, what happens, yeah. So, this is what we are doing out there.

Simon Pampena
It's important work.

Dr Qifeng Ye
Yeah.

Anja Taylor
Back on terra firma, I joined marine biologist Sabine Dittmann to do a little bit of digging below the surface.

Anja Taylor
Hello.

Dr Sabine Dittmann
Oh, hi.

Jason Higham
Hi.

Dr Sabine Dittmann
Visitors, yeah?

Anja Taylor
Yeah. What are you doing?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
I'm looking at organisms living in the sediment here. We refer to them as macro-invertebrates. These are actually tiny, little chironomid larvae. They are actually insect larvae, what you've got here.

Anja Taylor
And so the birds and other things eat these little...?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
Yes.

Anja Taylor
They don't look like a very big meal.

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
No, they don't. But they eat more than one. So there's really a rich pickings for them at the moment here in the mudflats.

Anja Taylor
So this has survived through all of the catastrophe that's been here.

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
Yes, these chironomid larvae are incredibly hardy. They are really making it through very, very tough environmental conditions.

Anja Taylor
So, these can cope with salinity?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
You find them in hypersaline salinities, like we've had them in the south even when it was up to 180 parts per 1,000 and more. Seawater normally has about 36. They really are able to live in that full range.

Anja Taylor
And even now, with salinity levels twice that of seawater, these little creatures are thriving. And it's the short-beaked birds, like the Siberian sharp-tailed sandpiper that rely on the insect larvae for food.

Anja Taylor
They're not surviving very well in my hand, I don't think.

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
No, probably not.

Anja Taylor
I'll put them back in.

Simon Pampena
The old food chain - everything depending on something else. And at the very top of this food chain is us. So, what do the fishermen in the area think?

Simon Pampena
Gary. This looks like a good catch. Gary's been fishing in the Coorong area for 26 years and runs an accredited sustainable fishery. You got a lot of fans around here, Gary.

Garry Hera-Singh
Yeah. Well, they get a feed every day.

Simon Pampena
What are you catching in here? What's the stuff that you're interested in?

Garry Hera-Singh
The yellow-eye mullet. That's my main target species. While it looks like a lot of good fish, it's mostly bony bream.

Simon Pampena
This is bycatch. This is not what you're actually...

Garry Hera-Singh
Targeting.

Simon Pampena
..targeting.

Garry Hera-Singh
But ecologically, it's not impacting on the fish in the Coorong. It ends up in the pelicans' mouths. It's not wasted. So, it's just a carbon transfer, really.

Simon Pampena
So this is a good thing?

Garry Hera-Singh
Yeah.

Simon Pampena
So this is part of sustainability right here.

Garry Hera-Singh
Oh, yeah.

Simon Pampena
These guys getting a feed from you. And what have you seen over the past couple of years?

Garry Hera-Singh
Oh, well, the flow's been a blessing, particularly after that four years of drought. I tell you what, if that drought went on for another year, I reckon, I reckon the Coorong would have been irretrievable.

Simon Pampena
So, what were you looking at doing in the crisis? Were you actually considering giving up, doing something else?

Garry Hera-Singh
Well, my wife's a nurse, and I told her to get some more shifts at the hospital.

Simon Pampena
She would have done a bit of nursing, huh? Instead, you're nursing the environment, which is good.

Anja Taylor
And I found out there was also good news for the longer-beaked birds.

Who eats this?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
So anything like a greenshank or curlew or anything like that that is probing deeper in the sediment. They can pull the worms out of, say, 15cm, 20cm depths or longer.

Anja Taylor
So, the worms are coming back?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
Yes.

Anja Taylor
And does that mean that these long-billed birds will come back?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
Yes, very likely so. My hypothesis is that we are going to see a respective change in the shorebird - composition of species and in their numbers as well.

Anja Taylor
So this is good news to see these worms?

Assoc Prof Sabine Dittmann
Absolutely. I'm very happy about it.

Simon Pampena
As I watched Gar sorting his fish, I was beginning to feel a little peckish.

Simon Pampena
So how much do you want for one of your fish?

Garry Hera-Singh
One of my mullet?

Simon Pampena
Yes.

Gary
They're about a dollar each.

Simon Pampena
A dollar each?

Garry Hera-Singh
Yes. He costs a bit more than a dollar.

Simon Pampena
Ohh! Is this mulloway?

Garry Hera-Singh
Yep.

Simon Pampena
Look at that! There you go. Is that alright? There you go.

Garry Hera-Singh
Do you want change?

Simon Pampena
That's a little tip.

Garry Hera-Singh
You want change!

Simon Pampena
No change. We appreciate what you're doing here. Thanks, Gaz.

Garry Hera-Singh
Alright, mate. All the best.

Simon Pampena
Derek and Anja will be so pleased that I've got dinner.

Anja Taylor
Dinner? What is Simon thinking?

Simon Pampena
Don't lose it! That's my only fish!

Story Contacts

Jason Higham
Manager, Environmental Integration
Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Program
Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources
South Australian Government

Associate Professor David Paton
Ecologist
The University of Adelaide

Dr Qifeng Ye
Fish Biologist
South Australia Research and Development Institute

Associate Professor Sabine Dittman
Marine Biologist
Flinders University

Garry Hera-Singh
Accredited sustainable fisherman

Related Info

Coorong recovery begins but still room for improvement - The Conversation

Talking Fish - Radio National

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