A 2011 Flood Science Taskforce was convened on 20 January 2011 to coordinate flood monitoring efforts and to discuss potential environmental impacts in the catchment and the waterways, including Moreton Bay. At the task force meeting, aerial and satellite images were displayed, the hydrodynamic model was run and available data were presented.

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The mayor of Moreton Bay Regional Council, Councillor Allan Sutherland, invited me and Eva Abal, the scientific coordinator for several Brisbane based organizations, Healthy Waterways, International Water Centre, Great Barrier Reef Foundation (and my first PhD student) for lunch in Redcliffe. Allan was Deputy Mayor of Redcliffe City Council when I first met him.

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Queensland Parks and Wildlife rangers conduct regular surveys of seagrasses and Lyngbya majuscula (a cyanobacterium that has been blooming in Moreton Bay for over a decade). I was able to tag along for a look at the Bay and the benthic communities of the Eastern Banks. The Eastern Banks of Moreton Bay are very special--they support large populations of green sea turtles and dugong, a relative of the manatee.

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The Queensland floods touched something deep within the Queensland residents. The term 'Queenslander' has been used as a rallying cry for the State of Origin rugby league football team from Queensland since 1995 when Billy Moore called for team unity and spirit when they were underdogs against their arch rivals from New South Wales.

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We arrived in Brisbane on January 9, 2011 and were surprised at the green and lush vegetation. It was raining and our friends informed us that it had been raining for weeks, and that the dam was at 120% capacity, compared with the 13% capacity on one of our previous visits.

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