Dr. Nigel Erskine, Curator of Exploration at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, talked about the HMB Endeavour voyage. He explained that the Endeavour was correctly called HM Barque (or Bark), which was what the British Royal Navy designated the Endeavour that Cook sailed in, even though it was ship-rigged (three or more masts, with square sails on each mast). The HMB Endeavour also distinguished it from another ship in the Royal Navy named the HMS Endeavour.

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Another observation was the June 11, 1770 'discovery' that the Endeavour had been unknowingly threading through the Great Barrier Reef. This 'discovery' of what is now known as Endeavour Reef almost led to the demise of the ship and crew. Cook wrote ". . .the Ship Struck and stuck fast. Immediately upon this we took in all our Sails, hoisted out the Boats and Sounded round the Ship, and found that we had got upon the South-East Edge of a reef of coral rocks . . .".

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An exact replica of the HMS Endeavour arrived in Brisbane, Australia for a visit of several weeks. The 100 foot three-masted ship was built in Freemantle, Western Australia between 1988 and 1992, and has sailed twice around the world. It is operated by the Australian National Maritime Museum and is based in Sydney Harbour.

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The use of red, yellow and green for denoting different levels of concern in environmental report cards has its origin in human perceptions of color. The color red is associated with blood and fire, which are instinctively perceived as 'danger'. Red is classified as a 'warm' color and infrared light is essentially heat. The color yellow is associated with warning, like a wasp with its yellow and black bands. The color green is associated with healthy vegetation, like tree leaves or grass.

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As the Integration and Application Network continues to add symbols to its growing symbol library and associated image library, it is with the idea that we are organically growing a global symbol language. These symbols can be combined in order to construct conceptual diagrams (or 'thought drawings'), in which the essential attributes of an issue are graphically depicted. At this point, it is worth asking what it means to be 'global'.

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As part of Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day celebrations to commemorate war veterans, the North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum hosted Anzac biscuits and tea on their wide veranda. After the festivities had died down, I ran into Geoff Moore who has been volunteering at the museum. Geoff was the CEO of Consolidated Rutile Limited, the sand mining company on the island when I was working at the University of Queensland.

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Clouds drifting slowly across the Bay … Lorikeets swooping and diving…

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When I arrived at the University of Queensland in 1992, someone in the Botany Department mentioned that there was a research station on Stradbroke Island. I had already borrowed the CSIRO boat to scout around Moreton Bay and realized that a research station at Straddie would be a wonderful place to base a field campaign.

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This newsletter was interesting to assemble, as it involved talking with lots of active scientists about their current knowledge of seagrasses, sea turtles and dugongs. The flood impacts on these Moreton Bay icons was of concern to everyone involved. I also made visits to eastern Moreton Bay where the densest concentrations of seagrasses, turtles and dugongs are found (see previous blogs: Feb. 16 & Apr. 6).

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Rum and coke with peanuts … We went to a sugarcane farm in North Eton operated by two cousins, Lee and Phil Blackburn. They are working with Project Catalyst, which is a Cola-Cola, World Wildlife Fund and Reef Catchments project in which sugarcane producers are experimenting with different ways to grow sugar using less nutrients and pesticides.

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