Dear Mr Frydenberg
I write to you regarding the Proposed Train Stabling Facility in Seaford. This facility is 870 metres to the Seaford Edithvale Wetlands which is listed in the Ramsar Convention. Birds migrate every year to these wetlands,to reproduce. It is well documented that these birds are drawn to Light ships and Stadiums, as they migrate at night. This facility will be lit all night, all 18 1/2 acres. The birds become confused and and use up vital energy stores and may never make it to the the wetlands, so very close by. As you know there are Threatened and critically endangered birds that fly to the wetlands and are protected by the China Australia Migratory agreement (CAMBA)Japan Australia Migratory Bird Agreement ( JAMBA) and the Korea Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (ROKAMBA) Please find below studies about migratory bird paths and the affect light has on them and the migratory birds that fly to our wetlands.
An EES has not been done, therefore no assessment under the EPBC act has been generated. I ask you Mr. Frydenberg to call for an assessment under the EPBC act. These internationally listed birds must be protected. We must honour our agreements with Japan,China and Korea and take a cautionary approach with appropriate measures to preserve and enhance the environment of migratory birds. In particular, we should seek means to prevent damage to migratory birds and their environment. There is a viable alternative of an empty parcel of land in Baxter,not close to wetlands, residents or any businesses.
Kind regards
Supporting Information re the affect of light and migratory birds
“Birds have to use things to orient. One of the tools in their kit is celestial cues, so they can use the star maps like early navigators,” Susan Elbin, director of conservation and science at NYC Audubon, says. Believing they’re flying toward starlight or something similar, nocturnal migrants are drawn to the dazzling display, where they end up wasting crucial energy flying around and sounding off in distress.
Matt Watson, David Wilson, and Daniel Mennill of the University of Windsor recorded the flight calls of migrating birds passing overhead during the 2013 fall migration in southern Ontario, Canada, comparing sites with and without ground-level artificial lights. Analyzing 352 hours of recordings, including the calls of at least 15 bird species, they found that significantly more flight calls were recorded at lit sites than at dark sites. “By pointing microphones at the night sky, we can survey migratory birds based on the quiet sounds they produce in flight,” says Mennill. “This simple technique offers a special opportunity because we can resolve particular species of birds, or groups of species, using a fairly simple technology.”
“It was exciting to find that even low-level anthropogenic lights affect call detections from migrating birds,” adds Watson. Their findings have several possible explanations—ground-level lights could be disorienting birds, causing them to call more often and decrease their altitude as they attempt to straighten themselves out, or they could actually be attracting additional birds, as has already been documented with higher-elevation lights. In either case, artificial lights are causing migrating birds to waste energy, which could affect their chances of surviving their journey.
“Anthropogenic light has profound effects on wild animals. For migratory birds, we know that lights on top of skyscrapers, communication towers, and lighthouses disorient and attract birds,” says Mennill. “Our study reveals for the first time that even low-intensity lights on the ground influence the behavior of migratory birds overhead.”
Excessive or misdirected artificial light at night (ALAN) produces light pollution that influences several aspects of the biology and ecology of birds, including disruption of circadian rhythms and disorientation during flight. Many migrating birds traverse large expanses of land twice every year at night when ALAN illuminates the sky.
Supporting information re Seaford Edithvale Wetlands Listed birds under the Jamba, Camba and Rokamba
JAMBA
Cattle Egret
Rednecked Stint
Sharp tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Black tailed godwit
Red necked Phalarope
White winged black tern
CAMBA
Cattle Egret
Great Egret
White bellied Sea Eagle
Black Tail Godwit
Wood Sandpiper
Latham’s Snipe
Red Knot
Red necked Stint
Sharp tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Red necked Phalarope
White winged Tern
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
ROKAMBA
Latham’s snipe
Black Tailed Godwit
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Red Knot
Red necked Stint
Pectoral Sandpiper
Sharp tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Red necked Phalarope
Common tern
White winged black Tern
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