Chinese navigators
THE captain and watch officer of the Chinese ship blamed for causing unprecedented damage to a coral shoal on the Great Barrier Reef will face court today on federal charges that attract heavy fines and jail.
I guess unprecedented damage refers to ship-caused damage only and not damage from tens of thousands of cyclones that have battered the reef over its long existence.
Even that must be considered an iffy statement but then considering that seemingly a full 50% of a journalist’s tertiary education must be ‘Hyperbole 101‘ then maybe the story fits.
OK, get up the idle Chinese Captain and First Mate and slap a fine on them but can we have less Doomsday prophesies.
Facebook
Twitter
Kev, a cylclone doesn’t dump oil into pristine waters and gouge a massive trench into the reef killing ALL life via physical and chemical damage (the antifoul paint kills the coral too) A little different to a cylcone.
Cyclones do it differently but I can guarantee that virtually every cyclone thats hits the reef does more damage that this ship. Hyperbole is the name of the game with green activists and attending media standing in line to exaggerate the damage.
From the ABC:Australia’s world heritage listed Great Barrier Reef is under threat after a Chinese ship ran aground on the weekend. Oh no, not the entire reef! Actually it is only a tiny section of the 2,000 km long reef and nature will repair itself as it always does after natural or man made events.
An Marine Safety Queensland (MSQ) spokesman said clean-up crews had removed about five bags of oil globules and sand by hand from North West Island and about five litres from Tyron Island. Oh my God!
My point is the event should be viewed seriously and measures taken to prevent it happening again but for Gods sake let’s keep it in perspective.
The Reef is doomed, all our beaches will disappear, seaside suburbs will be awash and other outlandish statements and threats are wearing very thin.
Yeah I get your point.