An ecologist says he is concerned for an intertidal ecosystem in northern NSW after excavators were used to salvage a vessel which ran aground there this week.
The Victoria ran aground at Flat Rock just north of Ballina at dusk on Tuesday.
Ballina Marine Rescue was alerted just after 6pm when two men on board the vessel activated their emergency beacon, before fleeing to safety.
NSW Maritime said both men sustained minor injuries and were admitted to hospital, before being released on Wednesday afternoon.
The agency oversaw a salvage operation on Friday using two 30 tonne excavators to drag the 12-metre, fibreglass hull across the rocks to the beach.
Heavy machinery was brought in this morning to drag the boat off the rocks (Supplied: Robert Pierce)
NSW Maritime senior boating safety officer, Bret Ryan, said the authority was working against the clock to get the job done, with swell conditions expected to rise over the weekend.
Mr Ryan said the hull had been damaged which meant the boat could not be refloated.
He said pollution requirements and the area’s “significant environmental and cultural values” had been taken into consideration during the salvage operation.
“It’s a difficult environment because of the rocks and the material of the vessel as fibreglass which is easily broken up,” Mr Ryan said.
“So, every endeavour has been to minimise that drag effect that would potentially break that hull up further.
The fibreglass hull sustained some damage. (ABC North Coast: Amoretta Hartley)
“When that happens, there is obviously more potential risks to the environment.”
Tyres were used to prevent the excavator’s tracks from damaging to the rocks.
Sensitive ecosystem
The vessel is expected to be taken to a road access point to the north of Flat Rock, where it will be put on a low loader and trucked to a holding yard for further assessment.
Aquatic ecologist Brendan Cox said the intertidal ecosystem at Flat Rock was sensitive.
“It’s full of coral and aquatic life and shellfish,” Dr Cox said.
“Those intertidal ecosystems developed around being exposed to air some of the time and underwater some of the time so any kind of disturbance outside of that can really have an impact.“
He said even small amounts of pollution, debris or fibreglass fragments could affect organisms in the rock pools.
Flat Rock is thought to be Australia’s most easterly point at low tide (Image: NSW Government)
“Water is not moving across there all the time, so potentially pollutants could stay there for a long time,” he said.
Boat draws a crowd
The boat and salvage operation attracted scores of onlookers this week.
Amateur photographer Markus Pache captured an image of the vessel and the Mily Way before the moon came out on Thursday evening.
Mr Pache said he was moved to help the vessel’s skipper after hearing it was also the man’s home.
“I thought, his misfortune is my opportunity to get some nice photography, so there should be some way for him to benefit from it,” Mr Peche said.
He is raising funds for the skipper by selling digital copies of the photo.
He said he had received around 800 comments on his social media post and sold about 15 copies.
“Most people do feel for him that it’s a misfortune and he should get the help that he needs,” Mr Pache said.
“While it’s not a massive amount of money, it may give him a few meals or something.“
