Handfish

There’s a funny looking fish
In old Van Diemen’s Land
That walks about on fins
That look a lot like hands

He doesn’t like new neighbours
From far off tropic seas
Eating all his food
In the estuaries

And lately he’s been finding
That it’s getting very hot
And the Kelp beds are declining
And he’s in a nasty spot

It really is unpleasant
He would like to up and go,
If there was a place to go to
And he didn’t walk so slow

Tasmania’s marvellous Handfish are in trouble. All of the many species of Handfish are finding it difficult to adapt to the rapidly warming waters around Tasmania and the Spotted Handfish is now endangered. But what options are there for an estuarine species adapted more for walking than swimming? Unlike the warm-water fish invading in their droves from the tropical north, swimming to a new place is not an option for the Handfish. And where would it go in any case? The rapid warming of the waters around Tasmania is driving major ecological change with kelp beds vanishing and a dramatic shift to warmer water species. It doesn’t bode well for Tasmania’s aquaculture industry and particularly the culture of Atlantic Salmon which likes cold water. And if rising sea temperatures were not bad enough there is the hideous Japanese Seastar to contend with. This invasive species was introduced to Tasmania in ballast water and has infested the Derwent River Estuary home of the Spotted Handfish in their countless millions eating their food and their eggs. But what can be done? Getting rid of the Japanese Seastar will help and the CSIRO is working on this but the underlying problem of Climate Change appears unresolvable. I have no doubt that when the situation reaches crisis point in the terrestrial world there will be concerted global action to tackle climate change. The impact of climate change in the marine world is, however, much more rapid and profound than in the terrestrial world. By the time we get around to doing something about climate change it will be far too late for the Handfish and many other marine species.

You won’t find climate change sceptics among marine biologists. They see the consequences first hand and know it is real. The problem with climate change sceptics as stated by Gordon Livingstone in his book Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart , “ It is difficult to remove by logic an idea not placed there by logic in the first place.”