The Man-made Marvels off WA’s Coast

If you guidelines connected a Western Australian formation and regard into nan sunset, you’ll spot stunning reds, oranges, yellows and purples dancing complete heavy bluish waves that agelong into infinity.

There are plentifulness of earthy wonders beneath nan aboveground of nan Indian Ocean. But location are immoderate man-made marvels too, 1 of which is nan logic you’re capable to publication this article correct now.

Floreat fibres

If nary 1 told you, it would beryllium intolerable to cognize that, each second, 1000 characteristic magnitude films worthy of information (40Tb) sprout nether Floreat Beach. 

That’s acknowledgment to nan INDIGO cable, which runs done an 800m agelong passageway heavy beneath nan sandy shore.

INDIGO is comprised of INDIGO-West, which heads 4600km to Jakarta and Singapore, and INDIGO-Central, which runs 4850km to Sydney. 

When they fired up successful 2019, they were conscionable nan 3rd and 4th subsea cables to onshore successful Perth, aft nan Australia-Singapore Cable successful 2018 and SEA-ME-WE 3 successful 2000, though nan second was unopen down astatine nan extremity of 2024.

Caption: SEA-ME-WE 3, nan cablegram that preceded INDIGO-West
Credit: Furfur, 2016 CC BY-SA 4.0

There are plentifulness much subsea cables successful Perth’s future. The Oman-Australia Cable opened successful 2022 and connected nan Cocos Islands to a subsea cablegram for nan first time. 

Beyond this, nan Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth cablegram and Australia Connect Interlink are expected to commencement operating successful 2026 and 2027, respectively.

All these cables make our small metropolis astatine nan separator of nan world conscionable a spot little isolated.

Pilbara pipeline

Some 1300km northbound of Floreat, Woodside plans to pump thing overmuch much arguable than information done a subsea pipeline.

The Scarborough Gas Pipeline is simply a 430km agelong tube intended to carrier earthy state from nan Scarborough Gas Field to a processing works successful Karratha. 

It’s portion of Woodside’s plans to widen their Scarborough operations until 2070, which person been marred by claims of safety issues, environmental hazards and academic malpractice.

The national authorities precocious approved nan hold contempt a plea from Pacific leaders to cull nan project, which they opportunity threatens to worsen nan already catastrophic impacts of anthropogenic ambiance change.

Fishy business

In stark opposition to ramping up state production, artificial reefs are providing habitats for marine life on nan Western Australian coastline.

Some of nan reefs besides make for awesome recreational snorkelling and sportfishing spots, while others, like the 1 astatine C.Y. O’Connor Beach, protect against coastal erosion.

The thought of artificial reefs is each good and good, but throwing large lumps of actual and metallic into nan water doesn’t make a patient residence connected its own. 

Caption: This artificial reef disconnected Florida is not dissimilar to those disconnected nan seashore of WA
Credit: Reefmaker, 2013 CC BY-SA 3.0

The actual and metallic frames of artificial reefs person each nan nooks and crannies mini food for illustration to hide in, but they don’t person immoderate of nan food. That’s why they’ve been seeded pinch works and coral species. 

Once nan plants and corals are established, nan mini food that provender connected them commencement to move in. Those mini food are followed by predators and past you person an ecosystem.

The aforesaid seeding techniques that move hunks of junk into thriving ecosystems tin besides beryllium utilized to rehabilitate existing coral reefs that person been affected by ambiance change, for illustration Ningaloo and nan Great Barrier Reef.

While immoderate of nan structures disconnected WA’s seashore are threatening to worsen nan ambiance crisis, others are fighting back, and moreover much are moving difficult to support america connected to a world afloat of group who are doing nan same.