DIVE HAPPY

Exmouth Gulf - one of Western Australia's most environmentally important areas and one of the best places to see whale sharks in the world - is under potential threat from a plan to build one of the world's biggest salt mines.

Halt The Salt is a website dedicated to stopping the construction of the world's biggest salt mine on the shores of Exmouth Gulf. The Gulf is home to Ningaloo Reef, one of the most spectacular reef systems in the world where whale sharks migrate every year for the annual coral spawning. Experts and locals alike fear that if the Salt Mine goes ahead, it will radically disrupt the environment of the Gulf and have a dreadful impact on the Gulf's marine life.

From the Halt The Salt website:

Straits Resources [the salt mine builder] has had to acknowledge in its own documentation the environmental concerns associated with its proposed salt mine:

* Potential loss of mangroves and associated biota such as algal mats in an area of recognised significance for these systems.
* Potential shipping and salt production impact on marine fauna such as whales and dugongs and their supporting habitats.
* Potential impact on marine and terrestrial nutrient inputs introduced by the presence of the salt field and the significance of this to the Gulf’s wider ecosystem.
* Development in an area recommended to be set aside as a marine conservation reserve.

The proposed salt mine development is absolutely huge, some 70 kilometres long and only set a few kilometres back from the coast line. Having dived Exmouth myself and heading back there again in May this year, I am pretty appalled that they would even consider proposing this, given that Ningaloo Marine Park is a protected marine area and Exmouth itself is a burgeoning tourist destination precisely because of its amazing marine life. Anything that could endanger Ningaloo's pristine status seems incredibly inconsiderate and motivated purely by profit with scant concern for the environment.

As well as porviding in-depth information into exactly what Straits Resources propose and its potential effect on the environment, the Halt The Salt website also let you take action by registering your objections to the local politicians and also helping raise awareness of the Halt The Salt campaign.