JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY

COVID-19 focused attention on the inequalities that persist around the world, even in the most advanced nations. Inequalites caused economic and health pressures on individuals, families and communities, with the consequences reflected around the world. This report highlights the fragility of our global societal systems, with likely impacts for many years to come. Check out chapters 3 and 7 for my research about COVID-19 and its impacts on mental health, domestic violence, oceans and fisheries, CO2 emissions and pollution in tropical nations.

ASTRAY MAGAZINE

Descartes once wrote that science can “make us masters and possessors of nature”, and environmental philosophy has certainly come with a heavy presence of domination and white supremacy. Since the 17th century, humans have fabricated a human-nature divide. Nature has since existed to serve us, as an entity we can bend to our will. Today, nature is treated like a second-class citizen. The value of ecosystems is calculated based on their natural “capital”. The idea is that we can quantify how useful nature is to us, put a price tag on it, and then buy, sell, and exploit its resources.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

On a solo camping trip down Cape Hillsborough way, I am woken by the birds to a magnificent sunrise. Here, over 50 people gather to watch the spectacle. Most of the tourists are seemingly photographing the kangaroos being fed by the park rangers with their smartphones. I wonder if they are noticing and enjoying nature’s spectacle. In the city, we turn to our devices for entertainment and often forget miss out on the stars and sunrise. Yet this morning, the sky is magenta, and I am reminded of the magic of being here on this planet.

WILDLIFE TREKKER

I am still ruminating when I see her, a beautiful octopus darting towards the neighbouring coral stack. I stop and watch, she changes shapes and textures to match the algae that she sits on. She moves from algae to coral, to sand and rubble and then into a little alcove. I follow and watch her every move, each step graceful as she walks along the rubble, two arms moving, like she’s pedalling a bike. And then it hits me. She’s alone as well…

PADI

One thing we’ve noticed is that it is almost impossible to make solid plans throughout these times, especially if you’re living on a sailboat. With constantly evolving weather and restrictions, we have found that making general, malleable plans works best. This year, we have been forced to do less thinking about the future and much more accepting of the situation that life throws our way.

WANDERSTORIES

For me, Agnes Water feels like a home away from home. Each time I visit, it feels like I never left (and that I should never, ever leave again)! Although it lies 40 minutes from the M1 highway, don't let the slight detour deter you. Agnes Water is famously known for being "a little out of the way, but a lot out of the ordinary." And if I haven't already convinced you, here are five reasons why this little town is the perfect addition to break up your road trip.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

Dredging has been found to decrease light levels and decrease coral calcification (growth) by up to 33% (Bak 1978). While other ports around Australia have decreased their amount of dredging, the Townsville Port plans to increase their dredging over the next 10 years. The Port is expecting to dredge approximately 6,050,000m³ from 1 January 2019 to 1 January 2029 and dump a majority of this sediment in Cleveland Bay. Many species reside here, including Snubfin Dolphins, humpback dolphins, turtles and dugongs…

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

Caring for our mental health has never been more vital. In fact, mindfulness is becoming trendy- it’s everywhere. People are meditating all the time – at home, in the garden, on buses, trains, in lectures, in the library – it appears to me that no time nor place is unfit for a little introspection. But in all seriousness, mindfulness is a way we can survive in this new world of social separation. So here’s a couple of reasons why you should get out your yoga mats and sit with yourself, alone, for a few minutes per day.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

As humans we often forget that we are inextricably linked to our environment. We are linked within a food web, albeit at the top, but we rely on the energy of the earth around us for survival. Connectedness doesn’t necessarily just mean with other humans, but with all sentient beings. Humans, animals, plants, trees, rocks, even bananas, we are all made up of the same thing. I wrote this Haiku series aiming to capture the essence of the moment, when I stopped for a swim in a small waterfall along a creek.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

There is a lot of good underwater footage out there, but it’s hard to bring to people. And it isn’t an easy gig either—with all of the equipment, lights, and editing skills required. But most importantly, with underwater videography comes an increase in awareness of what lies within the deep blue. “Being underwater is like being on another planet. I swear all of the movies about aliens get their inspiration from underwater creatures.” I dare say I agree.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

The two brothers I was living with, Lawrence and Oliver Scheele have recently begun an electronic duo. They call themselves ‘Ammonite Daze,’ after the ancient cephalopods which died out around 66 million years ago. ‘Ammonite Daze’ represents their connection to the natural world. It’s no surprise that ammonites, with their spiral shapes, are symbols of positive movement and transformation. The duo’s philosophy is to bring people back to the place within themselves—to reconnect them with their true nature.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

From my balcony on Magnetic Island, I could see the harbour and hear the ferries come in. During the day it was usually hot (with no air conditioning), but in the afternoon it was magic. In this Haiku series, I describe one particular evening, when we had friends over, shared stories, played music and ate dinner outside. We watched a purple sky and enjoyed the stillness before we embarked on an epic night snorkel. The reef in our backyards holds a spectacular array of life, but that’s another story.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

I met Anaïs when she moved into my house. Initially, I was captivated by her cool demeanor and overall sense of calm. Soon enough, Anaïs had stolen my heart. Not only was she a wonderful, supportive soul, cared for others and cooked me many meals, but I was soon to realise that she was harbouring quite a talent. She is a budding artist, hoping to spread awareness of the ocean and its wonders through her masterpieces. Although she studies science, Anaïs believes that everybody has their own creative spirit.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

Meet Gina, a Marine Scientist and Plastic Waste Warrior. On her exchange to the Galapagos islands, Gina’s eyes were opened to the pressing issue of our growing plastic wastes. Here, she found plastics accumulated around islands that were not even inhabited. Often, due to the direction of the currents, the poorer countries are the ones that see the effects of our luxurious and unsustainable lifestyles. “People think that when you throw it away, it’s gone—it’s out of sight and out of mind. But it does accumulate…

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

Everybody appears to have already set up their gear ready for the first dive. I rush to do the same, grabbing my gear out of my black bucket and slipping my BCD and regs over the metal tank. Instant coffee in hand, I head upstairs to hear the briefing. The site we are diving is Wheeler Reef—a garden of corals and large pelagic fish. Stewey, the captain, points to a diagram drawn on the white board. “I would stick around Shark Alley,” he gestures towards the deeper area. “You’ll see a lot of big pelagics there, then I would head shallower to check out the coral bommies in front of the boat.”

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

When we are alone, we aren’t sure what to do with ourselves. We often don’t stop to look around, to wonder. In moments of stillness, we play music to drown out the sounds of our own thoughts. This is what has become of our generation, so consumed by our consumption of things, that we are conditioned to never be happy with where we are now. Not only do we over consume foods, clothing, and everyday items, but we are forever in an unconscious drive for more…

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

This Haiku series takes inspiration from Lao Tzu’s ideas in his ‘Tao Te Ching’ collection. Here, I describe my surroundings on a short hike down Pace road in the Paluma range. I compare the unconscious mind to the occupants of the forest. The plants, like our thoughts, are endlessly competing for light above (our attention). What we pay attention to grows and can be dangerous or suffocating. We find peace when we forget our thoughts and breathe: When we soar above the trees into the open sky.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

During the early stages of lockdown, my roommates and I embarked on an eight-hour hike to Alligator Creek Falls. My mind was full of anxieties about the new changes and restrictions imposed on us, but the hike made way for some new sights, sounds and thoughts. Utilising free-verse poetry, I experiment with onomatopoeia (the use or creation of a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes) to recreate the scenes of our adventure.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

Aliya has been writing poetry since she was 12 and found it a perfect way to put the thoughts in her head onto another medium.While we often use the logical and analytical part of our minds when working or studying, Aliya encourages everybody to tap into their creative mediums in their spare time. For Aliya, it enhances her connection and appreciation of the natural world and her place in it. This connection is often lost in translation with many people in Western society…

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

Val described watching something she loved slowly die, “It had disintegrated in front of my eyes year after year, and then it was just gone. It was heartbreaking.” This particular reef had no regulations. Many tourists would touch, step on and break the corals. With the additional stress from heat waves and recurrent bleaching events, the ecosystem had collapsed. “I felt as though I had watched climate change occur in front of my own eyes. Since then, I realised I needed to do something.”

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

If you think about it, we are all sea creatures. We evolved from the sea to walk on land, and still, without the sea we would not be able to survive. In fact, we are not so different from our pelagic relatives. We rely on the ocean for many things—the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat and the habitat we require. This blissful Sunday morning was spent with roommates, coffee, and high spirits. We played in the waves, and I was reminded of days growing up along the south coast. I remember what it’s like to be young and present, to forget my thoughts and be here, and now.

PIPE DREAM

Is sex binary? A few years ago, I would’ve said yes. But here’s why my opinion changed, and why yours should, too. With the turn of the new century, people are becoming more open-minded and gender is becoming a more fluid concept. This is a good thing: No longer are we hanging people for adultery or burning gay men at the stake. We live in a free, new world. At least, most of us do. Unfortunately, this world is not so free for some. In Japan, transgender people are required to be sterilized before they transition. And here in the United States, the Trump administration hopes to draw back…

PIPE DREAM

Think of a time when you were happiest. Was it when you were camping? Traveling? Perhaps on a boat? The one thing that these experiences have in common is that you were likely to have had a small bag of things with you and not your entire wardrobe. Among other things, this likely gave you more freedom and more time to focus on the things that are really important, like your family and friends who were with you. So here is me suggesting that less stuff might actually equal more for you. In recent decades, Americans have become very good shoppers. But where does this lead us? Certainly not more happiness…

PIPE DREAM

One of the main issues in today’s society is how our waste is affecting the future of our environment. Today, swirling soups of plastic fill our oceans in large systems of moving ocean currents called ocean gyres. Off the West Coast of the United States lies a swirling sea of trash called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This mass of garbage contains over 7 million tons of plastic and spans around twice the size of Texas. This garbage patch will only grow—in fact, it is predicted to double in size within the next 10 years. As students, our actions are ever determining the development of our society…

PIPE DREAM

If you’re like the majority of college students, you probably don’t have a lot of spare cash for adventures, but you don’t have to let that get in the way of exploring the world by traveling abroad. Last summer, I spent eight weeks traveling around Europe, barely spending any money beyond my plane tickets and a few souvenirs. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can save money by finding free food and housing in exchange for a few hours of voluntary work per day. Here’s how I did it, and a few extra ways you can do it yourself.

BULLSHEET MAGAZINE

I met Nisha while volunteering. At every encounter since this young earthling has provided me with her shining ray of inspiration. Nisha, currently mid-way through her Masters of Science by research, loves creatures of all shapes and sizes. In particular, she is currently conducting her research on small coral reef gobies of the genus Trimma—a feat that has even taken her across the seas…

PIPE DREAM

Sometimes, we cellphone addicts seemingly exhibit the same symptoms as drug addicts may. We use our phones to lift our moods, and when our batteries die or we lose our phones, we feel panic and anxiety. Because we use our phones for work, keeping notes, managing our appointments, taking pictures of friends and family, listening to music, getting emails, using Google, looking up directions, playing games, measuring the quality of our naps and all other aspects of our lives, we naturally begin to have a sense of…