Open Water swimmer Chloe McCardel put her all skills on the line to help save Port Phillip Bay from dredging with a gruelling 36 kilometres swim in the open sea baths at Middle Brighton.
"This young woman is terrific. She wants to express her own opposition to the proposed channel deepening. It is inspirational to see," said Blue Wedges environmental coalition's member Patsy Crotty.
Chloe regularly swims in Port Phillip, in summer and winter. On Saturday Chloe swam through the whole day, never leaving the water. After a 10 hour swim, she left the water at 5pm to the cheers and congratulations from supporters.
Plans had been made for an open water swim from Mornington to St Kilda on Sunday October 28 but due to a forecast of bad weather conditions it was put forward a day earlier to be a marathon swim in the sea baths. Undeterred by the last minute upset in plans and a lack of sleep Chloe began her swim at 7am and was started off in style by the Brighton Icebergers.
"I am gravely concerned about Channel Deepening in Port Phillip Bay," said Chloe.
"The bay is a world-class environmental treasure. It is also a great place to swim and a great source of income for many small businesses. Channel deepening risks all of that. There is a risk that the Bay will not be safe for humans to swim for two years after commencement of dredging," she said.
Up until the 1970s Industrial waste was poured into the Maribyrnong and Yarra rivers, and most of this toxic waste remains settled on the bottom of the Yarra River's mouth, however via dredging this will be unsettled making the bay unfit for marine life and humans.
The aim of Chloe's long-distance is to highlight in the media the need for political debate on the issue.
"It needs to be taken up as a Federal issue, the fact that all the informational material has been put out by the Port of Melbourne Corporation gives it a bias," she said. "I want to open it up for political debate."
"Swimming races and recreational swimming may have to be cancelled. The government is due to make a decision any day now and dredging may begin as early as January 2008, so immediate action is imperative," she said.
The Port of Melbourne's 12,000-page environmental effects statement revealed that plumes of contaminated silts in the mouth of the Yarra, stirred up by dredging, would spread as far as the William Street turning basin in the city, and deep into Port Phillip Bay.
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