A LOCAL woman has raised concerns after she saw five windsurfers “hooning” through the delicate Creery Wetlands.
Joanne McVey said she was disgusted to see the windsurfers “haul their boards past the protective fencing”, to use the wetlands as their own personal surfing spot.
“[They] were belting along at ridiculous speeds through masses of swans and other water birds that use this area for respite,” she said in an email to the Mandurah Mail.
“The amount of reserve for Mandurah’s wildlife is dwindling to a despondently small amount and I am appalled and sickened by their blatant disregard for the animal sanctuary.
“Those windsurfers are an abomination and I am totally disgusted.”
Ms McVey said she thought some of the swans in particular were struck by the windsurfers.
The Creery Wetlands consist of a number of low profile islands inhabited by a great diversity of plants, invertebrate, reptiles, fish, birds and other mammals, and is surrounded by shallow waters.
These wetlands are of international importance as this wetland area supports more than 80 species of birds, including more than 20 species of migratory shorebirds which visit between October and March each year.
