The recent news of a pollution spill from the Clarence Colliery into the headwaters of the Wollangambe River is most alarming.
Platypus in Wollangambe Canyon
The Wollangambe River flows through long sections of canyon – Wollangambe Canyon, near Mt Wilson. These are the most popularly visited canyon during the summer months of all the canyons in the Blue Mountains. The River then flows downstream in a major gorge, right through the heart of the wilderness in the Northern Blue Mountains. Lower down it flows into the Colo River.
Wollangambe Canyon
The Wollangambe is a most beautiful river – right along its length. I can remember on one lilo trip through the canyon seeing a platypus swim around our kilos for about ten minutes – a most amazing experience.
It is difficult to imagine how the ecology of the river will survive this and other pollution from the Clarence Colliery.
Update – 22 July 2015. Here is a video showing how bad the new spill is –
Magical photo. You rarely see a platypus close up like that.