Our Murray Darling
Finalist - NSW Law Society's Just Art competition 2019
I created this watercolour artwork to pay my tribute to the fish massacre in the Murray-Darling river in 2019.
In New South Wales, we witnessed the death of thousands of native Murray Cod and other fish species.
"The fish massacre was caused by '
local hydrological and climatic conditions'"
- an independent report commissioned
by the former federal Minister for Agriculture
and Water Resources.
These "conditions" include drought, a significant increase of blue-green algae, and raising water temperatures. The combined effect of these conditions contributed to a drastic reduction of oxygen in the water, which led to the fish massacre. However, I believe the real issue is our failure to protect our natural habitat and resources against climate change.
My grief inspired this illustration of a Murray Cod desperately swimming to catch its last breath. I have deliberately chosen to capture this moment of hope, to encourage you to support the fight against climate change and save our Murray-Darling!