From the sea and shore , our Shipping Reporter captured these shots of activity off Magnetic Island setting up monitoring devices to study the impact of silting from dredging and extension of the port of Townsville . It is interesting to note that the late former Northern Territory police diver , Theo Watts Brown ,who spent time on the island , drew attention to damage done to the island's fringing reefs due to silt pollution from dredging back in the 1960-1970s and made observations of Cleveland Bay water visibility .
He also warned about the danger to the Great Barrier Reef of the crown of thorns starfish . Former Northern Territory News award winning journalist Keith Willey gave Brown much coverage on subjects such as the crown of thorns and his search for a shark repellent .
In January 16, l960, on holiday from Darwin , Brown staying with his parents in Sydney, took two boys diving in Middle Harbour. One ,Ken William Murray, 13, had part of his right leg bitten off by what was thought to be a Bull Shark .
Brown pulled him out of the bloody water, applied a tourniquet .The rest of his leg was surgically amputated ; he died in hospital . The tragic event attracted wide media coverage , a letter arriving from a 13 year- old- boy in New York .
As a result of that shocking experience, Brown began to study sharks, set up a research station on Rangiroa Atoll , French Polynesia , where he tested sonic stimuli and chemicals to repel sharks . He wrote two books , Sharks,The Silent Savages and Sharks, The Search For a Repellent .
During his time on Magnetic Island he wrote another book, Shark Boy and is shown here tagging a shark.
Brown died in a car crash in Queensland on his way to court .
