Michaelmas Cay , an isolated bird breeding spot off Cairns , the subject of this print by David Stacey , has been found to contain a wide range of rubbish from passing vessels , fishing trawlers and other sources . The spoil from dredging the port of Townsville has long been dumped at sea in a quaintly designated exemption zone by the dredge Brisbane , which is hard to believe in this day and age .