The pioneer of helicopter medicine in Australia and co-founder of CareFlight has switched his focus from saving lives to saving skies.
Doctor Ken Wishaw, the country’s first full-time helicopter rescue doctor and a medevac officer for the Royal Australian Air Force and Australian Army, has retired to the Sunshine Coast and has turned his attention to preserving the dark night skies, as a leading champion in the bid to establish a Dark Sky Reserve in the region’s hinterland.
Dr Wishaw serves as secretary of the Brisbane Astronomical Society and co-founded the Australasian Dark Sky Alliance, which advises policy makers on light pollution matters.
He said too many people take our starry skies for granted which was something he realised on a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon in the USA.
“The first night, they asked if I could point out the stars to them,” Dr Wishaw said.
“While I was doing this, one of them started crying.
“When I asked what was going on, she said this was only the second night in her life she’d ever seen a star.”
Dr Wishaw said more than 80 percent of the world’s population lived under light polluted skies.
“Environmentally, it’s important we protect our wildlife, many of which rely on the night in their predator-prey relationships,” he said.
“Further, one third of plant pollination occurs at night and is seriously affected by excessive lighting.”
He said excessive light at night impacted human health and wellbeing, also contributing to more greenhouse gas emissions and higher energy demand.
“From a heritage point of view, we should remember that we’re looking up at the same stars that navigators have used for thousands of years,” Dr Wishaw said.
“Particularly our First Nations people, who were the first astronomers and the first navigators to use the night sky throughout their ways of navigating across the country.”
Dr Wishaw said a Dark Sky Reserve was an international designation that recognised places across the world that were committed to preserving and protecting dark sites.
He said establishing the proposed 873 square kilometre reserve on the Sunshine Coast, which would include the townships of Maleny, Mapleton, Montville, Witta, Flaxton and Conondale, would improve wellbeing, protect wildlife, support astrotourism, support responsible lighting and bring our communities together in celebration of our night sky.
“Once you lose it, it’s very hard to get back,” Dr Wishaw said.
“I’d like people to look after it by doing the four simple things: not shining light up into the sky, using only warm coloured light outside, turn it off when it’s not needed or use motion sensors or timers, and spread the word to your neighbours so that they can join and do the same things.”
Dr Wishaw’s dedication has now been acknowledged after he received the Dark Sky Defender Award for 2024 from Dark Sky International.
The award was one of only six handed down globally amongst its 193,000 members at the Dark Sky International Conference to committed individuals or organisations who work towards preserving night skies.
Learn more about the proposed Sunshine Coast Dark Sky Reserve.
