It is just another weekend on Australia's busiest waterway. But new regulations and research casts doubt on the right of one group cutting through the aquatic traffic, Sydney's 5,000 jet ski users, to enjoy the harbour waters.
US environmental group Bluewater Network claims that running a two-stroke motor on a jet ski - also called personal watercraft - for one hour causes as much hydrocarbon pollution as a 5,000-mile car journey.
A yellow-grey smog hangs over the harbour on some busy summer weekends. The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority says that outboard motors, including jet skis and powerboats, cause 10% of volatile organic compounds and 6.8% of carbon monoxide in Sydney's air.
"There is a problem with personal watercraft emissions because of their two-stroke engines," said the EPA's Bernard Carlon. "But their total contribution to air pollution is very small."
The Green party has called for a complete ban on jet skis in Sydney harbour and is supporting a campaign by the Jetfree Coalition to create a 300m jetski-free zone around the entire coast of Australia.
"Jet skis are punching above their weight in the pollution stakes, in terms of accidents and in terms of complaints," said local Green party MP Lee Rhiannon. "I've lived around Sydney harbour all my life. Every time you're out there you see more and more of these things. Trying to ban them outright is not the solution. They need to be regulated and users given some space in which to do it."
Personal watercraft make up 6% of recreational vessels in New South Wales but attract 37% of complaints about public boating. Jet ski drivers caused eight out of nine accidents on Sydney's waterways last summer.
Jetski users point out that dirty two-stroke technology used by lawn-mowers causes more pollution than jetskis. The Australian Personal Watercraft Association's Steve Kaniowski said the Bluewater Network's figures were "impossible" given that cars consumed more fuel than jetskis.
Mr Kaniowski said the personal watercraft industry was at the forefront of reducing marine motor emissions. Two-stroke engines release up to 25% of their oil and fuel unburned. But new fuel injection systems have increased fuel economy by up to 30% and reduced exhaust emissions by up to 75%. Honda is set to manufacture a four-stroke jet ski, which will emit far less pollution than a car.
New regulations address public concern about noise and dangerous driving by jet skis' predominantly young, male users. "We have progressively introduced what are now the toughest controls on jet skis for any type of vessel in Australia," said Neil Patchett of the Waterways Authority of New South Wales.
Local councils have been given the power to bar personal watercraft from sensitive areas, while irregular driving, including "tearing around in circles, doing slalom turns, and all the things that your average citizen would say is annoying behaviour" is banned, said Mr Patchett.
"Complaints have reduced dramatically ever since the registration fee has been increased, which pays for extra education for users," said Mr Kaniowski. "We agree we should continue down that path." But he opposes the new capacity of councils to ban jet skis.
"We are being victimised," said Mr Kaniowski. "Not everyone is a hooligan on the water. I'm a successful manager in a big corporation. I've got every right and responsibility on the water and I'm also a treehugger."
"Sydney harbour is one of the most beautiful harbours in the world. There is plenty of water for everybody. It is everybody's water and it is everybody's to share."
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Useful links
Sydney Morning Herald
Australia Broadcasting Corporation
The Age
Asia Pulse
Blue Water Network
Lee Rhianon - Green MP
New South Wales Environment Protection Agency
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