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Wednesday, 15 April 2015

A month-long expedition is underway to Scott Reef and submerged shoals offshore of the Kimberley coast on board the US-based Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor , The research brings together staff and students from The University of Western Australia, The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Stanford University, and Griffith University.

Chief Scientist and UWA Oceans Institute Professor, Greg Ivey, said the researchers were excited about embarking on the cruise to support both physical and biological research.

"Our combined work will improve understanding of this biological hotspot," he said. "Results will help underpin management of this region through improved understanding of the key biophysical processes."

The scientists will explore the connections between ocean circulation, habitat patterns and benthic biodiversity on two deep-reef ecosystems in the region along with observing a coral spawning event during the cruise.

Dr Andrew Heyward, chief AIMS scientist on board Falkor , has made initial observations of some of the deeper water areas in previous years and is excited to revisit them with the advanced mapping and imaging equipment the Falkor brings to the project. "Using fixed moorings and a full suite of oceanographic sensors from the ship the cruise will map the ocean circulation and seabed environment in fine detail, measure the structure and productivity of the overlying water column, and see how this information links to patterns of habitats observed on the seabed."

The seafloor and bottom coral communities will be mapped using the Falkor's Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV, combines the ship's acoustic mapping and positioning capability with an ROV) sending real time high definition video to the Falkor's Science Control Room. In addition to the live video feed, the ROV carries multiple cameras recording both forward and downward views, with the location of every image precisely known. This allows the scientists to create detailed habitat maps of the major habitats, like those dominated by deeper water corals, and understand the linkage to the local ocean circulation and turbulent mixing.

The cruise coincides with a possible April coral spawning, and different species of corals on the shallow reefs are likely to release their eggs into the ocean at different times from sunset on the nights of 12-14 April. However scientists know little about the reproduction of deeper water corals. If the deeper water species spawn, the scientists will be in an excellent position to film the event for the first time ever.

The Falkor completed a two-week exploration of the Perth Canyon in March. The Canyon, a deep ocean gorge the size of the Grand Canyon in the US, starts about 30km off Fremantle and reaches depths of more than four kilometres.

Media references

Professor Greg Ivey (UWA Oceans Institute)

David Stacey (UWA Media) (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

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