Snapshot of life deep in the Great
Barrier Reef
February 23,
2006
After more than 300 days at sea, scientists have begun compiling a
rich picture of seabed life across the length and breadth of
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
They are processing 15,000 plant and animal samples, 2000 sediment
samples, 2200 hours of video footage and 140 gigabytes of echo-sounder
data from almost 1400 sites on the continental shelf.
This vast, underwater snapshot has been gathered during 10 voyages
by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QDPI&F)
research vessel, Gwendoline May, and the Australian Institute
of Marine Science (AIMS) vessel, Lady Basten.
It will form the basis of maps, databases and management tools to
help marine resource managers conserve important habitats and
biodiversity and ensure that fisheries are ecologically sustainable.
"This has been the most intensive scientific exploration of the
lesser known, deeper seabed of the world’s largest marine protected
area," principal investigator Dr Roland Pitcher of CSIRO says.
"With the fieldwork completed, we’re now identifying the diverse
animal and plant samples and processing video footage and acoustic
data.
"Although only part way through this task, we have already seen
nearly 6000 types of organisms including new records for Australia and
some new species that may be unique to the Great Barrier Reef."
Some 50 scientists and technicians from four research agencies have
contributed skills in biology, ecology, geology, physics and
mathematics to the Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project.
"The scale of this project is unprecedented worldwide and
reinforces Australia’s role as leader in tropical marine science," CRC
Reef program leader Professor Peter Doherty of AIMS says.
"The project demonstrates the benefits of collaboration for
Australian marine science. The arduous fieldwork, completed in just
two years, could never have been achieved by one agency working
alone."
The Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project is funded by CRC
Reef, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and the
Department of Environment and Heritage, through the National Oceans
Office. These agencies provided additional funds to support an extra
voyage by both vessels and ensured the coverage of the surveys was
complete.
The project is co-funded by AIMS, CSIRO, QDPI&F and the Queensland
Museum, and is affiliated with the global Census of Marine Life.
