Introduction:
The current wave of hot weather in north Queensland has raised fears of massive coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists are concerned that rising temperatures could produce a coral bleaching episode reminiscent of the 1998 crisis if relief from current temperatures does not occur. These concerns are being addressed this week by an elite international group of experts at a workshop on Magnetic Island, Queensland.

Fears of massive coral bleaching 

Introduction:
On October 11 a team of scientists from AIMS travelled from their tropical home in North Queensland to the Antarctic to begin a research project situated on the coldest, windiest and driest continent on earth. For three weeks the researchers donned dry suits and slipped into the chilly -2^oC waters to examine Antarctic sponges. This was the first stage of a three-year project examining human impacts on the ecology of Antarctic sponge species. The project, being undertaken by AIMS in collaboration with the University of Canterbury, is the first of its kind to study human effects on Antarctic deep sea (benthic) communities using a multi-disciplinary approach and the first to examine the symbiotic relationship sponges have with Antarctic micro-organisms.

Soaking up the Antarctic 

Introduction:
For decades scientists have directly counted reef fish with SCUBA in depths to 30 metres, but the deeper fauna has been invisible -- and surveys there have been subject to the selectivity inherent in trawl, trap and handline fishing techniques. Meanwhile, the image quality of underwater television and video has increased markedly, and costs and size have decreased to such an extent that underwater video is now an integral tool of marine research.