Since its launch in December 2000, the AIMS Research Vessel Cape
Ferguson has spent many months cruising coastal waters across
the top of Australia.
Extending from Cape York in Queensland to Cape Talbot in
Western Australia, the northern region has become increasingly
important to marine researchers and was identified as a priority
area in the recent Review of Marine Research in Tropical
Australia, undertaken by the nation’s Chief Scientist, Dr
Robin Batterham.
Dr Batterham describes the northern region as encompassing the
western and southern Gulf coasts of Queensland, part of the Torres
Strait, the coastline of the Northern Territory, the Arufura Sea,
the Sahul shelf and the very edge of NW Australia.
The Review of Marine Research in Tropical Australia,
along with the Australian Marine Science and Technology Plan ratified
in 1999, found that the top end of Australia has been
poorly researched, particularly the Timor-Arafura Sea.
These reports observe that the Timor Sea/North West Shelf
province has a significant hydrocarbon reserve and potentially
high biodiversity, making the northern region a candidate for
regional integrated marine research and development programs.
Last June, the AIMS Council made a strategic decision to focus
more of the Institute’s research in this resource-rich and
ecologically important area.
Currents and coastal processes in the northern region support
an area rich in biodiversity. Marine life includes various
tropical corals, fish, sharks, seagrass, mangroves, turtles, sea
birds, dugongs and coastal dolphins.
As part of its renewed focus on research across the top of
Australia, AIMS and the Australian National University (ANU)
jointly applied for funding in 2001 for a Darwin-based
Arafura-Timor Research Facility (ATRF). The application was
successful and $3.25 million was approved under the Federal
Government’s Major National Research Facilities Program.
Construction of the facility is scheduled to start soon.
In the meantime, AIMS is positioning itself for greater
involvement in the northern region. Renewed focus on the top end
will see an increase in the frequency of visits and amount of
studies done in this region. Already, seven AIMS research
expeditions have been conducted "across the top" in
2002, including trips to Cambridge Gulf, Dampier, North West Cape
and the Timor Sea.
AIMS research scientist, Dr Mark Meekan, now based out of a
temporary facility in Darwin, is conducting several projects in
the local area and the North West Cape and Exmouth regions.
Dr Meekan is undertaking a collaborative study with NT
Fisheries examining the community composition, age, growth and
feeding of fishes in the Darwin Harbour. In addition, he will
monitor the effects of dredging on local coral communities.
Additional research planned for 2002-2003 will involve a
multidisciplinary study of the physical environment and biology
near Cape Wessel and Arafura Sea. AIMS scientists Dr David
McKinnon and Dr Eric Wolanski will study the high primary
production of the area and the physical processes behind this
productivity, including the tides driving upwelling in submarine
gullies and subsequent influences on the ecosystem.
Further interdisciplinary research combining benthic ecology,
physical oceanography, microbiology and geochemistry will be
undertaken in the Sahul Shoals region of the Timor Sea. This
research will encompass studies on the benthic microbial community
and the geochemistry of oil seep mounds in Sahul Shoals.
Biological oceanographic research on pelagic food chains is
continuing along the North West Shelf. Research conducted in this
area is helping our understanding of linkages between physical,
climate, ocean productivity and food webs sustaining fisheries
production in the NW Cape region.
In 1997, AIMS produced an environmental resource atlas entitled
Big Bank Shoals of the Timor Sea. The atlas provides
insight into the shelf edged region of the Timor Sea, including
research into the ecosystems of submerged shoals.
Recent studies into the sediment dynamics of two arms of the
Cambridge Gulf have focused on the increases in sediment and silt
levels in the Ord River estuary. Researchers have concluded that
two dams constructed on the river in 1969-1972 have altered the
physical environment of the river. The study also shows a
disturbance to the equilibrium between macrotides and river floods
in the east arm of Cambridge Gulf in Western Australia.
AIMS scientists look forward to the establishment of the
Arafura Timor Research Facility because it will provide a base for
their northern research and contribute to a greater understanding
of the area’s marine biodiversity and ecosystems. They believe
it will ultimately encourage sustainable use of the northern
region’s valuable resources.
