We collect enormous amounts of data and observations during our missions, a lot of which is collected in situ, or in its original place, by researchers while they’re underwater. But one of the things we do while underwater is take
While most of the reefs we have surveyed in the Great Barrier Reef have an emergent reef flat, one of the northern reefs we were studying was fully submerged and quite difficult to locate. After circling around our GPS coordinates
On every mission during the Global Reef Expedition survey divers can usually point to one dive as being the highlight of the trip. It might be a dive with lots of great looking healthy coral or maybe a dive where
If you ask someone “Why do fish school?” you will likely get “to avoid predators” for an answer. After all, the more eyes you have watching the harder it is for anything to sneak up on you. Furthermore, if a
Marine parks have been introduced worldwide to preserve biodiversity and protect important underwater habitats. Protected zones serve as baselines for undisturbed, natural ecosystems that can be used to measure the effects of human activities in other areas, and thereby help
The Great Barrier Reef… home to thousands of marine species. Dazzling coral reefs, majestic sharks, elegant manta rays, imposing groupers and cods, ancient giant clams, and rainbow coloured reef fish such as butterflyfish, angelfish and damsels. These are some of
Brightly colored sea stars are a regular occurrence on our survey dives. We only tend to notice them when we see a new and highly decorated species or dive a site where they are highly abundant. One survey dive we
In 2003, my wife and I immigrated to Far North Queensland, Australia – gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Throughout the years, we take every opportunity to hop on a dive live-aboard or join scientific expeditions to spend as many
Sharks are a natural component of coral reef ecosystems, where they occupy the role of top-order predators. Reef sharks are important to the overall health of the coral reef assemblage, and their presence is generally an indication of a coral
Let me tell you about yesterday’s wonderful (seriously) sea snake encounter while it’s still fresh in my mind. First of all, up here in the northern Great Barrier Reef we’re getting close to saltwater crocodile territory. They can grow to
