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March 2025 | View previous edition
Hi
Welcome to our first edition of Waypoint for 2025.
From monitoring coral bleaching in Western Australia to the opening of the new SeaSim expansion, this edition covers the latest news and updates from Australia's tropical marine science agency.
News from AIMS
How collaboration is helping WA scientists monitor a marine heatwave and damaging bleaching
The Western Australian Coral Bleaching Group, convened by AIMS scientists, are coordinating efforts in coral bleaching monitoring across the remote reef systems of WA
Casting for seaweed carbon across Ningaloo
Our Blue Carbon Seascapes team are tracking Sargassum along the Ningaloo Coast, exploring its potential to store carbon in tropical seascapes to reduce the severity of climate change.
Natural features and oil and gas structures influence the movement of whale sharks across the seascape
An AIMS and UWA team have found whale sharks use underwater features like seamounts and canyons as well as offshore oil and gas platforms as 'stepping stones' during migrations.
Great Barrier Reef fish evidence suggests shifts in major global biodiversity patterns
An international study using AIMS' long-term monitoring data has found Great Barrier Reef fish communities differ substantially from those of the 1990s, and the pace of change has increased.
SeaSim expansion doubles
ocean resilience research opportunities
In February, we were thrilled to open the major expansion of AIMS’ world leading National Sea Simulator.
The Minister for the Environment and Water the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP officially opened the facility’s $42.7 million expansion which nearly doubles the amount of experimental space available at the research aquarium complex.
This increased capacity will support more projects and accelerate scientific research, particularly in breeding heat-resilient corals at scale.
A portion of the expanded facility will support Australian and international researchers through a merit-based access program, available later this year.
Monitoring water quality through north Queensland floods
AIMS’ Marine Monitoring Program water quality team were at sea as floodwaters entered the Great Barrier Reef in north Queensland in February. The team undertook water quality monitoring across 1,000 km of coastline including areas influenced by river flooding from Mackay to Cairns.
Satellite images and analysis by JCU Tropwater show flood plumes extended into the inshore, mid-shelf, and outer shelf regions of the Reef, especially throughout the Wet Tropics region. River discharge from the Herbert was the third largest in more than 100 years, making this a particularly significant event.
Flooding delivers freshwater, nutrients, and sediments to the Great Barrier Reef, including coral and seagrass habitats. Poor water quality places stress on these ecosystems and hinders their recovery after disturbances like marine heatwaves and cyclones.
It will take time for AIMS' chemistry laboratory to analyse the water quality samples. Our Marine Monitoring Program coral reef monitoring team will commence surveys of reefs near the coast from May, which will provide information on how the reefs were impacted by these floods.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Monitoring Program (MMP) is a collaboration between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, James Cook University and the Cape York Water Partnership, with important contributions from Traditional Owners, the Reef Joint Field Management Team, Seagrass Watch and community volunteers.
Images: Kathy Connellan
Follow that fish! Getting to know marine life better thanks to enhanced animal tracking in Queensland
An expanded network of underwater listening stations in Queensland waters is helping scientists track the movements of key species including sharks, rays and commercially important fish tagged with transmitters
Known as an acoustic telemetry array, the network is helping to improve beach safety and shedding new light on species behaviours and distributions.
For example, a bull shark tagged in Sydney, New South Wales was detected at the northern limit of the new array in far north Queensland – 2900km away!
The Queensland IMOS Acoustic Telemetry Array Project was funded by the Department of Environment and Science, Queensland through the Research Infrastructure Co-Investment Fund (RICF) to the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), and was operated by AIMS. Australia’s IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).
AIMS flexible work practices recognised
We are pleased to have achieved a SAGE (Science in Australia Gender Equity) Cygnet Award under the Athena Swan framework for providing greater flexible work arrangements to our staff.
No place like home for Torres Strait corals
More than 140 specimens collected from Murray Island (Mer) in Torres Strait by American scientists in 1913 have been returned to Traditional Owners - the Meriam people.
AIMS Indigenous Partnerships Program manager Libby Evans-Illidge supported negotiations for the return of these culturally and scientifically important corals after they were rediscovered by coral researchers at the Queensland Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.
The negotiations were led by Meriam and Torres Strait Leaders, and supported by AIMS, the Queensland Museum, Torres Strait Regional Authority and the Smithsonian. The returned corals have been returned to Australia and are now housed at the Queensland Museum Tropics in Townsville.
As part of the negotiations, Libby travelled to Washington DC to provide education and research support for the delegation.
She said: “The return of this collection is a wonderful outcome for the Meriam people. Alongside their scientific significance, it recognises the cultural importance of these corals to the Traditional Owners as a part of Country, and how Traditional knowledge, alongside Western science, is critical for the future of coral reefs under a warming climate.”
AIMS in the news
- 'Like a warm bath': coral reefs rocked by heatwave | The Canberra Times
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