No images? Click here
May 2022 | View previous edition
Hi
Waypoint is AIMS' newsletter, delivering a regular selection of AIMS news and achievements directly to your inbox. We hope you enjoy our latest addition.
Reef Snapshot
The Reef Snapshot: Summer 2021-22 is now available online. The snapshot, a joint initiative of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, AIMS and CSIRO, looks at the recent summer conditions and how corals in different regions of the Reef have fared, including during the mass bleaching event.
Celebrating 50 years of AIMS
Throughout 2022, we celebrate AIMS’ past successes, reflect on our transformation and growth as an organisation, and look to our future as the nation’s tropical marine science agency as we continue our science for tomorrow’s oceans.
ReefCloud launched in Palau
Reef scientists across the Pacific have worked together to create a digital tool that uses machine learning and advanced analysis to rapidly extract and share data from images of coral reefs anywhere in the world.
Spawning success in WA
Researchers from AIMS@UWA and the Minderoo Foundation Exmouth Research Lab, used our National Sea Simulator technology to support coral spawning experiments for the first-time in Western Australia!
Size does matter ...
...when it comes to nesting sea turtles. A new study by an international team of researchers, showed that the body size of the sea turtles can influence population dynamics because larger females have greater reproductive output.
From the air - aerial surveys
The aerial survey results of the 2022 coral bleaching event are available. These surveys, carried out by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and AIMS in late March, show variation in coral bleaching across the Marine Park and are illustrated in the aerial survey map.
AIMS welcomes a new Chair
Dr Beth Woods OAM, joined the AIMS Council as Chair on April 1, 2022.
Beth is the recently retired Director-General of the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries where she led development initiatives to deliver an innovative, productive and sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector.
Her tenure as Chair runs to March 31, 2027.
Sailing into a world record!
Not only did Lisa Blair Sails the World shave 10 days off the record to claim the Antarctica Cup and world sailing speed record for the fastest circumnavigation solo, unassisted and nonstop of Antarctica, she also collected microplastic samples 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire circumnavigation under extreme conditions.
AIMS is a world leader in microplastics monitoring and research and will be analysing the microplastic samples collected, contributing the data to the Integrated Marine Observing System - IMOS oceanographic database. The data will help to further scientific knowledge on the prevalence of microplastics in Antarctic waters, a microplastic blind spot..
Fussy eater in the family? They have something in common with coral eating starfish.
Image: Rachel McNeil
Young crown-of-thorns starfish feed upon hard, pink crustose coralline algae. At what age do they get a taste for coral and make it their meal of choice? Understanding this is crucial, as this is when they become a threat to corals.
AIMS scientists Rachel Neil, Maria Gomez Cabrera and Sven Uthicke have confirmed that when offered their favourite corals (several Acropora species), most starfish switch to a coral diet at around 6 months of age, and when they are smaller than 1 centimetre.
However, coral eating starfish are fussy eaters. When offered a smooth cauliflower coral (Stylophora sp.) they would delay their change in diet, preferring to wait for their favourite species!
Knowing how much of their favourite coral species vs those they don’t have a taste for are on a reef, can help scientists and reef managers build a model to predict and manage outbreaks.
From the field:
There they blow! Pygmy Blue Whales!
Images: Grace Russell | John Liston
Cetacean scientists and vessel crew from the Centre for Whale Research (Western Australia) Inc. (CWR) and AIMS spent April and May in the field aboard the RV Tango to observe, photograph and satellite-tag pygmy blue whales.
The pygmy blue whale population size is low and they spend much of their time below the surface of the water, sometimes diving as deep as 540 metres, stay underwater for around 15 minutes at a time and surface for only a minute or two so they can be difficult to observe and study!
That’s where we come in! Using satellite transmitters and tiny loggers we are tracking their journey north and to learn more about the whales’ foraging and feeding behaviour.
AIMS marine megafauna scientist Dr Michele Thums is tagging the whales with Curt and Micheline Jenner and Andrew Davenport from the CWR in the Perth Canyon about 40 kilometres off the Western Australian coast.
The Perth Canyon is one of the most important foraging areas for the whales.
To protect the endangered pygmy blue whale, decision-makers need to understand where they go and in particular where they feed, in order to reduce potential threats during their northerly migration and feeding stopovers along the WA coastline to Indonesia. This research will help to support its conservation and the eventual recovery of the species.
FOLLOW
- Follow AIMS on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube
- Sign up for regular updates from AIMS' Great Barrier Reef Long-Term Monitoring team
