Mapping public values and preferences for Marine Protected Areas

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One of the first studies to examine social values to be considered in management planning for Marine Protected Areas has highlighted the similarity and diversity among individuals when weighing the importance of environmental, economic, and social interests for proposed marine reserves in the Kimberley region.

The results of the WAMSI-supported study was recently published in Applied Geography. The study used an internet-based mapping method called public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) and volunteered geographic information (VGI) to collect spatial information from a broad cross-section of the general public (non-experts).  Individuals were invited to identify and map place values (for example, scenic and recreation values) and management preferences (for example, places that should receive greater environmental protection or places that are acceptable for resource development). Both residents and non-residents of the Kimberley region were invited to map their values and preferences with over 500 individuals participating.   

Participants were classified into different “stakeholder” groups based on who they identify with, their future interests in the region, and their personal preferences for economic development versus environmental protection. For example, stakeholder groups included residents, visitors, Aboriginal Traditional Owners, oil/gas industry, commercial fishers, tourism operators, government, and non-government organizations.

The results showed that people mapped values and preferences generally consistent with their stakeholder identity. For example, NGOs mapped more conservation preferences while oil/gas stakeholders mapped more oil/gas development preferences in the region. However, conservation-related values and preferences dominated the mapped results in all proposed marine reserves.    

Lead author Professor Greg Brown from the University of Queensland said the results show the importance of engaging broad social interests in spatial mapping when developing management plans and policies for Marine Protected Areas. 

“There is an assumption that conservation and development stakeholder interests will disagree on how to manage the marine environment,”Professor Brown said. “But place-based mapping allows stakeholders to identify specific areas of agreement/disagreement. Our participatory mapping results showed consensus for conservation in the five MPA areas in the study region leading to win-win outcomes.”

The study demonstrates that while differences in stakeholder interests are real and most be accounted for in MPA planning and management, public participatory processes that include spatial mapping of values and preferences can find the “middle-ground” between government-led and community-based approaches that result in cost-effective conservation outcomes. 

The following website shows the distribution of the more than 27,000 values and preferences mapped in the Kimberley region by study participants: www.landscapemap2.org/kimberley/mapviewer.php

Published Article: Brown G, Strickland-Munro J, Kobryn H, Moore S (Dec 2015) Stakeholder analysis for marine conservation planning using public participation GIS Applied Geography doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2015.12.004
 

Kimberley marine parks (current and proposed) (Source: Geoscience Australia 2014, Department of Parks and Wildlife).

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government’s Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

Category: 

Kimberley Marine Research Program

Human use study confirms Kimberley’s top tourist cruise destinations

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As part a broader WAMSI research project examining human use off the Western Kimberley coast, Professor Lynnath Beckley and her team from Murdoch University have estimated visitation by expedition cruise vessels using cruise itineraries advertised online.

Cruise visits

The study found that there were 18 vessels (excluding vessels engaged in fishing tours) advertising Kimberley cruise itineraries in 2013 indicating relatively little change since a 2008 study (Sherrer at al.).  The cruises take place mainly from April to September between Broome and Wyndham. Just over half of these vessels carried less than 20 passengers but the two largest accommodated more than 100 passengers.

In total, 114 sites were listed in the itineraries of cruise vessels in the Kimberley in 2013, up from 96 sites in 2008. Thirty per cent of the sites, however, were visited less than 20 times during the season and only by smaller vessels.

The most popular places to visit by cruise vessel, excluding the port of Broome, were Montgomery Reef (275 vessels visits with 7382 passengers), Horizontal Falls (260 vessel visits with 7068 passengers), Raft Point (250 vessel visits with 6786 passengers), Prince Regent River (235 vessel visits with 6308 passengers), Talbot Bay (211 vessel visits with 6176 passengers) and King George Falls (115 vessel visits with 5234 passengers). These estimates did not include crew, were based on the assumption that all vessels operated at full occupancy and did not take into account whether passengers actually went ashore at the site or not.

Estimated cumulative number of visits by cruise vessel passengers at the major sites along the Kimberley coast during 2013. Note that numbers assume full occupancy of the vessels, exclude crew members and do not imply that all passengers go ashore. The figure only includes sites with >3000 potential visitors.

Activities

Most advertised activities included boat/tender excursions, swimming and walking. At Montgomery Reef cruises offer tender excursions to witness the water cascading off the reef on a falling tide and a few offer opportunities for reef walking, snorkelling and fishing at this site.

Cumulative frequency of times activities appeared in the advertised itineraries of all schedules cruises in the Kimberley during 2013.

Boat cruises to the scenic Horizontal Falls are also common on cruise itineraries, with some vessels also offering speed boat rides through the falls.

At Raft Point, the majority of visiting vessels use tenders to transfer passengers to shore where they are guided on a short walk to a secluded Aboriginal rock art gallery.

Prince Regent River is most often mentioned in itineraries as a waterway through which vessels transit on their way to King Cascades waterfall, though approximately half of the vessels visiting the area also offer passengers the chance to do some fishing in the river.

Implications for Marine Park Management

Of the sites estimated to have the highest number of tourists by cruise vessel, Montgomery Reef and Prince Regent River are located in the Lalang-garram Camden Sound Marine Park. Horizontal Falls, Talbot Bay and Raft Point are within the designated Horizontal Falls Marine Park.

“The estimates of total potential visitors within the new Kimberley parks provide managers and Traditional Owners, particularly the Dambimangari people, with an indication of where any environmental or cultural impacts would be more likely to occur,” Professor Beckley said.

Professor Beckley recommended that the number and size of cruise vessels operating in the Kimberley should be monitored annually as more large vessels with increased passenger capacities could rapidly change visitation patterns to the marine parks and adjacent coastal sites.

The $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian government’s Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy co-invested by the WAMSI partners and supported by the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.

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Kimberley Marine Research Program

Beaches viewed from above helping to tell Kimberley turtle story

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More than 40,000 aerial photographs of the Kimberley coast have been taken and scrutinised for signs of nesting turtles as part of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) turtle research project.

Information about adult females and turtle hatchling numbers and species gleaned from tracks seen in the images of more than 2500 islands and 1300 mainland beaches is now being verified through a process of ‘ground truthing’.

The aerial and ground surveys are part of the distribution and abundance facet of the WAMSI Kimberley Research Program’s sea turtle project that aims to identify when and where turtles nest, develop climate change models to predict how turtles might be impacted and work out relationships between different turtle nesting groups.

Aerial view of the winter-nesting flatback turtle rookery at Cape Domett, north of Kununurra, showing turtle tracks and a lurking crocodile. (DPaW)

Department of Parks and Wildlife senior research scientist Dr Tony Tucker said more than 90 per cent of the Kimberley coastline’s available turtle nesting habitat was accessible only by foot, boat or helicopter posing significant challenges for field surveys.

“The aerial images taken during the summer and winter surveys in 2014 have helped identify hotspots of relative density for follow-up by ground survey,” he said.

The ground truthing phase of the project, started during 2015, will continue this year, as will work on the other facets of the project.

Dr Tucker said, during the ground surveys, tissue samples had been collected from more than 700 turtles, including a rare WA sample from an olive ridley turtle, and by the end of the year the number of samples could be close to 1000.

“The genetic analysis will help us work out the relationships between groups of nesting turtles and define breeding units for the four predominant nesting species,” he said.

“We need to know what are the breeding groups for summer and winter-nesting flatback, green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles to protect and conserve these species through effective strategic management of habitats.”

Dr Tucker said the sea turtle project team was working with 10 different Traditional Owner groups who had assisted in the ground surveys and were helping to establish how traditional and scientific knowledge complemented each other.

Partners in the WAMSI Kimberley sea turtle project include Parks and Wildlife, The University of Western Australia, CSIRO, Griffith University and Pendoley Environmental. The project will provide a knowledge base for future monitoring and information to help understand if populations are increasing or decreasing.

It will also develop effective and efficient monitoring methods that can be conducted over the long term and build capacity amongst Indigenous ranger groups to enable ongoing monitoring. Together this assists in management across the entire Kimberley, including the four new and proposed marine parks.

Ground view of turtle tracks at Cape Domett. (DPaW)

WAMSI’s $30 million Kimberley Marine Research Program is funded through major investment supported by $12 million from the Western Australian Government’s Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy and co-investment by the WAMSI partners.

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Kimberley Marine Research Program

Suspended sediments limit coral sperm availability

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We have known for more than a decade that suspended sediments from dredging and other sources could impact coral fertilisation, but we didn’t know why. A WAMSI Dredging Science project is working to find the answers.

Lead researcher Gerard Ricardo from The University of Western Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science said the project team first designed an experiment to discover whether sediment was impacting the sperm or the eggs.

“We found that while the eggs were capable of fertilising in the presence of high sediment concentrations, far more sperm were needed to achieve adequate fertilisation success,” Gerard said. “This indicated that the sediment was ‘taking-out’ the sperm and preventing them from contacting the egg.”

“When we added sperm to the suspended sediments and noticed small flocs (flakes) appearing on the bottom of the containers, indicating the sediments were sticking to the sperm and both were sinking away from the floating eggs. We confirmed this hypothesis using microscopy to examine the flocs, as well as a sperm counts at the water surface which revealed a decrease in sperm numbers.

“Our results suggest that sediments may shrink the fertilisation window – a brief 1-2 hour period when sperm and eggs can fertilise before wind and waves dissipate them.

“The next step will be to determine what properties of the sediments cause the flocking and sinking of the sperm and subsequently which sediments present the greatest risk if dredging occurs during coral spawning events,” Gerard said.

The findings have been published in Scientific Reports: G. Ricardo, R, Jones, P. Clode, A. Humanes, A. Negri (Dec 2015) Suspended sediments limit coral sperm availability  doi:10.1038/srep18084

Fact File:

  • Sediments can reduce the amount of sperm available to fertilise the egg
  • Sperm can become tangled up in sediment flocs
  • Multiple lines of evidence were used including fertilisation assays, flow cytometry and optical and electron microscopy to determine the mechanism that is responsible for the decrease in fertilisation with elevated suspended sediments.
  • Sediment may further shrink an already brief (1-2 hour) ephemeral fertilisation window.

The work was carried out at the National Sea Simulator (AIMS) and the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (UWA).

Naitonal Sea Simulator (SeaSim)

The WAMSI Dredging Science Node is made possible through $9.5 million invested by Woodside, Chevron and BHP as environmental offsets. A further $9.5 million has been co-invested by the WAMSI Joint Venture partners, adding significantly more value to this initial industry investment. The node is also supported through critical data provided by Chevron, Woodside and Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

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Dredging Science

Comprehensive and accessible information to support science, policy making and public understanding

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Australia’s northwest marine region is known for both its diversity and its remoteness. However, with increasing anthropogenic pressures within the region, there has been a growing need for accessible environmental and socio-economic information to support decision making. The North West Atlas was created in response to this need, providing comprehensive and accessible information for the greater northwest region.

The North West Atlas provides the infrastructure and tools to promote the free and open exchange of information to support science, policy making and public understanding of the region. These tools include a content management system for science articles and data, a mapping engine for spatial information and social media integration for promotion of content and interaction with a range of stakeholders. The North West Atlas provides a web portal to not only access and share information, but to celebrate and promote the biodiversity, heritage, value, and way of life of the greater northwest region.

Interactive Maps and Spatial Data

Interactive map on the North West Atlas summarising key research findings

 

The North West Atlas has links to a mapping engine used to both manage and visualise spatial data. Both raw data and prepared datasets can be uploaded. Raw data can be accessed and downloaded by researchers and managers to be included in analyses to inform decision making and management. While prepared datasets have been uploaded to provide an interactive summary of key research findings. Examples of prepared datasets include interactive maps for the North West Oceanic Shoals and Rankin and Glomar Shoals summarising these key ecological features.

Research Highlights

Research article summarising the WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program

 

Research articles provide an overview of key research undertaken within the region. Article are written for a general audience and summarise key research questions and findings. Articles to date describe current research for the WAMSI Kimberley Marine Research Program, feature outcomes from the Montara Environmental Monitoring Program and summarise the Woodside environmental survey of Rankin and Glomar Shoals. Highlights include exploring the deeper ‘hidden’ coral reefs of the Timor Sea and the finding these reefs, the north west oceanic shoals, support exceptional species richness.

Outreach and Communication

Instagram images providing a brief summary of research highlights

The goal of the North West Atlas is to provide a friendly site to engage all stakeholders including managers, research scientists, government, industry and the general public. The site has links to the blog site, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, These links provide an avenue to summarise and highlight research targeting different user groups and providing varying levels of scientific and technical detail.

The North West Atlas project builds on the e-Atlas project for the Great Barrier Reef and the Ningaloo Atlas covering Ningaloo World Heritage Area. It is a partnership between government organisations, non-government organisations, researchers, industry, and community groups. Funding for the North West Atlas project has been provided by PTTEP Australasia (a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTTEP, the Thai national petroleum exploration and production company) and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
 

Genetics, Connectivity and Recovery Potential of Pilbara Seagrasses

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Research from the WAMSI Dredging Science Node has provided new insight into how seagrasses in the Pilbara may recover from disturbance events such as dredging.

While some seagrasses can potentially recover from dredging related pressures over a 200 kilometre radius, others require another meadow within five kilometres to survive, or need to be regenerated from a seed bank.

The research, which is important to the ongoing management of the region’s coastal biodiversity, has produced the first real insight into the genetic variability of the area’s seagrass and the level of connectivity among different seagrass populations.

Pilbara seagrass meadows are an important source of food and habitat for the endangered dugong, sea turtles and prawns, the latter of which makes up part of the region’s multi-million dollar commercial fishing industry.

Lead researcher, Edith Cowan University’s Kathryn McMahon, described how several WA Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) projects are revealing more about the genetic diversity and connectivity of Pilbara seagrasses and how this is revealing the possible ways seagrasses may resist or recover from disturbance, insights which are critical to better management of seagrass meadows.

“In one WAMSI project we determined where the seagrass meadows are, how much there is and how it varies seasonally throughout the year” Dr McMahon said. “In a complementary genetics project we examined which species had the higher genetic diversity and therefore a better chance to resist change and recover from dredging pressures.”

Of the 15 species of seagrass found in the Pilbara, the WAMSI team, including researchers from CSIRO, the University of Adelaide and Department of Parks and Wildlife, looked specifically at three of the most common; Halophila ovalis (6 populations), Halodule uninervis (8 populations) and Thalassia hemprichii (3 populations).

“What we found is that Halophila ovalis and Thalassia hemprichii have high genetic diversity in most meadows that we sampled,” Dr McMahon said. “Thalassia showed a high connectivity over distance; the fruit from one meadow can potentially float to a meadow up to 200km away and successfully recruit into that meadow.

“Whereas with Halophila ovalis and Halodule uninervis gene flow is over a much smaller scale. So a meadow which is completely lost could only recover if there was another meadow within about 5kms.

“So from a dredging perspective, if we lose a seagrass meadow, we can give an indication of when or if they are likely to recover within five years based on the WA EPA’s Dredging Guidelines of irreversible loss,” Dr McMahon said.

Seagrasses tend to be found in the coastal zone and grow in soft sand and muddy sediment but some species can also grow on reefs. They are found in more shallow water to a depth of 10 metres, but can be found in clear water down to 50-60 metres. In the Pilbara, seagrass meadows are mostly found in shallower water.

Based on genetic differentiation, two to three management areas were identified. Exmouth Gulf was distinct from Thevenard Island, Rosemary Island and Balla Balla, and Balla Balla was distinct from the island sites.

“Long distance migration was detected but this is likely to be rare based on the genetic differentiation among sites,” Dr McMahon said. “This long distance dispersal was occurring both in a northward direction, against the direction of the dominant oceanographic current, and southwards, with the direction of the dominant current. There was no association of genotypes with habitat. Some meadows appear to be resilient from a genetic perspective, but others not.”

Halophila ovalis genetic connectivity among sites over a local scale in the Exmouth region. This network analysis is stylised on the site map to show the major migration pathways (relative migration rates >0.8). 1=Exmouth Gulf 1, 2=Exmouth Gulf 2, 3=Mangrove Bay, 4=Muiron Is. North, 5=Muiron Is. South.

“As a result, we feel that incorporating analysis of genetic diversity of seagrass meadows (clonal richness, allelic diversity, heterozygosity) into pre-dredging surveys would allow dredging proponents to identify sites, which are more resilient and hence better able to cope with or recover from dredging related pressures, or conversely, less resistant and in need of more stringent management measures,” Dr McMahon said.

A summary of the genetic resilience of seagrass meadows in the Pilbara based on clonal richness, allelic diversity and heterozygosity. The potential to adapt to pressures over generations was based on allelic richness, to recover from declines in a generation was based on heterozygosity and to recover from complete loss using seed banks was based on clonal richness.

The WAMSI research has also found that the diversity of Thalassia hemprichii is higher in the Pilbara than in the Kimberley, which was unexpected.

“The hotspot for seagrass in this region is in the Coral Triangle of Indonesia and since the Kimberley is closer to this hotspot, we expected to find higher diversity there than in the Pilbara.  However, it may be that the massive tides in the Kimberly result in it being more isolated from the rest of the coast.” Dr McMahon said.

FACT FILE:

Seagrasses are clonal, marine flowering plants that form critical habitat in coastal waters. They are found in coastal waters of all continents except Antarctica, where they provide significant ecosystem services including: primary productivity; a food source for critically endangered fauna; habitat for many marine flora and fauna; sediment stabilisation; and carbon storage.

Globally, seagrasses are threatened with 29 per cent of the known areal extent estimated to be lost.  Since 1990 the loss rate is reported to have increased from 0.9% per year to 7% per year, comparable to loss rates reported for mangroves, coral reefs and tropical rainforests.

The WAMSI Dredging Science Node is made possible through $9.5 million invested by Woodside, Chevron and BHP as environmental offsets. A further $9.5 million has been co-invested by the WAMSI Joint Venture partners, adding significantly more value to this initial industry investment. The node is also supported through critical data provided by Chevron, Woodside and Rio Tinto Iron Ore.

Category:

Dredging Science

New era for Indian Ocean research

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The disappearance of flight MH370, the devastation caused by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, the profound societal impact of monsoons which are so strongly linked to the Indian Ocean and the fact that so many island groups, states and territories rely on its little understood ways has helped to renew a global drive to find out more about the only ocean to be blocked by land to the north.  

Indian Ocean research came into focus in Goa, India, recently when researchers from around the world presented their findings ahead of a Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2), launched 50 years after its predecessor.     

A group of researchers from WAMSI partner organisations (CSIRO; Murdoch University, Curtin University, The University of Western Australia, Bureau of Meteorology and IMOS) attended the ‘Dynamics of the Indian Ocean: Perspective and Retrospective’.

The symposium provided a forum for marine and related scientists from countries bordering the Indian Ocean, as well as those from further afield, to present results of their latest research in the Indian Ocean; review the progress made in understanding the unique characteristics of the region; and plan future research to address outstanding issues.

“The symposium papers and the work to be undertaken now through IIOE-2 are particularly relevant to Western Australia and Australia more broadly,” Head of the Perth Programme Office of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and IOC Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2) Coordinator Dr Nick D’Adamo said.

The work WAMSI partners are doing on the west coast of Australia contributed significantly to the event in synergy with the work of the broader regional and international scientific community. Presentations were made by: Professor Chari Pattiaratchi and Dr Eric Raes (UWA); Dr Alicia Sutton (Murdoch University); CSIRO’s Dr Francois Dufois, Dr Ming Feng and Dr Andreas Schiller; and IMOS Director Tim Moltmann.

Dr Pattiaratchi and Ms Su are examining the dynamics of the central northern Indian Ocean and contributing to the East Indian Ocean Upwelling Research Initiative of IIOE-2, which includes areas off N-NW Australia.

Tim Moltmann highlighted IMOS’s contribution particularly to Eastern Indian Ocean marine and related research.

Dr Feng’s area of research focus has been on the marine heatwave events off Western Australia in the Leeuwin Current system over the past few years and how they are linked to the Indo-Pacific climate variability.

“There were a lot of discussions about marine heatwaves and the Ningaloo Niño phenomena in particular, and the focus for the next IIOE expedition,” Dr Feng said. “So there will be a joint effort from scientists from Australia, China and Japan to investigate the dynamics of the Ningaloo Niño – marine heatwave.

“There are a few research cruises being proposed from Australia and Japan to collaborate on this topic.

“Also there are on-going discussions to enhance our capability to monitor the Leeuwin current through IMOS, which is an important component of the Indian Ocean heat balance,” Dr Feng said. “We would link with the United States/South Africa monitoring programs off Africa to understand the Indian Ocean basin wide circulation and heat balance.” 

The International Symposium also celebrated of The Golden Jubilee of India’s National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), which was established in 1966 following the first International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE).  the launch of the Second IIOE on 4 December 2015; and the start of the first multi-national IIOE-2 research cruise (ORV Sagar Nidhi (India), Goa to Mauritius, 4-22 December 2016).

The IIOE-2 is an interdisciplinary oceanographic research effort over five years. It aims to build on the scientific understanding of the Indian Ocean region in order to enhance the economic and social benefits of Indian Ocean rim nations, which includes Australia.

The UNESCO/IOC Perth Programme Office has helped plan the IIOE-2 since 2012, and now hosts one of the two Joint Project Office (JPO) nodes for the IIOE-2, led by Dr Nick D’Adamo. This facility works closely with the other major JPO node in Hyderabad, India and with UNESCO/IOC HQ in France, and connects with the broader international IIOE-2 constituency. The IIOE-2 website at www.iioe-2.incois.gov.in provides links to key IIOE-2 reports and information.

Murdoch University’s Professor Lynnath Beckley, who was on the IIOE-2 Science Plan Development Committee, described the first Indian Ocean expedition in the 1960s as, “the biggest exercise ever in marine science.”  

“We live in a remarkably different world than we did 50 years ago,” Professor Beckley said. “Exclusive economic zones (EEZ) prescribed by the UN convention, some countries weren’t independent in the 1960s, not to mention computer modelling.

“So we developed a broad science plan for the Indian Ocean consisting of six major themes and countries are now trying to slot in to those themes over the next five years,” Professor Beckley said.  

The six research themes for the IIOE-2 are:

  1. Anthropogenic impacts (Human impact)
  2. Boundary current dynamics, upwelling variability and ecosystem impacts
  3. Monsoon variability and ecosystem response
  4. Circulation, climate variability and change
  5. Extreme events and their impacts on ecosystems and human populations
  6. Unique geological, physical, biogeochemical, and ecological features of the Indian Ocean

“If you’re a country that abuts the Indian Ocean, bringing together other countries to work in the Indian Ocean is quite a good idea,” Professor Beckley said. “It focusses people in one area of the planet and attracts others to work there.”

CSIRO’s Dr Nick Hardman-Mountford chaired a session on ecosystems covering from plankton and nitrogen cycling to fish, seabirds and citizen science.

“I think there was a real sense we’ve started something new,” Dr Hardman-Mountford said. “It started by paying tribute to the first Indian Ocean Expedition achievements and, looking forward, this is the start of a major endeavour for the Indian Ocean as a whole.”

“I think the momentum is there, there’s a lot of countries starting to work in the Indian Ocean; the US Germans, Dutch, UK all have interests there. We know many of the Indian Ocean rim nations are onboard – South Africa is getting a new ship. This has been a good meeting for forming partnerships between those nations with the best capacity and those with an interest.

“A lot of standard oceanographic rules have been developed in areas such as the North Atlantic and it’s not the same in the Indian Ocean. It is not an open basin, there are monsoons, it has the Leeuwin Current and massive biodiversity and things don’t behave the way we expect. This, coupled with the fact it has some of the poorest countries on its boundary and a huge dependence on it by local populations for food, climate and weather systems, makes the Indian Ocean interesting to study. 

“There is a real sense of excitement about the next phase of work in the Indian Ocean and WAMSI/CSIRO being able to be part of this research,” Dr Hardman-Mountford said.


 

 

Dr Nick Hardman-Mountford and colleague in front of  ORV Sagar Nidhi (India) at the launch of the first multi-national IIOE-2 research cruise (Goa to Mauritius 4-22 December 2016)