WAMSI first to use SeaSim in a four year dredging evaluation project

This free documentary will take you on an extraordinary journey into Western Australia’s unique marine environment.

From the depths of Ningaloo Marine Park to the remarkable and little known fringing reefs of the Kimberley reigion; from the discovery of coral spawning to new species which hold potential cures for illnesses – marine scientists share their passion for the ocean and their quest to understand its secrets.

Freely availble online and soon on DVD!

For more information or to request a DVD email: info@wamsi.org.au

View the documentary in its entirety (34 mins) or as individual chapters.

Video Chapters:

• Introduction
• The mystery of our oceans
• Discovery & collaboration
• Mapping the marine environment at large regional scales
• Science to inform Conservation: Ningaloo Marine Park 
• Biodiscovery
• Climate variability & change: Perth in 2100
• Preparing for a safe & sustainable future
• The Kimberley-Browse Marine Region

Thanks to the partnership between The Ocean Project, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and Random House Children’s Books, they are pleased to offer another year’s worth of great Seuss-themed World Oceans Day materials!

Celebrate World Oceans Day with Oceans of Inspiration theme featuring Dr. Seuss’ One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish classic book characters.

In a historic moment, scientists from the Kimberley Marine Research Station in Cygnet Bay have observed and documented the spawning of near-shore corals along the mainland Kimberley coast for the first time.

Nine days after the March full moon and after two wet, windy nights of monitoring, aquariums set up in the research station were awash with slicks of bright blue and pink spawn as moon (Mussidae), brain (Faviidae) and staghorn corals (Acroporidae) released their gametes into the water for fertilisation. The spawning occurred synchronously with corals on the reef only a few hundred metres away.

While Indigenous Australians in the region know the times of year when corals will spawn on the neap tides based on observations of slicks, near-shore coral spawning, which has been well researched in other areas such as the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo, has never been seen by scientists along the mainland  Kimberley coast until now. Direct observation of spawning agrees with previous sampling in the south and central Kimberley that found evidence of maturing gametes leading up to the March spawning. Taken together, this suggests the March spawning may be a key period for corals along the Kimberley, just as it is for the much better understood reefs at Rowley Shoals, Scott Reef and the iconic Ningaloo.

The observations were made possible with the expertise and assistance from Dr Andrew Heyward, a coral biologist from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (a WAMSI partner), and will provide a basis for future studies on the reproductive habits of corals which form the foundation of the Kimberley’s reefs – one of the most unique and poorly understood ecosystems in Australia.

The Kimberley Marine Research Station is an Industry Associate Member of WAMSI and is the first and only scientific research station in the region. Established in 2009 through a collaboration between Cygnet Bay Pearls and WAMSI, the Kimberley Marine Research Station aims to support and encourage board-scale independent scientific research throughout the Kimberley coastal and marine environment.  The research station offers facilities, vessels, personnel and local knowledge to enable independent marine scientists to access and work in the Kimberley.

Through its partners, WAMSI is undertaking pioneering research in the Kimberley marine environment in support of the State’s Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy.

Photo: Tony Cockram

See attachment for Kimberley Marine Research Station press release  

Kimberley Marine Research Station:  www.kmrs.com.au

Media coverage in The Australian, Secret Life of Kimberley corals revealed

WAMSI research in the Kimberley
 

Kimberley Inshore Coral Spawning 2012 release_0.pdf

Scientists are studying the impact of a massive influx of fresh water and sediment to Shark Bay in Western Australia as a result of the area’s largest ever flood event recorded in December last year.

Shark Bay was declared a World Heritage Area in 1991, and has the distinction of being one of the few places in the world that satisfies all criteria for World Heritage listing.

The bay’s vast seagrass meadows – the most diverse assemblage of seagrasses in the world – support globally significant populations of endangered dugongs and turtles.

‘Seagrasses are important as the basis of the bay’s food web,’ said CSIRO researcher, Dr Mat Vanderklift. ‘An array of invertebrates feed on them, fish feed on the invertebrates, and predators like dolphin feed on the fish.

‘The meadows also provide a nursery for juveniles of many species, including crabs and prawns.’

As well as the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, the flood-impact study involves The University of Western Australia (UWA), Curtin University and the WA Marine Science Institution.

For more details visit: http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC11089