The Pilbara coast, with its multitude of creek systems branching out to the ocean, has become the focus of extensive fieldwork.

“You see the coastal cyanobacterial mats after a downpour go from brown to bright green and they’re literally bubbling with oxygen,” researcher Dr Shannon Dee said.

Dr Dee, from Edith Cowan University’s School of Science, works on the ecological component of the WAMSI-led Mardie Offset Marine and Intertidal Research Program. The broad ranging project includes research on coastal plant and animal life and habitat from the ocean and mangroves to samphire plains and cyanobacterial mats with their dense layers of microbes.

“The reason this project is incredible is this whole coastline is largely unstudied because it is so remote,” Dr Dee said.

The remoteness, rugged terrain and extreme temperatures are tough, but the research field trip teams are well prepared.

“These areas are extremely challenging to work in.”

“The areas where we are doing ecosystem studies are four-wheel drive access to a certain point and then we use light-weight 8-wheeler vehicles to get across mud and soft sand.”

“These have the advantage of being less likely to bog but they also cause minimal damage to the environment,” she said.

Emergency equipment such as inflatable vehicle jacks, satellite phones, handheld radios and Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) are always taken on field trips.

The often-intense heat means water, sunscreen, good protective clothing and rehydration sachets are also crucial.

“Also, games to keep morale up when the work is over for the day.”

Dr Dee said as well as equipment that allows the teams to safely access the coastal ecosystem, a lot of scientific gear is taken on the trips.

There are specific protocols for collecting different samples.

“We have collected core samples of the cyanobacterial mats for experiments on chlorophyll levels and DNA.”

“These are wrapped in foil and frozen straight away.”

Other experiments require a different approach.

“For experiments in chambers, we need to keep the samples under natural conditions, so we put them in containers with air holes and have them under ambient light as much as possible.”

Looking at the role of food webs and the role of migratory shorebirds has involved analysing droppings and doing stable isotype analysis on the collected samples.