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Aerial surveys
Aerial surveys

Onboard observers scan the ocean surface in search of wildlife during aerial surveys. Left to right: Verity Steptoe, Rebecca Wellard.

© courtesy Rebecca Wellard (Curtin University)
Baited camera preparation
Baited camera preparation

Senior field technicians Jem Turner, Louis Masarei and Adam Jolly prepare baited camera equiptment before deployment in the Bremer Marine Park.

© courtesy UWA - Marine Futures Lab
Brain coral in Houtman Abrolhos Islands
Brain coral in Houtman Abrolhos Islands

Still image of hard coral taken during underwater visual census surveys in the Houtman Abrolhos islands of Western Australia in 2008 as part of the Reef Life Survey program. The Reef Life Survey program is a volunteer network of highly trained divers, and is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and other Australian Marine Park such as the Cod Grounds.

CC BY by Reef Life Survey
Cock-eyed squid
Cock-eyed squid

A cock-eyed squid (Histioteuthis miranda) investigates a baited camera unit.

© courtesy UWA - Marine Futures Lab
GPS track of the Sea Glider
GPS track of the Sea Glider

Google Earth image of the glider track in white from deployment to recovery. Glider tracks can look like "Mr Squiggle" drawings. This is because the gliders are propelled only by a buoyancy engine and their movement can be overpowered by strong ocean currents. In the latter part of the mission, the glider returned to the hotspot area where it did multiple dives before it was recovered.

CC BY by Paul Thomson
Ocean predators
Ocean predators

A pod of killer whales (Orcinus orca) surfaces beneath the plane during an aerial survey of the Bremer canyon.

© courtesy Rebecca Wellard (Curtin University), Project ORCA
Orca
Orca

An Orcra (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer marine region.

© courtesy Rebecca Wellard
Orca predation
Orca predation

Orca predation

© courtesy Rebecca Wellard
Pilot fish
Pilot fish

A pilot fish, Naucrates ductor, attracted to a pelagic BRUVS in the Bremer marine region.

© courtesy UWA - Marine Futures Lab
Preparing to glide
Preparing to glide

Dr. Paul Thomson from the University of Western Australia and the Integrated Marine Observing System prepares the Sea Glider for its mission. Mission preparation involves simulated glider dives on the deck prior to deployment to ensure all systems and sensors are operational. 

CC BY by Paul Thomson
Preparing to glide
Preparing to glide

Dr. Paul Thompson from the University of Western Australia and the Integrated Marine Observing System prepares the Sea Glider for its mission. Mission preparation involves simulated glider dives on the deck prior to deployment to ensure all systems and sensors are operational.

CC BY by Paul Thomson
Rebecca Wellard and acoustic logger
Rebecca Wellard and acoustic logger

PhD candidate Rebecca Wellard prepares to deploy a towed acoustic logger.

© courtesy Curtin University, Project ORCA
School of Parrot fish at Houtman Abrolhos Marine Park
School of Parrot fish at Houtman Abrolhos Marine Park

School of parrotfish over typical reef habitat of Houtman Abrolhos islands of Western Australia - taken as part of the global Reef Life Survey dataset. The Reef Life Survey program is a volunteer network of highly trained divers, and is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and other Australian Marine Parks such as the Cod Grounds.

CC BY by Reef Life Survey
Seagrass Habitat
Seagrass Habitat

This image shows a seagrass bed in the Geograph Bay Marine Park, captured from a BRUVS survey. The seagrass beds of Geographe Bay are one of the largest meadows recorded in Australia, extending into water depths of up to 50 metres. Globally, seagrasses are believed to be the third most valuable ecosystem in the world. Seagrass beds prevent erosion of the sea bottom, reduce carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and support diverse communities of marine animals such as invertebrates, fish, crabs, turtles, mammals and birds by providing food and shelter. Seagrasses enhance overall marine biodiversity and provide ecological functions and a variety of services to humans.

CC BY NC by Curtin University - Fish Ecology Laboratory
Seastar at Abrolhos Marine Park
Seastar at Abrolhos Marine Park

Still image of Pentagonaster dubeni (seastar) taken during underwater visual census surveys in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands of Western Australia in 2008 as part of the Reef Life Survey program. This volunteer network of highly trained divers is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and other Australian Marine Parks such as the Cod Grounds Marine Park.

CC BY by Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies
Spangled Emperor fish - Lethrinus nebulosus
Spangled Emperor fish - Lethrinus nebulosus

Still image of a Spangled emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus) taken during underwater visual census surveys in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands of Western Australia in 2008 as part of the Reef Life Survey program. This volunteer network of highly trained divers is a product of the CERF Major Projects funding that facilitated a cost-effective citizen science contribution to inventory and monitoring of shallow water marine environments. The RLS program has been further facilitated within the NERP Hub, describing biodiversity patterns at a national and global scale, as well as providing critical baseline data from areas such as the Coral Sea Marine Park, from Ashmore Reef, the Great Barrier Reef,and Australian Marine Parks such as the Cod Grounds.

CC BY by Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies
Tagging ocras
Tagging ocras

Tagging ocras in the Bremer marine region, (a) the research team approaching a male orca and (b) a successful biopsy sample of an adult orca in the Hood Canyon on March 19, 2017.

© courtesy UWA, MIRG Australia.
Temperature and salinity profiles in the Bremer Bay marine region
Temperature and salinity profiles in the Bremer Bay marine region

This figure shows (a) seawater temperature and (b) seawater salinity from the surface to 1000 metres depth during the Bremer Bay canyon glider mission. Patterns of seawater temperature and salinity (and therefore density) can reveal a lot about the structure of the ocean currents in a region. This figure shows relatively warm, eastward flowing Leeuwin current water down to about 200 metres depth, which overlays colder water of the Flinders Current and Antarctic Intermediate Water.

CC BY by Paul Thomson
Whale of a time
Whale of a time

This killer whale is known at Tarni (WA089). Tarni has been catalogued since 2014 by Project ORCA, a research initiative that investigates the distribution, abundance, bioacoustics and population dynamics of killer whales in Australian waters. The Bremer Marine Park is a known hotspot for this species, and one of the primary study sites for Project ORCA. Tarni, easily recognisable by the nick in the tip of the dorsal fin and and "X" scarring on the saddle patch, was named after the Australian Indigenous word meaning "surf or wave" in the Kaurna language. An appropriate name as Tarni is regularly seen surfing the wake of our research vessel or charging through the big swell in the Bremer region.

© courtesy Rebecca Wellard
Wildlife and oceanographic surveys of the Bremer Marine Park
Wildlife and oceanographic surveys of the Bremer Marine Park

Wildlife and oceanographic surveys of the Bremer Marine Park. The Bremer Marine Park was sampled as part of a collaborative government funded program designed to provide critical baseline information on the presence of marine megafauna in the region and the potential physical factors affecting their distribution. Multiple sampling platforms were used, including visual transects conducted from the air (black), drifting underwater camera traps (known as stereo-BRUVS, dark blue), passive acoustic recordings (orange) and water profiles obtained from an autonomous deep-diving Seaglider (yellow). Large sharks (1), cetaceans (2) and molluscs (3) were among the species encountered within and outside the park boundaries.

© courtesy UWA, Project ORCA
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