Scientists are preparing for a month-long mission to study the deepest ocean floors off the Queensland Coast.
Voyage Chief Scientist Dr Will White said a team on board CSIRO research vessel Investigator would conduct a dedicated deep-sea survey of marine life in the Coral Sea Marine Park.
Dr White said the 35-day research voyage would generate vital data and samples that would inform future conservation of seafloor (benthic zone) communities and increase Australia’s knowledge of marine ecosystems and biodiversity in the region.
He said the new research voyage would use an extensive suite of scientific equipment including deep towed camera, eDNA sampler, trawls and sleds to explore biodiversity and better understand ecological changes.
“The benthic zone is the ecological region at the interface of the ocean and the Earth’s crust, so it means we’ll be exploring the deepest habitats where some of the most interesting and least known species of fish and invertebrates live.
“These include fish without eyes, swimming sea cucumbers, deep-sea corals and many species perhaps never before seen by human eyes.”
Dr White said a diverse team from leading museums, universities and research institutes aimed to learn more about what was in the Coral Sea Marine Park and discover and describe as many new species to science as they could.
He said the team would also map the seafloor in high resolution using advanced multibeam echosounders which would help improve marine park managers’ understanding of underwater habitats.
– The Coral Sea Marine Park is the largest marine park in Australian waters, covering 989,836 km2 and protecting vast reef areas, and 67 cays and islets. It is part of a network of 60 Australian Marine Parks managed by Parks Australia that cover around 43 percent, or 3.8 million km2, of Australia’s marine environment.
