2020 7 AUSTRALIA
SEAMOUNTS, CANYONS, AND REEFS OF THE CORAL SEA
#VisioningCoralSea
8/02/2020 - 8/30/2020 Geoscience Australia, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia The University of Sydney, University of Tasmania, Dr. Brendan Brooke Queensland Museum, Parks Australia, Biopixel, Marine Biodiversity Hub, University of Wollongong, JAMSTEC, Queensland University of Technology
The overarching goal of this research was to identify Expedition Objectives the influence of long-term environmental processes on the present-day characteristics and distribution of seafloor biological communities in an important Mapping Seafloor but poorly known region of Australia’s marine area- - the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and adjacent High resolution maps of the seabed revealed new detail Queensland Plateau. We vastly improved our knowledge about the geomorphic processes operating within of seafloor environments in this unexplored region, by canyons and around the edges of reefs and seamounts. identifying seafloor morphology – biological community relationships for predictive modeling of communities, and helping to develop an integrated understanding Characterize Seabed & Affiliated Communities of Australia’s Coral Sea ecosystem through highly By acquiring biological data and samples and interdisciplinary research. comparing them with seabed geomorphology and geology, jellyfish communities and oceanographic The combination of high-resolution seabed mapping, data, we can reveal the features and processes driving ROV observations and samples provides us with robust biodiversity patterns in deep-water settings around the data sets from which we can build models of habitat Queensland Plateau. distributions for the Coral Sea Marine Park and canyons in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Importantly, models can be built to represent patterns across depths Epibenthic & Plankton Communities Survey and across geomorphic features like reefs, canyons, Surveying reef margins along the Queensland Plateau seamounts, which will aid in our understanding of will indicate their potential to provide refuges for these deep sea habitats. These new maps, samples and communities impacted by a rapidly warming marine images, give us a new understanding of the geological environment, and reveal the influence of past lower sea diversity and biological wealth contained in different levels on reef morphology and the present-day spatial zones of the Coral Sea Marine Park. This information can patterns of biodiversity. support implementation of management plans for the REPORT IMPACT 8
At least 3 new coral species were discovered.
30 21 114 226 14,572 At least 3 days at ROV ROV dive samples km2 new coral sea dives hours collected mapped species
AN UNBLEACHED REEF FIRST EVER PHOTOGRAPHY
Imagery was captured of a huge First ever photography and extent of mesophotic (deep) coral samples of deep water seabed reef in the Coral Sea Marine Park, habitats in the Great Barrier Reef with no evidence of bleaching Marine Park, with cameras taken from recent events that impacted down to 1800 m in the Ribbon the Great Barrier Reef in 2020. Reef submarine canyons.
BETTER UNDERSTANDING NEW SPECIES OF CORAL OF LAND/SEA CONNECTIONS AND JELLIES Improved understanding of the Several undescribed species of link between the Great Barrier Reef jellyfish and corals were collected lagoon and outer reefs, with data for taxonomic and genetic analysis. collected that maps the pathways of sediment transport from reefs to submarine canyons and the deep sea.
ANCIENT REEFS REVEALED RARE FISH SPOTTED
Multibeam mapping reveals First recorded observation for ancient reef platforms submerged Australia of an extremely rare fish, in hundreds of meters of water. A Rhinopias agroliba – located in the sample of 40-50 million-year-old deeper waters of the Tregrosse mudstone was collected, which is Reefs (Coral Sea). The extent of what the GBR sits on top. This is the its range was thought to end in first collection of its kind. Hawaii.