The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) put out a media release earlier today claiming to have scientifically documented changes in coral cover for the northern section of the Great Barrier Reef, particularly in the vicinity of Lizard Island. Claims include that: The losses of coral we’ve recorded so far are significant. Despite these losses, […]
I was privileged to have the opportunity to study science at university, and I have always been particularly interested in taxonomy that is naming, defining and classifying groups of organisms based on shared characteristics. This is fundamental to knowing the distribution and abundance of animal species, and how this might change, for example, following severe […]
My husband, John Abbot, has kept going with research into AI and climate forecasting. One of his most important recent papers can be downloaded from Earth Sciences. Some of the latest Nobel prizes in science, including in chemistry, have been for developments in artificial intelligence (AI). Of course, John Abbot and I began working […]
There are some people, so obsessed with politics they can’t even see the parrot fish; they just go on and on and on about the coral bleaching that they have never seen. And these are mostly the people that our institutions give the microphones to. On both sides of politics. They lecture to us about […]
It is one of the best wreck dives in the world, arguably one of the top ten dive sites in the world – and yet we know so little about it. Who did the last inventory of the megafauna at the Yongala? When I was there earlier this year, on May 6th, 2024, I got […]
I am yet to dive the North Wall at Myrmidon. As part of the inaugural Megafauna Expedition, onboard the MV Sea Esta, I was deck hand on Friday, 6th September 2024. I was holding Laura Boderke’s underwater camera, as she waited. Leaning backwards from a rail on the stern of the boat, waiting for First […]
In May 1992, and again in March and April 1993, the Royal Australian Navy, specifically HMAS Tarakan, was involved in the translocation of tens of thousands of clams as part of Operation CLAMSAVER. The clams were moved from a successful breeding program at Orpheus Island to various locations on the Great Barrier Reef, including to […]
How do we know that in the back lagoon at Myrmidon Reef there are some massive bolder corals – immovable, representing layer upon layer of calcium carbonate laid down year after year, back more than 300 years. And so healthy; in various shades of green and blue and, also golden. Their health and size are […]
The inaugural Great Barrier Reef Megafauna Expedition departs in just two days, on Monday 2nd September for 5 nights at sea – weather permitting. And the weather does look like it might be a bit blowy. Breaking news: There are now six categories including ‘largest reptile’. This could be a turtle, a snake –hopefully […]
