Professor Anya Waite: Enabling Research and Collaboration through the Marine National Facility

Professor Anya Waite

Professor Anya Waite is an oceanographer whose primary research interests are the links between ocean physics, biology and biogeochemistry. She has explored the open Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans, and investigated the coasts of Alaska, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, East Timor and Australia.

Following an undergraduate degree in Biology with a thesis in Forestry, Anya completed a PhD in Biological Oceanography at the University of British Columbia, Canada. She was Post-doctoral Scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and is now a Professor at the Oceans Institute and School of Environmental Systems Engineering at The University of Western Australia.

Lobster larva (image courtesy M. Saunders).

How does Professor Anya Waite use the MNF?

One of the things Professor Waite and her team use Southern Surveyor, for is to track patches of plankton in the ocean. Initially they look at satellite images to identify eddies that might contain important biota like western rock lobster larvae.

By tracking eddies and understanding how currents work, they have been able to discover what drives our ocean productivity in certain areas.

Professor Waite has used equipment such as CTDs, the SeaSoar, an EZ net, tracking buoys and the wet laboratory for analysing rock lobster larvae, while out at sea. (image courtesy M. Saunders).

What scientific outcomes have been achieved on the MNF?

One of the more notable voyages Professor Waite and her team had on Southern Surveyor was in 2006, in what has become known as the ‘vortex voyage’. It was during this research trip they discovered a massive 200 kilometre wide vortex off the coast of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. 

The eddies research voyages have resulted in more than 20 international journal papers.

Josh Dornan (Dept of Fisheries) and Jonathon Saville (student volunteer, University of Cape Town) select larvae from the net hauls with special high-tech implements (Rock Lobster Voyage 2, 2011).

 What kinds of collaborations have been possible on the MNF?

On board research voyages on Southern Surveyor Professor Waite has worked with scientists and researchers from:

• University of Tasmania
• Murdoch University
• University of Queensland
• Queensland Department of Primary Industries
• Department of Fisheries, WA
• CSIRO, and
• from overseas institutions in South Africa, New Zealand, France, Spain, Canada, Germany, and the United States.

Nik Sachlikidis from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, working with rock lobster larvae in pseudokrysal tanks (kindly loaned by the QDPI), on board Southern Surveyor.

“With the increase in scientific berths on RV Investigator, we’re looking forward to being able to do large basin-scale projects with more facets and more international collaborators. Most of the work we do could benefit enormously from more people on board.”

Professor Anya Waite.

Searching for a new end to the Reef

This year as the Marine National Facility Vessel RV Southern Surveyor heads out on research voyages, we’re going to fill you in on some of the exciting science happening on board the ship.

James Cook University’s Robin Beaman will lead a joint JCU/University of Sydney research voyage to test whether long-term climate change could see the Great Barrier Reef head south.

Dr Beaman’s team will use multibeam mapping and rock dredging equipment onboard the Marine National Facility vessel RV Southern Surveyor, to investigate the Gardner Bank near Fraser Island, to determine if it could become an extension of the Great Barrier Reef.

A marine geologist at JCU’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Dr Beaman said Gardner Bank is in a tropical/temperate transition zone ideal for a possible shift from a cooler-water, algal-dominated environment, to a warmer-water, coral-dominated environment.

“A detailed study of the sediments and marine life will provide the baseline data to compare against changes in the future,” Dr Beaman said.

The researchers will also map previously un-surveyed volcanic seamounts off the Queensland coast – some as high as 3,000 metres – and giant coral atolls near New Caledonia.

Owned and operated by CSIRO, the Marine National Facility is available to all Australian scientists. Additional opportunities are given to early career researchers and students to carry out underway or opportunistic science during transit voyages. Dr Beaman is the Chief Scientist on the ‘Next Wave’ transit voyage between Brisbane and Fiji, which departs on 2 May. 

“The ‘Next Wave’ transit provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in ocean-going research and to collaborate with other marine scientists,” Dr Beaman said.

Other projects occurring onboard the ‘Next Wave’ transit voyage are:

• deep crustal volcanic studies by the University of Queensland,
• measurements of greenhouse gases by the University of Wollongong, and
• the distribution and fate of marine debris by CSIRO/University of Western Australia.

In 2013 RV Southern Surveyor will be replaced by RV Investigator, heralding a new era in Australian marine and atmospheric research – http://csirofrvblog.com/.

Contacts:
Dr Rob Beaman – 07 4042 1693 or 0438 623 145.
JCU Media: Jim O’Brien – 07 4781 4822 or 0418892449