RV Investigator’s maiden voyage southward bound
Posted: December 12, 2014 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, Media Releases | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, RV Investigator Leave a commentMarine National Facility media release, 12 December 2014
Today at the Welcome to Port Celebrations in Hobart, Investigator will transition from being a CSIRO ship building and commissioning project to being Australia’s new Marine National Facility ship ready to embark on its maiden voyage in March 2015.
The Chair of the Marine National Facility (MNF) Steering Committee, Dr Ian Poiner, said the maiden voyage is a collaboration involving the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, the Integrated Marine Observing System, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, and will be led by Professor Tom Trull.
“Professor Trull’s research will continue to contribute to the global understanding of the Southern Ocean, which plays a dominant role in the movement of heat throughout the world’s oceans as it moderates the Earth’s weather, its variability, and rate of change,” Dr Poiner said.
“The voyage will redeploy the Integrated Marine Observing System’s Southern Ocean Time Series and Southern Ocean Flux Station moorings, reestablishing essential monitoring infrastructure providing time series measurements critical for our understanding of the Southern Ocean.”
“In a time of global interest in the Southern Ocean, this voyage will reinforce Australia’s research investment in the region, and will help us better understand this vast ocean’s influence on weather and rainfall in Australia and globally.”
“The 94 metre Investigator is capable of 10,000 nautical miles, or 60 days in a single voyage, and the maiden voyage is the first on which Australian researchers will have access to an enviable suite of scientific equipment that will dramatically improve Australia’s national marine knowledge, putting our country at the forefront of marine research internationally.”
“The MNF Steering Committee is very excited about managing the $120 million ship on behalf of the nation and enabling research crucial to managing our vast ocean estate,” Dr Poiner said.
“Research enabled by the MNF contributes to Australia’s national benefit, and informs government and industry to support decision making in fisheries management, geological resources, regional and global climate, coastal and offshore developments and marine operations.”
“Australia has the third largest marine jurisdiction globally, with sovereign rights over much of this vast estate and associated fishing, biotechnological, mineral, and petroleum resources.”
“These resources and their associated industries contribute to the vitality and sustained success of the Australian economy, in 2009 the national value of production across all marine-based industries was valued at AUD$ 42.3 billion, contributing to more than 10 per cent of GDP.
A full list of voyages for the next three years is available on the Marine National Facility website www.mnf.csiro.au
Investigator goes to sea, to see what it can (3-D) see
Posted: December 11, 2014 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, Media Releases | Tags: 3-D mapping, Investigator, sea bed mapping, sea floor mapping, Southern Surveyor, welcome to port Leave a comment
By Hannah Scott
Tomorrow will mark the official Welcome to Port for the new research vessel, Investigator – however science success is already happening on board!
Over the last few weeks hydrographers on board the Investigator have created the first 3-D images to come from the vessel of the ocean floor around Tasmania: and the results are spectacular.
The impressive ship is equipped with sonar that will map the sea floor in 3-D to any depth, and a sub-bottom profiling system that can look further up to 100 metres into the actual sea bed, to determine its composition.
The team responsible have been setting out 120 nautical miles north east and south east of Hobart to test and calibrate a range of equipment and the sea floor data is being collected as they go.
An area of sea floor mapped by the Investigator recently.
While there have previously been images of Tasmania’s surrounding sea floor collected in sections, the Investigator has allowed the data to be collected at a higher resolution than ever before. To put this into perspective, the sonar on the previous research vessel, Southern Surveyor, operated to 3000 metres and the Investigator can map in detail to any ocean depth.
Investigator has recently undertaken sea trials off the coast of Tasmania to test and calibrate around $20 million worth of scientific equipment in preparation for research voyages in 2015.
The Welcome to Port Celebrations for RV Investigator will be held on the CSIRO Wharf at Battery Point, Hobart, on Friday 12 December 2014, which will mark the official handover of the ship from CSIRO to the Marine National Facility for operation.
The public are invited to come down to the CSIRO Wharf from 3pm to 8pm, where there will be science education activities for all ages, science equipment on display and the chance to win a ship tour of RV Investigator. The event is free.
New underwater footage from Lord Howe Island Marine Park
Posted: March 7, 2013 Filed under: Marine National Facility, Media Releases, RV Southern Surveyor | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, Ball's Pyramid, Brendan Brooke, Deep water corals, Geoscience Australia, Lord Howe Commonwealth Marine Reserve, Lord Howe Island Marine Park, Southern Surveyor Leave a commentYesterday we were able to bring you news of Professor Colin Woodroffe’s research voyage to Ball’s Pyramid, onboard Australia’s Marine National Facility Research Vessel, Southern Surveyor.
The team, led by Professor Woodroffe from the University of Wollongong, which included researchers from Geoscience Australia, has been filming the ancient relics of coral reefs formed around 8000 years ago, around a remnant volcano in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park that sits within the new Lord Howe Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
Today we can show you some of the video footage from 30 metres below the ocean’s surface, near Ball’s Pyramid, which is part of the marine park.
[An underwater camera is towed by Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor. The camera captures images of sea whips and the seafloor]
[An underwater camera is towed by Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor. The camera captures images of the seafloor which is made up of ancient corals and an angel fish swims past]
[An underwater camera is towed by Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor. The camera captures images of the seafloor which drops away from the camera and small fish swim past]
Research allows scientists to time travel 8000 years
Posted: March 6, 2013 Filed under: Home, Marine National Facility, Media Releases, RV Southern Surveyor | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, b, Ball's Pyramid, Brendan Brooke, Deep water corals, Geoscience Australia, Lord Howe Island Marine Park, Professor Colin Woodroffe, Southern Surveyor, The University of Wollongong 2 Comments
THIS MEDIA RELEASE WAS ISSUED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG ON 6 MARCH 2013.
New underwater footage allows researchers to time travel 8000 years
Researchers from the University of Wollongong and Geoscience Australia have been filming the ancient relics of coral reefs formed around 8000 years ago, around a remnant volcano in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park, which sits within the new Lord Howe Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
Onboard Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor, the team led by Marine Geologist, Professor Colin Woodroffe, has been mapping and taking samples in shallow waters around Ball’s Pyramid, 600 kilometres east of Australia’s mainland.
“We have been able to map large sections of the seafloor in the shallower areas around the pyramid,” Professor Colin Woodroffe said, “and discovered that coral flourished there in the past.”
This research is a further collaboration between the University of Wollongong, Geoscience Australia, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the managers of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park. The researchers are working closely with the park managers to ensure that the results of the study can be incorporated into future management and monitoring plans.
Geoscience Australia Geologist, Dr Brendan Brooke said the ancient coral system indicates that around 8000 years ago the sea level was about 30 metres lower than it is today.
“The seafloor samples collected here will help us understand how coral reefs responded to changes in ocean temperature thousands of years ago, and can provide an insight into how today’s reefs may respond to current and future environmental changes” Dr Brooke said.
The underwater video of the fossilised reef provides further information about the seabed habitats of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park. Interpreting the habitats is a part of a doctoral thesis that will be undertaken by Michelle Linklater, from the University of Wollongong, in collaboration with the Marine Park Authority.
Here are some photos from the research voyage.
Southern Surveyor locates resting place of WW2 shipwreck
Posted: February 5, 2013 Filed under: Marine National Facility, Media Releases, RV Southern Surveyor | Tags: Ballina, Limerick, shipwreck, Southern Surveyor, WW2 Leave a comment
MV Limerick off Ballina
THIS MEDIA RELEASE WAS ISSUED BY ROBYN PARKER MP, MINISTER FOR HERITAGE
Wreck of the Limerick sunk by the Japanese in 1943 found off Ballina
One of NSW’s wartime mysteries has at last been solved with the discovery of the wreckage of the MV Limerick off Ballina on the NSW far north coast, Heritage Minister Robyn Parker announced today.
Ms Parker said that while a lot is known about the sinking of the MV Limerick in 1943, it has taken almost 70 years and the opportunistic use of Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor, to identify the ship’s final location.
“Limerick was one of the largest vessels sunk by Japanese submarines off Australia’s east coast during their offensive submarine patrols through 1942 and 1943,” Ms Parker said.
“Local fishermen using modern depth sonars identified a large shipwreck in about 100 metres of water some 18 kilometres off the coast late last year.
“Following their discovery, NSW Water Police assisted the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) in an initial survey of the deep site with a side scan sonar but due to bad weather they were unable to conclusively identify the shipwreck as being Limerick.”
OEH then approached Australia’s Marine National Facility (AMNF), which operates Australia’s ocean-going research vessel, the 66-metre Southern Surveyor.
Owned and operated by the CSIRO and funded by the Commonwealth, AMNF is a research facility which is available to all Australian scientists and their international collaborators.
“The team at AMNF were contacted by OEH and coincidentally a research voyage was already scheduled to operate in the suspected wreck area. OEH approached the lead scientist on board to see if they could assist in locating the wreck,” Ms Parker said.
The research voyage, led by University of Sydney geologist, Associate Professor Tom Hubble, left Brisbane on 18 January to conduct geological research along the continental slope and shelf between Yamba and Fraser Island.
In the lead up to identifying the Limerick, the Southern Surveyor’s research team found evidence of large submarine landslides that had the potential to generate a tsunami.
A landslide can be triggered by a moderately large and shallow earthquake measuring more than 6.5 or 7 on the Richter Magnitude Scale, an event which might happen once every 5,000-10,000 years.
“When the team at AMNF contacted me to see if we could locate the wreck from on board Southern Surveyor we were pleased to assist,” Dr Hubble said.
“Confirming the wreck as MV Limerick is in the national interest. We were already in the area, we had the necessary technology and technical expertise and in the end it didn’t take long to create a 3-D image of the wreck.
“It was amazing to see the seafloor images come to life through Southern Surveyor’s sea floor mapping technology which transformed the data into a 3-D graphic of the ship wreck”.
The Minister for the North Coast, Mr Don Page, said the New Zealand-owned Limerick was part of a coastal wartime convoy from Sydney to Brisbane when struck by a torpedo at night on ANZAC Day, sinking the next morning on 26 April 1943.
“Four other vessels in the convoy survived, including the two naval minesweeper escorts, HMAS Colac and Ballarat. Seventy survivors were pulled from the water over many hours,” Mr Page said.
“Two of Limerick’s crew were killed after jumping into the sea, including NSW resident and the ship’s third officer Mr John Edgar Willmott of Edgeroi and a New Zealand national.
“This is a reminder of the huge sacrifice paid by merchant seamen during the war on the home front keeping food, materials and supplies going.”
Ms Parker said OEH was consulting with the NSW Office of Veterans’ Affairs in order to notify next of kin.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local fishermen, Forfar Petrie and Neville Poynting, for reporting this site as soon as they realised it was of possible historic value,” Ms Parker said.
“We are also grateful to Dr Hubble for offering his valuable research time in order to positively identify the wreck as the MV Limerick.”
Queensland’s national ship-naming competition winner to tour Australia’s Marine National Facility
Posted: November 20, 2012 Filed under: Investigator, Marine National Facility, Media Releases, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentNearly three years ago a 10-year-old Queensland primary school student beat the rush of entries in a national competition, to find a name for Australia’s new Marine National Facility research vessel.
The Federal Minister for Science deemed Clare Cameron’s entry, The Flinders Investigator, the joint winner, as it linked the planned $120 million research vessel, to Australia’s maritime history – Matthew Flinders first circumnavigated the continent in His Majesty’s sloop, Investigator.
The new state-of-the-art 93.9 metre vessel has been named, Investigator and is under construction. The vessel will herald a new era in marine and atmospheric research for Australian scientists when it arrives in late 2013.
The new vessel provides a huge leap forward in capability, as the current research vessel, Southern Surveyor, can accommodate 15 scientists and travel up to 28 days at sea, while Investigator will accommodate 40 scientists and travel for up to 60 days.
While Southern Surveyor is in Brisbane for a short port period, prior to its next research voyage, we have invited Clare Cameron and her family, who live in Runaway Bay, to tour the ship and meet the team of Australian and international scientists, who will have returned from their research voyage in the Coral Sea.
The Chief Scientist onboard, Dr Maria Seton, from the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney, and her team have been working in a little explored region between the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, taking rock samples from the ridges and plateaus at depths of up to 3.5 km. They have also mapped about 8000 kilometres of seafloor under their voyage track and taken gravity and magnetic data.
“This data will help us to better understand the type of crust that underlies the region, and the age of these basins, and will give us a more complete geologic and tectonic history of the area during the last one hundred million years,” Dr Maria Seton said.
“We are trying to understand what’s going on in this part of the world, by mapping what we call hotspots, which are a series of extinct underwater volcanoes and this fundamental research helps us to determine how the Australian continent has moved.”
“We believe on this voyage we may have found remnants of the Australian continent, which would have splintered from mainland Australia, when eastern Gondwana starting breaking apart. It will be at least a year before our hypotheses can be confirmed.”
Dr Seton and her team will explain some of their findings to Clare and her family and show them rock samples taken from the deep seafloor, kilometres below the surface.
Looking for links between Indonesian Throughflow and Australia’s climate
Posted: September 25, 2012 Filed under: Marine National Facility, Media Releases, RV Southern Surveyor Leave a commentTHIS MEDIA RELEASE WAS ISSUED BY CSIRO’S WEALTH FROM OCEANS FLAGSHIP 25 SEPTEMBER 2012
CSIRO scientists will today head to the Ombai Strait and Timor Passage to collect data vital to understanding how an ocean current in the region affects Australia’s climate and weather.
Almost two years ago CSIRO oceanographers deployed moorings in one of Australia’s and globally important ocean currents, the Indonesian Throughflow, which connects the Pacific and Indian Oceans through the complex system of islands.
The moorings will be recovered, their data will be uploaded to the ship’s computers and then they will be returned to the water for a further 18 months.
Leading the research team on board Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel Southern Surveyor, is oceanographer Dr Bernadette Sloyan who is a specialist in ocean circulation with CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship.
“The heat and fresh water carried by the Indonesian Throughflow are known to affect both the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and so understanding the physical and chemical make-up is important for the future management of natural resource,” Dr Sloyan said.
“The current consists of several different layers that occur at different depths, which weave their way through the complex island network; where there are a variety of seabed landscapes affecting the currents, from broad shallow shelves to deep basins.”
“We know very little about how this ocean current changes across the seasons and this will be the first time we look at data from these moorings, which have been in place for two years.”
The moorings consist of sensors recording temperature, salinity, and ocean current, spanning the region from the continental margin to off-shore in water depths of over three kilometres.
These moorings are part of the Australian Government funded Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). Given the importance of the Indonesian Throughflow to Australia’s climate, IMOS intends to undertake long-term monitoring of the two main passages.
Dr Sloyan said IMOS has provided over $1 million in funding to support this work, which will complement existing IMOS observations being collected from the Northwest shelf, Great Barrier Reef, and the East Australian Current.
The research team will also conduct oceanographic sampling and mapping work to create a three-dimensional image of the sea floor in sections of the Timor Passage and the Ombai Strait in the area of the moorings.
The work is being undertaken with the cooperation of Timor-Leste, who will have two observers on the research voyage.
Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor,is owned and operated by CSIRO, and is available to all Australian scientists.
Dr Bernadette Sloyan next to moorings that were deployed along the East Australian Current earlier this year, as part of the IMOS network. The moorings in the Ombai Strait and Timor passage are also part of the IMOS funded network.
