Investigator mapping the Huon Commonwealth Marine Reserve in detail
Posted: September 14, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Huon Commonwealth Marine Reserve, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator, sea floor mapping, Sonar 1 CommentIn April 2015 the Marine National Facility research vessel Investigator headed south of Tasmania to test and commission the benthic sampling equipment that will be used by scientists on board the ship.
The Huon Commonwealth Marine Reserve is 1 million hectares, located south of Tasmania and spans the continental shelf, continental slope and deeper water off the shelf.
The submerged mountains have a diverse range of fish, coral, squid, crabs and other animals that call it home.
The MNF’s old vessel, Southern Surveyor, mapped this area about a decade ago, but its sonar system only operated to 3,000 metres.
By going back with Investigator the quality and detail achieved has been really impressive, as its sonar systems can map the sea floor to any ocean depth.
Every time the sonar system is turned on, RV Investigator is able to add another piece to the puzzle that is Australia’s vast marine estate.
Guess what turned one!
Posted: September 9, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Marine National Facility, RV Investigator, Science Engineering and Technology Leave a commentIt’s been a big year for Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator!
As part of a training and development day for CSIRO’s Marine National Facility and Science Engineering and Technology, we thought it was fitting we celebrate.
Happy Birthday Investigator!
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to work as a marine scientist in the Southern Ocean?
Posted: September 8, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Antarctic ice-edge, Cold water trial voyage, Marine National Facility, Marine scientist, RV Investigator, Southern Ocean Leave a commentWorking at sea as a marine scientist seems like it’d be fun, right?
Well sometimes the conditions can get a bit hairy, particularly in the Southern Ocean.
This great little video from the cold water trial voyage on board RV Investigator will give you a bit of an idea of what it’s like to head south to the Antarctic ice-edge.
Eely good video from on board RV Investigator!
Posted: September 2, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Australian Museum, Eel, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator Leave a comment
Do you want to know more about the eely good deep sea video posted this week?
Then you’ll need to check out this Australian Museum blog!
http://australianmuseum.net.au/blogpost/science/an-orgy-of-eels
Take a look at 1000 metres below the surface!
Posted: August 31, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Australian Museum, Benthic biology trial voyage, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator Leave a commentOne of the very cool things about RV Investigator is its ability to collect samples in deep water, but this isn’t always about catching fish, and collecting mud and rock samples.
We have a deep water camera system that can capture images 5,500 metres in a vertical drop (stationary ship), or 4,000 metres when it’s being towed at around 1-2 knots.
This video has been pulled together by the Australian Museum and shows what it looks like at 1,000 metres below the ocean’s surface, and it was captured on board RV Investigator during the benthic biology trial voyage.
A look at the world of research vessels!
Posted: August 26, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, International Research Ship Operators, IRSO, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator, ship construction Leave a commentAround the world there are lots of research vessels and the International Research Ship Operators, or IRSO, provides a forum for collaboration and cooperation.
The Marine National Facility is one of the organisations that belongs to IRSO.
Last year we collaborated to produce this video, about some of the different kinds of research vessels there are around the world and the sort of science that’s being undertaken.
You’ll need to go and grab a cuppa, the video runs for an hour and a half!
If you’d like to fast forward to a particular operator:
| IRSO member | Start of sequence |
| Alfred Wegener Institute | 35s |
| Australian Antarctic Division | 4 mins 49 s |
| British Antarctic Survey | 8 mins 23 s |
| NATO Science and Technology Organisation – Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation | 12 mins, 44s |
| Marine National Facility (MNF) Australia | 16 mins 52 s |
| French Polar Institute | 23 mins 4 s |
| GEOMAR Helmholt Centre for Ocean Research Kiel | 26 mins 45s |
| French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) | 31 mins 38 s |
| Institute of Oceanology China, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 36 mins 15s |
| Institute of Marine Research Norway | 43 mins 20s |
| Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) | 46 mins 30s |
| Marine Technology Unit (CSIC) | 51 mins 10s |
| National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) | 54 mins 44 s |
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | 59 mins |
| National Oceanography Centre (NOC) | 1 hr 01 min 23 s |
| Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) | 1 hr 05 mins, 49 s |
| Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego | 1 hr 10 mins 50 s |
| Spanish Institute of oceanography | 1 hr 15 mins 24 s |
| University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLC) | 1 hr 26 mins 59 s |
| US Coastguard | 1 hr 32 mins 55 s |
Don’t miss the boat! Full applications for sea time on RV Investigator in 2017-18 due Friday 4 September!
Posted: August 24, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: 2017-18, Call for Applications, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator Leave a comment
If you lodged a pre-proposal a few weeks ago, this is a friendly reminder that you’ll need submit your full application for sea time on RV Investigator in 2017-18, by Friday 4 September 2015.
If you didn’t put in a pre-proposal a few weeks ago, unfortunately you’ve missed the boat this time around.
Further details on applying for use of Investigator are available on the MNF website: http://www.mnf.csiro.au/Applying-for-sea-time.aspx
We’d love to see you on board!
