Checking out eddies on the East Australian Current in RV Investigator

Posted: June 11, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Home | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The scientists, crew and support staff on board RV Investigator are enjoying some beautiful weather off the coast of northern and central New South Wales this past week.

The vessel is out in the middle of one of Australia’s busiest shipping lanes, conducting research into eddies that spiral off the East Australian Current, with Professor Iain Suthers from the University of New South Wales as the Chief Scientist.

Before the ship departed Brisbane, Professor Suthers sent through the image below  of the eddies he was hoping to study. Right now there is a 100 km wide eddy off the coast of Byron Bay and a very productive one only 30 km diameter off the coast of Forster, very similar to the image below. It appears to be an offshore nursery area.

The whales, dolphins and tuna think so too – the officers on the bridge have recorded impressive numbers in the Forster eddy feeding on what appears to be sardine.

Overall, I think we need to focus on the excitement around the new ship, which was built to perform world-leading multi-disciplinary research in the national interest. Regarding the spare 120 days, we are not ruling anything in or out, rather our focus is to maximise the utilisation of the ship for the purpose for which it was provided. The national interest test includes whether the research will provide data in priority areas, if the data will be publicly available and if other researchers are able to collaborate (onboard or by sharing samples for example) to add value.

Oceanographers from UNSW led by Prof Moninya Roughan have release satellite drifters into the eddies, revealing the characteristic clockwise spiral of these oases in the ocean.

Here’s a photo from on board with the team about to deploy the lagrangian drifter, which is a piece of equipment that can either float on the surface or at a specific ocean depth, to collect data about an ocean current.

V03 2015 Iain Suthers

Meanwhile scientists from UTS led by Prof Martina Doblin are discovering the basis for this productivity, in the form of single celled algae and photosynthetic bacteria and even viruses.

Around the clock they’ve been deploying equipment and collecting crucial data that will help us better understand how cold eddies play a pivotal role in our fisheries. In the plankton nets we have found over 80 different families of larval fish, including popular species such as larval yellowtail kingfish, dolphinfish, flatfish, and eels. V03 2015 Iain Suthers larval fish

RV Investigator – Supplementary call for applications 2014-2015

Posted: April 8, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Home | Tags: 2014-2015, , Call lfor applications, Climatology, , Marine ecosystems, marine environment research, Marine environmental research, marine geosciences, , | Leave a comment

The Marine National Facility (MNF) supports Australian researchers and their international collaborators in carrying out research in Australia’s regional seas and oceans. Under direction of an independent Steering Committee, the MNF is owned and operated by CSIRO on behalf of the Australian Government.

Supplementary applications for sea time to utilise unused capacity on research voyages and transit voyages on Investigator during 2014-2015 are now being requested.

RV Investigator

RV Investigator

The MNF’s new, state of the art research facility is currently under construction. Following a commissioning year in 2013-2014, Investigator will be available for research in 2014-2015. Investigator is a highly advanced research vessel with a broad range of scientific equipment to support marine scientists in the following disciplines:

  • oceanography and climatology
  • fisheries and marine ecosystems
  • marine environmental research
  • marine geosciences

Seafloor rock samples (image Gregg Webb) Niskin bottles (image Andrew Bowie) Fish on the seafloor

Supplementary application process

Supplementary applications are designed to utilise unused capacity on research and transit voyage and need to work within the constraints stated for those voyages or transits.

Supplementary call for applications for the financial Year 2014 2015 Australian marine researchers are invited to submit a supplementary application for use of Investigator during the period July 2014 to June 2015.

Area of Operations 2014 2015

The existing research and transit voyages will determine the geographic areas available for supplementary applications.

Closing Data for Applications

A supplementary application for sea time must be submitted by 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time, Thursday, 9 May 2013.

Further details on applying for use of Investigator and application forms are available through the MNF website: http://www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/application/secondcall.htm

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