Checking out eddies on the East Australian Current in RV Investigator
Posted: June 11, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: East Australian Current, Eddies, Eddy, Fisheries, Marine National Facility, Professor Iain Suthers, RV Investigator, Triaxus, University of New Sout, V03 Leave a commentThe 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.
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.
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. 
Heading out for the first trial voyage on board Investigator
Posted: November 12, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Biological research, Bongo, continuous plankton recorder (CPR), CTD, EZ net, Marine National Facility, Mid-water trawl, RV Investigator, Trial Voyage 1, Triaxus Leave a commentOver the next few weeks Investigator will be heading out to sea for a few days at a time, to allow the crew and scientific support staff to test equipment and develop safe working procedures on board.
The biological oceanographic equipment the team will be working with on this voyage includes:
- the continuous plankton recorder (CPR)
- TRIAXUS
- CTD (remember this stands for Conductivity, Temperature and Depth)
- EZ net, which has ten separate nets that can be opened at a different depth to collect plankton
- Bongo net
- Rectangular mid-water trawl net
Collecting samples with nets allows scientists to monitor the health of the ocean and what lives in it, from plankton and invertebrates, to larger fish.
Investigator departed earlier this week and will return to Hobart on 17 November.
Animating Investigator’s science capabilities: towing scientific equipment
Posted: August 28, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, Camera, Future Research Vessel Project, Oceanographic research, Oceanography, RV Investigator, Towing scientific equipment, Triaxus Leave a commentMarine scientists observe our oceans using a range of equipment.
Generally these are attached to an electro-optical cable and towed behind the ship at a slow speed to collect data.
This animation explains how this equipment is used on board Investigator, Australia’s new Marine National Facility research vessel.
Check it out!
Transcript:
Listen to Dr Lindsay Pender talking to 936 ABC Hobart’s Drive Presenter, Louise Saunders!
Posted: August 25, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, Future Research Vessel Project, Oceanography, RV Investigator, Triaxus Leave a commentThe Future Research Vessel Project Team member, Dr Lindsay Pender, was interviewed by 936 ABC Hobart’s Drive Presenter, Louise Saunders about the TRIAXUS.
World class oceanographic research equipment arrives in Hobart!
Posted: August 25, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, Future Research Vessel Project, Oceanographic research, Oceanography, RV Investigator, Triaxus Leave a commentTHE FOLLOWING MEDIA RELEASE WAS DISTRIBUTED BY CSIRO ON 25 AUGUST 2014.
A world class oceanographic research instrument has arrived at CSIRO in Hobart to be part of the suite of on board equipment on Australia’s new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator.
The TRIAXUS is made from carbon fibre, hydrodynamically designed to be towed up to 3km behind the ship and to collect data quickly, while flying from the surface down to 350m in an undisturbed marine environment.
The Executive Director of the Future Research Vessel Project, Toni Moate, said the equipment is vital to the work of oceanographers.
Biological oceanographers will use it to collect data on phytoplankton, salinity, temperature and light levels, to determine the health of the ocean.
Physical oceanographers will use the TRIAXUS to collect data about ocean currents descending undersea canyons, or when cooler waters are forced to the surface by ocean dynamics.
Data from the TRIAXUS will also be used by meteorologists to improve weather and climate forecasting.
“The scientists on board Investigator will be able to control the flight path of the TRIAXUS, to develop a 2D picture of the ocean across hundreds of kilometres,” Ms Moate said.
Dr Lindsay Pender from the Future Research Vessel Project Technical Team said it is critical to understand how the ocean interplays with the production of phytoplankton.
“The TRIAXUS will be used to estimate the amount of phytoplankton (small floating plants), which are the start of the food chain in the oceans,” Dr Pender said.
“The equipment collects the data by shining a blue light onto the phytoplankton, which then emits a fluorescent signal.”
“The returning fluorescent signal is measured by a fluorometer mounted on the TRIAXUS, and these data are used to determine where fish and other animals in the ocean start their lives, and the location of their food sources.”
The TRIAXUS was purchased for $400,000 from MacArtney Australia.
Factory Acceptance Testing of the TRIAXUS!
Posted: December 4, 2013 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, Group 2 scientific equipment, RV Investigator, ship construction, Triaxus 2 CommentsThe fabulous, new TRIAXUS, to be used onboard RV Investigator, has been given the once over by Dr Lindsay Pender, all the way over in Denmark!
The factory acceptance testing is part of the process for the purchase of Group 2 Equipment for the Future Research Vessel Project.
Check out the photos!
Seriously cool scientific equipment for RV Investigator!
Posted: October 29, 2013 Filed under: Home | Tags: Australia's Marine National Facility, Future Research Vessel Project, Phytoplankton, Plankton, RV Investigator, Triaxus 2 CommentsWe’re purchasing some pretty incredible scientific equipment to be fitted to RV Investigator and there will also be some other items, which can be loaded onto the ship, depending on the voyage and the science to be undertaken.
One of the amazing (and seriously cool) pieces of equipment is the TRIAXUS – it even has an awesome name! 
This is state-of-the-art technology made from carbon fibre, is hydrodynamically designed to be towed up to 3km behind the ship and to collect data quickly, while flying from the surface down to 350m in an undisturbed marine environment.
The scientists onboard RV Investigator are able to control the flight path to develop a 2D picture of the ocean.
The TRIAXUS can be fitted with different types of instruments such as temperature, salinity and oxygen sensors, instruments to count and identify plankton, and equipment to estimate the amount of phytoplankton.
All of this information is sent to the scientists onboard via a fibre optic cable in real-time.
So what will the data the scientist receive look like?
It arrives onboard as bleeps and blops, and is converted to incredible, colourful snapshots of the ocean like those below. So let’s explain the first image – this shows us the temperature of the ocean down to 160m, with dark blue indicating the temperate is 18.5 degrees Celsius.
The second image tells us how salty the water is, with high concentrations indicated by red. This data helps us track where currents go, at different depths.
The third image shows us fluorescence – now this is really cool!
Phytoplankton, are the small building blocks of life in the oceans, when you shine a light on them, they are able to emit a different coloured light as a reaction. We need this data to work out where fish and other animals in the ocean start their lives and where their food sources can be found. When you look at this image the red, orange and yellow colours show a higher concentration of phytoplankton.
The last image shows us the amount of oxygen in the water with red indicating the greater amounts of oxygen.
