Rob’s Blog
Recent ocean mapping events within Australia’s marine region.
New species of black corals in the GBR
Congratulations to Jeremy Horowitz on discovering new species of black corals, including naming one coral Antipathes falkorae in recognition of the Schmidt Ocean Institute's RV Falkor. Read "Scientists discover five new species of black corals living thousands of feet...
SOI awarded Hydrographic Excellence Award for 2021
Congratulations to the Schmidt Ocean Institute for being awarded the SSSI Hydrography Commission's 2021 Hydrographic Excellence Team Award, in recognition for the 2020-21 RV Falkor Australia campaign. The Hydrographic Excellence award recognises those individuals or...
Mapping Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park
The team onboard RV Investigator reveal the first detailed map of the seafloor in the idyllic Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park. Read the full story “Revealing the world beneath the waves of a tropical marine park”, published by CSIRO on 28 October 2022.RV...
Regional Wrap interview ‘Exploring the deep GBR’
Dr Robin Beaman had an interview with Bill Bates from Australia's 'Regional Wrap' on "Exploring the deep Great Barrier Reef". Is about 1 hour long, so maybe a bit long for some folks. However, discussion tried to do justice to the remarkable series of Schmidt Ocean...
RV Investigator maps northern Great Barrier Reef
A transit voyage by CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator to reposition the vessel from Cairns to Darwin (IN2022_T01), was an opportunity to continue multibeam mapping along the far northern Great Barrier Reef continental margin. Dr Robin Beaman from James Cook...
New reef to be named
A 500 metre-tall reef discovered two years ago by ocean scientists is set to be formally named, sharing its name with a ship and a dragon from a classic fantasy movie. James Cook University’s Dr Robin Beaman, who helped lead the Northern Depths of the Great Barrier...
Project HALO 2022 sails on RV Investigator
Project HALO 2022 has started with Australia's Marine National Facility RV Investigator sailing to the northern Great Barrier Reef with an international science team, to study Halimeda (calcareous green algae) sediment mounds - the largest such bioherms in the world....
Bass Strait bathymetry compilation
The 'Bass Strait Bathymetry 2022 30m' grid has been released on the AusSeabed Marine Data Portal as a bathymetry compilation of available source data. Many thanks to Geoscience Australia, the Australian Hydrographic Office, CSIRO's Marine National Facility and Deakin...
High-tech seafloor mapping is finding surprising structures everywhere
The August 2022 issue of Scientific American magazine features the newly discovered 500 m tall coral reef from the Great Barrier Reef in 'High-tech seafloor mapping is finding surprising structures everywhere' Thanks to Mark Fischetti (Scientific American), Maciej...