Article
Citizen science and AI help monitor the Great Barrier Reef at scale
Sep 9, 2026
Detailed surveys led by experts provide critical information about reef condition, but they can cover only a few hundred reefs each year. This leaves large gaps in the data needed to guide conservation and restoration across the reef. The Great Reef Census is helping to fill these gaps by combining citizen science with artificial intelligence…
Catalogue updates and surveys sharpen the national view of southern right whale movements, habitats and populations
Sep 4, 2026
Right whales have white keratinised skin patches on their heads, as unique as a fingerprint. Photos showing these patterns (photo-identification) help researchers track individuals across different years and locations, as well as estimate population numbers and movements. A Marine and Coastal Hub project collated 28,000 southern right whale records from eight regions in Australia spanning…
AI is helping to reconstruct Australian sea lion foraging trips
Sep 3, 2026
But the footage can only cover a small fraction of sea lions’ foraging expeditions, due to camera battery, storage and size limitations. University of Tasmania honours student Ruby Fox developed four machine-learning models to predict where and how sea lions forage when the cameras run out of steam. Ms Fox used data from a 2022/23…
Modelling the flow-on effects of offshore wind farms
Sep 3, 2026
Oceanographers are modelling how this wind loss may affect nutrient cycling in Bass Strait under a scenario of wind farm development off Gippsland, Victoria. Dr Clothilde Langlais and Dr Mathieu Mongin of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, developed the three-dimensional hydrodynamic, biogeochemical and sediment model Bass2 (Bass Strait regional model). The Bass2 model encompasses the…
Port Jackson shark slumber party invites conservation actions
Aug 31, 2026
The seasonal shark aggregation was observed in 2018 and 2024 during surveys funded by the Marine and Coastal Hub and its forerunner, the Marine Biodiversity Hub. The aggregation was considered in the re-zoning of the area as a highly protected National Park Zone in the new South-east Marine Parks Network management plan. It also prompted the identification of an Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) by the…
Cultural signage connects surfers and Songlines at Margaret River
Aug 31, 2026
The Surfers Point signage includes a map of the Wadandi cultural seascape developed by Wadandi Traditional Custodians working with researchers from the Marine Biodiversity Hub (a forerunner of the Marine and Coastal Hub). Wadandi Traditional Custodians Dr Wayne ‘Wonitji’ Webb and Zac ‘Waalitj’ Webb of Waalitj Wongi led the initiative to install the signage. They…
Southern right whale tracking reveals new calving grounds off South Australia
Aug 28, 2026
The four whales were tagged in June 2024 at Encounter Bay on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula in hub research led by Flinders University. This re-emerging calving ground marks the approximate boundary of Australia’s eastern and western southern right whale populations. Understanding whether the whales head east or west from here is important to correctly defining…
We finally have some encouraging news on Great Barrier Reef water quality
Aug 28, 2026
This article by hub researchers Zoe Bainbridge of TropWATER, James Cook University and Rebecca Bartley of CSIRO is republished from The Conversation. We have long known that poor water quality is a serious threat to areas of the Great Barrier Reef close to shore. The reef faces other major challenges, such as marine heatwaves driven by climate change…
Watturu Kaartidjin Biddiwah – Pathways of ocean knowledge
Jun 4, 2026
For the past five years, the Marine and Coastal Hub has been walking alongside the Wadandi people of south-western Australia. The Wadandi are Traditional Owners of the Country stretching from Capel below Bunbury, inland to Nannup, and south to Taalinup (Augusta). As Saltwater People, they draw their name from Wadan, the ocean spirit. Our collaboration…
‘Western’ southern right whale recovery remains stalled, 2025 survey shows
Jun 3, 2026
The annual aerial survey coincides with the seasonal migration of right whales to these areas where females nurse their young. It began in 1976 and has been supported by the National Environmental Science Program since 2015. In 2025, the survey team counted 646 whales, including 304 female-calf pairs and 38 unaccompanied animals. The number of…