Article
Supporting shorebird recovery across the East Asian–Australasian Flyway
Sep 5, 2025
An early Marine and Coastal Hub project 1.21 analysed population trends for 15 key species. This research directly contributed to the listing of eight species as nationally threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. However, it was not all bad news; the numbers for several species appeared to be stabilising, suggesting some…
Making unseen reefs visible: new maps support better decisions for northern Australia’s marine life
Sep 5, 2025
In the remote, sediment-rich waters of northern Australia, these reefs had remained largely hidden. Absent from official maps, they have mostly been invisible to decision-makers. As such, despite providing habitat for a wide range of marine life, they are overlooked in conservation and development planning. The hub project team, led by the Australian Institute of…
Lights, cameras, pilchards and whales: surveying life in Hunter Marine Park
Sep 4, 2025
At depths below 50 metres, their cameras are capturing the wonderful world of fiddler rays, catsharks, Port Jackson sharks, hermit crabs, leatherjackets, lobsters, nannygai, bellowfish, serpent eels, sea whips, wobbegongs and snappers. The three-week survey began on 12 August, and is working around the weather. It is led by Dr Jacquomo Monk of the Institute…
Satellite tracking provides a rare view of southern right whale movements beyond Encounter Bay, SA
Sep 2, 2025
The whales were satellite-tagged in June 2024 as part of a hub project that is tracking southern right whale movement behaviours and locations, and the extent to which these areas overlap with vessel traffic. “Several southern right whale coastal calving areas have been identified in southern Australia, but little is known about movements outside these…
Indigenous researchers stand tall at AMSA 2025
Sep 2, 2025
Indigenous speakers and delegates participated in panel and plenary sessions, and led numerous presentations and posters at the Naarm (Melbourne) event in July. “AMSA conferences have created a more inclusive and supportive environment for all to come together to have important conversations about land, sea and sky Country,” AMSA president, Dr Alicia Sutton, says. “From…
Seeing ocean life through eDNA: new insights from south-eastern Australia
Sep 2, 2025
The voyages, conducted in July 2023 and May 2024, were part of the South-East Australian Marine Ecosystem Survey (SEA-MES) on the CSIRO Research Vessel (RV) Investigator. More than 500 eDNA samples were collected and analysed from 91 survey sites along the continental shelf between Tasmania and southern New South Wales. This is the first comprehensive…
New collection of Marine and Coastal Hub research overviews for 2025
Aug 15, 2025
The overviews are:
Black rockcod find refuge in ‘no-take’ zones amid overall population decline
Jun 17, 2025
It’s a go-to zone for scuba divers who descend to 12–18 metre depths and watch grey nurse sharks parade through rocky gutters. For some there’s an even rarer sight . . . the appearance of a large black rockcod. This legendary fellow is estimated to be 50–70 years old. Divers first noticed him in 1988,…
Workshop bridges knowledge and expertise to support offshore wind farm environmental assessment
Jun 17, 2025
The two-day workshop was part of a hub project that is developing regional modelling and risk assessment to support decision-making in the Gippsland Declared Area off the coast of Victoria. Presenters outlined ecosystem modelling approaches, the status of environmental knowledge and existing activities such as fishing and offshore petroleum for the Bass Strait region. The…
Tropical shellfish reefs mapped across northern Australia
Jun 10, 2025
Until recently, little was known about the distribution of tropical shellfish reefs, and very little is known about these reefs globally. Researchers from Griffith University have now developed a method to locate them using satellite imagery, ground-truthing their findings during field visits. In the field they confirmed the accuracy of the remote sensing method and…