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Published: 23 January 2012
Take a dive for conservation on the Great Barrier Reef
One of the Great Barrier Reef’s most spectacular and diverse marine habitats, the fringing reef surrounding Orpheus Island, is at risk from rising sea temperatures.
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Coral on the Great Barrier Reef near Orpheus Island. EarthWatch Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Science are calling for volunteer divers to assist with survey and monitoring of coral reef disease in this area. Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science
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A new research project ‘Recovery of the Reef’ developed by EarthWatch Australia, together with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, is calling on volunteer divers to work with scientists to assess the growing prevalence of coral disease on this site.
Earthwatch is a not-for-profit conservation organisation that supports the science behind environmental conservation, mounting surveys and matching volunteers to field research and implementation projects.
Orpheus Island, 1189 km northwest of Brisbane, is 11 km long and approximately 1 km wide and is mostly national park. It is part of the Palm group of islands and is within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Coral diseases are one of the most significant threats to tropical coral reef ecosystems and an increasing prevalence of disease has been detected along the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef.
Divers joining this expedition will conduct underwater surveys, tagging and photographing diseased areas that will then be monitored over time to assess the condition of the coral. They will help to assess how the reef is recovering from recent cyclones, how this relates to disease, seasonal dynamics that may exist, and the role of light, temperature and water quality in the progression of the disease.
Richard Gilmore, Executive Director of Earthwatch Australia, explains that in addition to spectacular scenery, Orpheus Island is ‘filled with an unusually wide variety of reef habitats, clam gardens as well as submerged indigenous sites and recent shipwrecks’.
For more information, visit the Earthwatch Australia website.
Source: Earthwatch and Australian Institute of Marine Science
