Headlines

Sharks are being illegally removed from Australian waters by the tens-of-thousands, as demand for shark fin increases in Asian markets. As key predators, sharks influence the health of entire marine ecosystems and their removal threatens marine biodiversity on a major scale. AIMS scientists are teaming up with CSIRO and The Australian Customs Service and using the latest technologies to assess the impact of overfishing in the north.  [ read more ]

Scientists from AIMS are using new state-of-the-art aerial imaging to produce the world’s most detailed digital map of a coral reef. More than 3400 km² of the pristine Ningaloo Marine Park was surveyed in a collaborative initiative funded by BHP Billiton. The aerial images will be digitally processed and converted into maps that indicate the location of different habitat types in the marine park. These maps will be useful in guiding future research projects and management initiatives in the region.

This project builds on the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) programme to improve understanding of the marine resources of Ningaloo. AIMS lead scientist in WA, Dr Andrew Heyward, said the programme’s first success, the hyperspectral survey, will provide enormous benefits for future scientific studies. "Surveys of this calibre are quite expensive and beyond the fiscal capacity of current research programmes. The BHP Billiton-AIMS effort has lead to the largest aerial survey of its kind, providing collaborating scientists in Western Australia with an opportunity to take a world lead in using this type of data for coral reef understanding and management." [ read more ]

After more than a decade of surveys on the Great Barrier Reef an AIMS Long-term Monitoring study indicates that the number and size of fishes in ‘no-take’ green zones has nearly doubled in less than two years. This result is exciting news for managers and fishermen alike as the increasing numbers of adult fishes in protected areas are expected to yield offspring which will replenish populations of commercially important fish species on the reef.
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Rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mostly CO₂), responsible for global warming, are also changing the acidity of oceanic waters. Researchers from AIMS and the Australian National University have obtained new historical insights into changes in ocean acidity using geochemical information stored in coral skeletons. If current CO₂ emission rates are sustained, corals could be in hot water within the next few decades.
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