MNF Subscriber eNewsletter | Aug 2024
Welcome to the latest edition of the Marine National Facility (MNF) Newsletter.
In this edition, I’m pleased to present the Communique from the 98th Meeting of the MNF Steering Committee (the Committee). I’d also like to offer a very warm welcome to our new Chair of the Committee, Ms Anne-Marie Lansdown. We’re extremely lucky and excited to have Anne-Marie join the Committee; she brings an incredible depth of experience to the role from the government and university sector. This experience includes several previous connections with the MNF and its work, including Anne-Marie being involved in the early funding and development processes for CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator.
We look forward to working with Anne-Marie and having the great benefit of her expertise as we take the vessel forward into the next phase of its operational life.
In the Communique you’ll find a summary of several important topics discussed by the Committee. This includes discussion of 2024 Application Call, Mid-Life Refit Project and standing up of the new MNF Technology and Innovation Advisory Group (TIAG). As we return from dry dock in Singapore, the TIAG will be an incredibly important group for informing the next phases of the Mid-Life Refit Project. These will proceed over several years and seek to further enhance the vessel’s scientific capabilities to ensure that we continue to provide researchers with the infrastructure necessary to enable excellent marine and atmospheric research for national benefit.
On a similar topic, you will also find several articles in this newsletter about emerging and innovative technologies that are being tested and delivered aboard RV Investigator, including use of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis techniques for ecosystem monitoring and AI for surveying marine life.
This newsletter features another aspect of the impact we deliver through our collaborative work with Australia’s maritime heritage community to help uncover and protect our maritime heritage. This was recently illustrated in the assistance we provided to identify the wreck of MV Noongah, a vessel that sank off the coast of NSW in 1969 with the tragic loss of 21 of 26 crew on board. This is one of several recent maritime heritage discoveries that RV Investigator has contributed to and demonstrates the range of important work the vessel delivers across the spectrum of environmental, social and economic benefit.
With that, I encourage you to read on for more important MNF news and updates on our partners’ research achievements. As always, thank you to all our collaborators, partners and participants for your support, and I wish all those at sea successful voyages.
Toni Moate
MNF Director
The 98th Meeting of the Marine National Facility Steering Committee was held in Hobart on 19 July 2024. Topics discussed included the 2024 Application Call, Sea Country and marine science, progress of the Mid-Life Refit project and establishment of the MNF Technology and Innovation Advisory Group.
The Communique also includes updates for the MNF Steering Committee membership including welcoming a new Chair, Ms Anne-Marie Lansdown.
Read the communique from the MNF Steering Committee
As part of the Mid-Life Refit Project, an update of RV Investigator’s suite of acoustic systems has been completed to further enhance the vessel’s capability to collect high quality and quantity acoustic data. This includes upgrading the vessel’s deep and mid-water multibeam echosounders (MBES), and sub-bottom profiler to the most advanced technology currently available.
Future ship users will also receive a significant capability boost from an upgrade to the ship’s shallow water MBES system, which will now be permanently housed within the gondola and available on every voyage.
Explore our past mapping achievements and new acoustic system upgrade
During June 2024, RV Investigator assisted the maritime heritage community with an investigation of an unidentified shipwreck off the NSW coast during a voyage to study underwater canyons along the east coast. The data and imagery collected during the investigation was provided to project partners Heritage NSW and The Sydney Project and enabled the identification of the wreck as the 73-metre coastal freighter, MV Noongah.
MV Noongah sank in a storm in 1969 while travelling with a cargo of steel from Newcastle to Townsville. The incident led to one of the greatest searches for survivors in Australia’s post-war maritime history. Only five survivors were rescued and, tragically, 21 of the 26 crew were lost at sea. The resting place of the vessel had never been confirmed.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is an emerging technology with a diverse range of potential applications in marine ecosystem monitoring.
A collaborative project in partnership with the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub has eDNA detectives joining several voyages aboard RV Investigator to put these new techniques to the test.
AMSA Conference – Hobart, 15-20 September 2024
The MNF is excited to welcome the 2024 Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) Conference to RV Investigator’s home port of Hobart! CSIRO will be delivering several presentations about our research and infrastructure and will be manning a booth at the conference.
https://www.amsa2024.amsa.asn.au/
Australian Sea Country Conference – Darwin, 24-26 September
Members of the MNF team will be attending the inaugural Australian Sea Country Conference in Darwin to explore how we can further partner with and empower Traditional Owners of Sea Country and integrate Indigenous knowledges systems into our work.
https://agentur.eventsair.com/australian-sea-country-conference-2024/
If you’re attending these events, please come and chat to the members of the MNF team about how we can support your marine research.
Welcome to our newsletter feature where we highlight recent publications from research delivered using MNF infrastructure and data.
Carbon export in the Subantarctic Zone revealed by multi‐year observations from Biogeochemical‐Argo floats and sediment traps
Xiang Yang, Cathryn A. Wynn‐Edwards, Peter G. Strutton and Elizabeth H. Shadwick | July 2024
The biological gravitational pump (BGP) and particle injection pumps (PIPs) are significant export pathways for particulate organic carbon from the surface ocean to the interior. Using observations from Biogeochemical‐Argo, we characterized the seasonality and magnitude of the BGP and two PIPs: the mixed layer pump (MLP) and eddy subduction pump (ESP), in the Australian sector of the Subantarctic Zone (SAZ sector).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GB008135
A quantitative assessment of continuous versus structured methods for the detection of marine mammals and seabirds via opportunistic shipboard surveys
Benjamin Viola, Peter Puskic, Stuart Corney, Neville Barrett, Bronwyn Davies, Ella Clausius, Martin Jutzeler and Mary-Anne Lea | August 2024
Marine monitoring efforts are increasingly supported by opportunistic shipboard surveys. We tested different survey approaches on a vessel of opportunity in a remote offshore area where little is known about the community composition of top-order marine vertebrate predators: western and south-western Tasmania, Australia.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68512-6
Are we missing your publications?
Visibility for your research outputs greatly assists the MNF in demonstrating the value that a dedicated blue-water research capability provides to the nation.
We encourage you to check your voyage publication list in our catalogue and submit any missing research publications from MNF voyages or using MNF data to MNF Reporting for Voyage Publications.
Acknowledging the MNF
Find out how to acknowledge the MNF for the research services we provide
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The Marine National Facility is national research infrastructure funded by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and operated by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, on behalf of the nation.