IN2019_V04: Hotspot dynamics in the Coral Sea

7 August – 3 September 2019

A 28 day research voyage from Cairns to Brisbane. Educators on Board are Olivia Belshaw and Jamie Menzies.

“Educators on Board” Olivia and Jamie take in a sunset from deck 5.

Day 28: Voyage reflections

Jamie and Olivia reflect on their journey.

Different views of a sample of fossilised coral, obtained in Dredge 55.

Day 26: The final dredge!

Day 26 of our voyage saw the final dredge being deployed into the water – Dredge number 55!

Both Red-footed and Brown Boobies on the forward mast of RV Investigator. Can you count how many birds we have here? Image/Huw Morgan

Day 24: Spectacular seabirds

As we near the end of our four-week voyage, we have recorded over 14,000 seabirds across 27 different species.

Scientist Phil Vandenbossche processing some multibeam SONAR data.

Researcher Profile: Phil Vandenbossche

Meet Phil Vandenbossche, Marine Geophysicist/Hydrographic Surveyor.

Despite an extensive delay caused by a broken winch cable, Jo still maintains her sense of humour.

Researcher Profile: Dr Jo Whittaker

Meet Dr Jo Whittaker, Chief Scientist on Voyage IN2019_V04.

A map of the ocean floor, showing swathed areas in colour. The white areas are sections of the surrounding sea floor that are still unmapped. The small green icon at the bottom left of the map denotes the current position of the RV Investigator.

Day 21: Underwater discoveries

During a Swath yesterday, the Geophysical Surveying and Mapping team of scientists, mapped a deep ocean trench located in the North Eastern Coral Sea – the South Rennell Trough.

overvew of engine room

Day 20: The Engine Room

Today we were lucky enough to be given a tour of the Engine and Winch rooms on RV Investigator, led by Chief Engineer Sam Bensen.

A close up section of image 2, showing the thousands of sound points in more detail

Day 17: Pictures of the underworld

I was lucky enough to be allowed to use the multibeam processing software “HIPS and SIPS” to develop a 3D image of a previously unmapped area of the sea floor.

Image 4: A rather fresh, albeit smelly, coconut. Image credit: Edward Clennett, University of Sydney

Day 17: What happens to a coconut in a subduction zone

Over the past day or so the RV Investigator has been stopping at different parts of the Pocklington Trough to collect rock samples.