Ocean lab on a mission
DANIEL BATEMAN and marine biodiversity. They will also be studying the distribution and abundance of seabirds, the wreck sites of World War II wrecks USS Lexington and USS Neosho, and any dead invertebrate animals dredged up with geological samples.
The 93.9m ship is capable of spending up to 300 days a year at sea, and has been built to help Australian marine scientists to undertake geoscience, atmospheric, biological and oceanographic research.
CSIRO engagement programs co-ordinator Dr Ben Arthur said the Investigator would head to Brisbane, then return to FNQ to study the East Australian Current.
The current – made famous by the Disney Pixar film Finding Nemo – transports tropical water from the Coral Sea southward to interact with the cool temperate waters of the Tasman Sea.
It is regarded as an important gateway for flourishing biodiversity in the two seas.
“We will be looking at how that current has been changing in recent decades, and what DANIEL BATEMAN THE thrill of the hunt has led a Cairns record collector to start the city’s first major record fair.
Todd Skipper, owner of Tangent Physical Media in Village Lane on Lake St, is expecting thousands of records to be combed through by visitors at the inaugural Ya Dig? Record Fair tomorrow.
The fair, being held at Elixir Bar on Abbott St, will unite several of Cairns’ independent music stores and vendors in a celebration of vinyl.
Mr Skipper said he was looking forward to flicking through collections.
“You never actually know what you’re going to find in someone’s collection,” he said.
“I might not know what I want until I actually find it. That is often the fun of the hunt.
“People still like music that they can collect.” Ya Dig? Record Fair is being held at Elixir Bar at 92 Abbott St from 10am to 3pm tomorrow. that might mean for the environment in that area, and some of the industries that rely on that, because that’s a fairly dynamic environment,” Dr Arthur said.
“After that voyage is finished, there will be another one around Cape York and finishing in Darwin, looking at the sea floor canyons on the Great Barrier Reef, and areas of potential landslip.
“We’re also looking at the distribution of marine mammals around that part of the world.”