The Western Australian Museum will lead a team of researchers to the Kimberley this week in the sixth and final expedition of an award-winning research project into the region’s unique marine life.

The 17-day survey from 30 September – 16 October includes 16 researchers from the WA Museum, Queensland Museum, the Australian Museum, Museum Victoria, the Herbarium of WA and Curtin University.

The purpose of this expedition is to survey the marine biodiversity of the Rowley Shoals – a continental slope site that prior to this project has never been formally surveyed to this extent.

WA Museum senior project officer Clay Bryce said exploring the atolls along the continental slope will complete a detailed underwater picture of the Kimberley greater marine realm, when considered alongside information from previous expeditions to the inshore, midshelf and shelf-edge marine environments.

“The potential to discover new and significant species at the Rowley Shoals is certainly very exciting,” said Mr Bryce.

“However the key aim of the survey is to gain a more complete understanding of our tropical biodiversity and associated habitats, which can then be used to assess the conservation importance of the region and develop appropriate management strategies.”

This comprehensive research project is the first formal biodiversity survey ever undertaken for all three atolls.

The joint project between the Western Australian Museum and Woodside has been running since 2008, documenting the water quality, marine life distribution and genetic studies of Kimberley marine flora and fauna.

The research includes sponges, corals, soft corals, marine plants, worms, crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms and fishes, as well as collecting water samples to gauge water quality at each site.

By the end of the survey period 2009 to 2014, the project will have surveyed around 180 stations situated across more than 475,000 square km of ocean, and recorded thousands of marine species including many that are new to science and many that have never before been recorded in Australian waters.

It is the most extensive marine biodiversity survey of the region and in 2011 was awarded the Western Australian Premier’s Award for Excellence.

Following the expedition, Clay Bryce will deliver a lecture Kimberley marine life secrets revealed at Lottery House on Friday 17 October, as part of the WA Museum’s In the Wild West lecture series.  

Jane Rosevear
Media and Publicity Officer
Western Australian Museum
6552 7805
jane.rosevear@museum.wa.gov.au