CSIRO is studying the Ningaloo deep reef to unlock its secrets. Ningaloo Outlook, the strategic marine research partnership between BHP Billiton and the CSIRO, is underway at Ningaloo Reef in northern Western Australia. The first phase of research will begin with surveys on the iconic shallow corals of Ningaloo Reef. These corals and the fish, which call them home, are an important source of biodiversity providing food and habitat for a plethora of marine life.
A team of CSIRO scientists will examine coral, other benthos (organisms which live in and around the sea floor) and fish from shallow coral reefs and lagoon habitats at a range of locations across northern Ningaloo reef. The team will survey fish abundance and biodiversity, perform coral surveys and will also deploy video cameras to monitor and record habitats.
This phase of work will conduct surveys to provide assessments of the condition of the reef habitats including corals and the fish that live there. This work will build on existing CSIRO research dating back to 2006, to help assess long-term changes to the reef as well as an update of their current status.
Experimental ecology will also be included to complement the annual status assessment with these experiments focusing on determining the cause-and-effect pathways of change in the environment.
Until now, research programs to monitor Ningaloo Reef have been limited in size and scale and haven’t connected with deeper habitats and the reef’s larger migratory species such as whale sharks, sharks and turtles. Ningaloo Outlook fill the gaps in knowledge by being geographically expansive and by incorporating deeper reef studies and tagging of these major marine animals work.
The shallow coral reefs and the animals which live there, are emblematic of Ningaloo. These parts of the reef are world renowned for their ecological value and natural beauty, attracting thousands of scientists, naturalists and tourists from around the world every year.