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The world’s oceans are 30% more acidic today than only 200 years ago. And by the end of this century, ocean acidity is expected to have increased by an incredible 100–150%. Clearly, this does not bode well and you may be wondering what all of this means for the many plants and animals living in … Continued

So far during this expedition, we have only surveyed the tiniest fraction of the Perth Canyon’s walls, yet during our deepest dive, we have already discovered an exciting deep sea community. This never before seen community survives in total darkness on the hard rock of the canyon’s walls at 1600 m (1 mile) below the … Continued

Using high-resolution maps produced by the multi-beam sonar over the last few nights, we were able to explore the first site within the northern section of the Perth Canyon. ROV Comanche dove down to 700 metres (2300 ft) to investigate a steep cliff face that looked promising to find a large variety of deep sea … Continued

Yesterday, we sent the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) ‘Comanche’ for it’s first test dive down to 100 meters (328 ft) in Perth Canyon.  The ROV operators tested the manipulators, also known as the ‘claws’, and the opening/closing of the collection trays successfully. Today, we will revisit the same site and spend more time exploring the … Continued

Although we were able to collect the missing ROV part this morning, there is yet another obstacle to clear before we can explore the Canyon for the first time. As soon as we headed back out to the open ocean, we were met with strong winds and swell that persisted throughout the day. This wild weather … Continued

The time has finally come to start our exploration of Perth Canyon and so we left dock early this morning to get a first glimpse of what lies ahead. However, as mentioned in a previous post, not everything always goes according to plan – and in our case we are still missing one part for … Continued

Check out the why the science party on the Tasman Sea cruise studies the Ocean.