News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
Mass scale coral preservation
Danish‘ super-wreck’ discovery
ENVIRONMENT
Protect Our Seas
News and views from the world of marine heritage and conservation
AIMS divers working on the restoration project
Taking samples
Mass scale coral preservation
The Australian Institute of Marine Science( AIMS) has led one of the world’ s largest reef restoration tests on a coral reef ecosystem during a recent mass spawning on the Great Barrier Reef.
Coral spawn was collected in partnership with locally based groups in far north Queensland, to rear millions of young corals. These were placed onto test reefs near Cairns, Port Douglas and around the Keppel Islands, further south. The aim of the reef restoration methods being tested is to create a means to fast-track coral recovery on degraded reefs, when needed.
AIMS’ PDP Director Dr Mark Gibbs and his team are teaching tourism and fishing operators and other marine businesses how to coral seed on a large scale, while also harnessing their local knowledge and expertise.
“ Over the next three years, we’ ll be improving the efficacy of deploying interventions at scale on the Great Barrier Reef.”
Dr Gibbs said the best future for coral reefs to survive the effects of climate-induced marine heatwaves required global carbon emissions reduction alongside best-practice reef management and innovative scientific interventions.
Danish‘ super-wreck’ discovery
Marine archaeologists have discovered a“ medieval super ship” off the coast of Copenhagen, Denmark. The ship was discovered in Øresund, or the Sound, a strait between
Denmark and Sweden, at a depth of around 18m. It was unearthed by archaeologists from Denmark’ s Viking Ship Museum during seabed surveys for Copenhagen’ s forthcoming Lynetteholm district. After sweeping away layers of sand and silt, the team found a ship, known as a cog,
A composite image of the Svaelget 2 site
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PHOTOS: VIKING SHIP MUSEUM