Diving Townsville

It was fairly windy last week but I still managed to get over to the James Cook University research station on Orpheus Island to collect some coral nubbins for my PhD experiment. I am studying the effects of ocean acidification, temperature and flow on coral calcification rates, so collected a bunch of nubbins of Porites cylindrica and Acropora spathulata and brought them back to JCU. A lot of the collecting was done on snorkel but we managed to get in 2 dives, one in Cattle Bay and the other in northern Pioneer Bay (both on the western side of Orpheus). The coral cover, especially in northern Pioneer was pretty good, with lots of massive Porites bommies and a variety of other coral which played home to butterflyfish, coral trout and large snappers (to name a few).

I was helped out on this trip by my awesome volunteers – Martin, Jess & Shane (thanks guys!). To volunteer to help out with research diving, you will need to be on the JCU dive register. This required that you meet set standards in terms of dive training/experience and also have a current AS2299 dive medical, first aid and O2 certs. For more information, check out the Diving at JCU page. Once you get on the dive register, sign up with the volunteer mailing list and you will receive an e-mail every time someone needs a volunteer.

For those who find it too tedious to get on the dive register, you can still get to Orpheus Island by volunteering to help the research station (cleaning, gardening etc.). You will be required to work for 4 hours a day, but you get the rest of the day to enjoy the island. You will not be able to dive, but it’s still a nice cheap way of getting a holiday in paradise. Contact the station (4777 7336) for more information.

Posted by Neil

Scientific diving

Scientific diving