Australian Institute of Marine Science

10/06/2026

Dive in! AIMS In Focus 2026 is here🤿

In Focus is our annual spotlight on science and innovation at AIMS, featuring recent breakthroughs and successes delivered by our teams.

🌊 https://www.aims.gov.au/about/in-focus

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10/06/2026

Coral researchers have successfully undertaken a coral regeneration trial at Nyinggulu (Ningaloo) over two coral spawning events in Exmouth and Coral Bay – despite the arrival of Cyclone Narelle during their fieldwork!

The Nyinggulu Coral Larval Enhancement trial, managed by the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) as part of the WA Reef Regen Program, successfully supported the development of millions of coral spawn, increasing genetic variation and giving the juvenile coral the best chance for survival as they begin the long process of settling and growing.

The Nyinggulu Coral Larval Enhancement Trial is led by WAMSI, in partnership with Southern Cross University, the Parks and Wildlife Service, Western Australia, CSIRO and AIMS.

Read more about the trial: https://wamsi.org.au/news/millions-of-coral-larvae-provide-reproduction-help-at-ningaloo-to-support-coral-regeneration/

And learn about the WA Reef Regen Program: https://wamsi.org.au/projects/reef-regen/

📷: Terra Australis, Brooke Pyke

07/06/2026

World Ocean Day is a chance to reflect on the breathtaking diversity and wonder of Australia’s tropical seas.

AIMS continues to work with our partners to ensure thriving marine ecosystems. We will spend World Ocean Day diving into the long-term data, engineering the marine technologies of the future, and learning from the knowledge of our Traditional Owner partners.

We do this to help build a blue economy for all Australians, sustain our coastal communities, and keep sea Country healthy.

Watch the video for inspiration.

🎥 LTMP, Biopixel, Danko Castano Duro, Andre Rerekura, Marie Roman

01/06/2026

“You cannot have healthy people if Country is not healthy. Also Country needs people. Country can’t be healthy if the Traditional Custodians are not on Country looking after it.”

A really insightful interview with Libby Evans-Illidge, who leads AIMS Indigenous Partnerships team. Libby discusses her diverse career, with a focus on investing the time required to build meaningful connections between Western science and First Nations innovation.

Check out the episode of the Word on the Reef podcast below.

Word on the Reef · Episode

01/06/2026

While AIMS researchers often engage with Traditional Owners about our research, we wanted an organisation-wide shift from engagement to genuine partnership.

That’s why, in 2019, AIMS developed an Indigenous Partnership Plan (IPP) which enshrined the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent.

That year, the plan was applied to the Woppaburra Coral Project: a five-year, $11 million research partnership which investigated coral reef restoration strategies in reefs around the Keppel Islands in the southern inshore Great Barrier Reef. It was undertaken in partnership with the Woppaburra people, the Traditional Owners of the Keppel Islands whose ancestors were removed from the islands in 1902.

The impact from the project included:

✅ Creating a benchmark for government collaboration with Traditional Owners.
✅ Providing new training and employment qualifications.
✅ Strengthening connections to family, culture and sea Country.
✅ Establishing genuine partnerships.

AIMS collaborated with Social Ventures Australia to undertake a social value analysis when the project concluded in June 2024.

👇 Read more about the outcomes of the project:
https://www.aims.gov.au/about/aims-impact/creating-blueprint-traditional-owner-partnerships-science

The Woppaburra Coral Project was part of the Australian Coral Reef Resilience Initiative, in partnership with BHP.

27/05/2026

“If we can join forces, we can bring our methodologies and our data analysis systems to Traditional Owners, and combine that with their on Country capability and local knowledge and Traditional Knowledge. Then, all of a sudden, we can start to fill some of these gaps.”

AIMS has teamed up with Traditional Owners to form the Northern Australian Marine Monitoring Alliance. NAMMA supports Indigenous Rangers in sustainably managing sea Country and monitoring marine environments, by combining First Nations knowledge with the latest scientific methods.

🎥 Watch the video to hear more about this partnership from the researchers and Rangers involved.

Learn more about NAMMA: https://namma.au/

22/05/2026

Here’s 40 seconds of sea turtle content. One second for every YEAR our Long-Term Monitoring Program (LTMP) has been reporting data on the condition of the Great Barrier Reef.

These curious marine reptiles join the team from time to time on reef surveys.

Having flippers, they can’t really help with the measurements. And while this particular team doesn’t actually measure the turtles in any systematic way, AIMS scientists do lots of other work with sea turtles.

The LTMP team does measure lots of other stuff:

- Hard coral cover
- Soft corals
- Fish numbers and sizes
- Habitat types
- Coral disease and pests
- Juvenile corals
- Coral bleaching and death

Just like us, the sea turtles have a vested interest in this precious, complex ecosystem staying healthy. Our environment, food security, coastal communities and economy depend on it! For the turtles, it’s home.

Happy 🐢

22/05/2026

“Together, connected, we can do this. And we need to be together to do this.”

The Indigenous Futures project is training Indigenous Rangers in the latest coral reef restoration methods. Participants will be well prepared to support the reef restoration strategies being developed by the Pilot Deployments Program (PDP), should the need arise.

This is two-way science in action. By bringing together Traditional Knowledge and western science, the project has empowered Indigenous rangers to lead coral reef restoration on sea Country.

This is a long-term commitment to building a skilled workforce through on-Country learning. It strengthens the rangers, their communities, and the precious marine ecosystems with which they share thousands of years of history – with the aim of protecting them for generations to come.

The project also demonstrates the use of AIMS research and technologies, via the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP).

In this video, filmed during Indigenous Futures fieldwork on Heron Island in 2024, you will see cutting edge reef restoration techniques:

🪸 coral spawn collection
🪸 coral larval rearing and settlement
🪸 deployment of baby corals on the reef
🪸 monitoring of corals in the ocean

The Traditional Owner groups involved in the project are the Woppaburra Rangers, Darumbal Rangers, Gidarjil Development Corporation, Yuku Baja Muliku Rangers, Manbarra Rangers and Gudjuda Rangers.

Learn more: https://www.aims.gov.au/research-topics/featured-projects/reef-spawning-research-aims/indigenous-futures-building-capacity-traditional-owners-reef-restoration

The Indigenous Futures project’s delivery, training and science leadership was provided by AIMS. The latest large-scale reef restoration methods upon which the training was based is from the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation through Australian Government’s Reef Trust Partnership (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water).

We would also like to acknowledge those who fund and support the activities of the rangers involved in the project: the Reef Authority’s Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements (TUMRAs) Program; the Queensland Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger Program (via the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation); and National Indigenous Australians Agency’s Indigenous Rangers Program.

22/05/2026

“Together, connected, we can do this. And we need to be together to do this.”

The Indigenous Futures project is training Indigenous Rangers in the latest coral reef restoration methods. Participants will be well prepared to support the reef restoration strategies being developed by the Pilot Deployments Program (PDP), should the need arise.

This is two-way science in action. By bringing together Traditional Knowledge and western science, the project has empowered Indigenous rangers to lead coral reef restoration on sea Country.

This is a long-term commitment to building a skilled workforce through on-Country learning. It strengthens the rangers, their communities, and the precious marine ecosystems with which they share thousands of years of history – with the aim of protecting them for generations to come.

The project also demonstrates the use of AIMS research and technologies, via the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP).

In this video, filmed during Indigenous Futures fieldwork on Heron Island in 2024, you will see cutting edge reef restoration techniques:

🪸 coral spawn collection
🪸 coral larval rearing and settlement
🪸 deployment of baby corals on the reef
🪸 monitoring of corals in the ocean

The Traditional Owner groups involved in the project are the Woppaburra Ranger (Woppaburra TUMRA Aboriginal Corporation), Darumbal Land & Sea Rangers, Gidarjil Development Corporation, Yuku Baja Muliku Land and Sea Rangers, Manbarra Rangers and Gudjuda Rangers.

Learn more: https://www.aims.gov.au/research-topics/featured-projects/reef-spawning-research-aims/indigenous-futures-building-capacity-traditional-owners-reef-restoration

The Indigenous Futures project’s delivery, training and science leadership was provided by AIMS. The latest large-scale reef restoration methods upon which the training was based is from the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP), funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation through Australian Government’s Reef Trust Partnership.

We would also like to acknowledge those who fund and support the activities of the rangers involved in the project: the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreements (TUMRAs) Program; the Queensland Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger Program via the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (Queensland Environment / Queensland Science); and National Indigenous Australians Agency’s Indigenous Rangers Program.

21/05/2026

AIMS joined a recent expedition led by The University of Western Australia on CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator, Australia's dedicated ocean research vessel.

The 94-metre science ship can accommodate up to 40 researchers and technical staff (plus 20 crew). On a recent voyage across the continental shelf at Ningaloo, Western Australia, one of those berths was taken by AIMS’ very own Dr Bozena Wojtasiewicz.

Dr Wojtasiewicz was onboard to lead the biogeochemical and bio-optical part of the project.

Dr Wojtasiewicz’s focus was on understanding how phytoplankton communities in the water interact with light, and how this varies across the shelf. These differences are reflected in the way our satellites see ocean colours.

By collecting and analysing water samples taken as satellites pass overhead, scientists can compare what the satellite is seeing to what is happening in the ocean. In this way, images from space become more meaningful.

Dr Wojtasiewicz collected her samples along the continental shelf at CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) stations and alongside an autonomous instrument called TRIAXUS, both of which record their own data about ocean conditions.

The samples will be analysed for phytoplankton pigments, suspended particles, coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and organic carbon, with measurements from the CTD stations and TRIAXUS added to the dataset. This can then be compared to pictures from ocean imaging systems overhead, including NASA’s PACE and the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-3 satellites.

The voyage then took an unexpected turn, when Tropical Cyclone Narelle passed directly over Ningaloo Reef at Category 4.

Despite the disruption, this was a unique scientific opportunity to sample both before and after a major cyclone event. The timing of Narelle allowed the team to study how the marine ecosystem responded to intense ocean mixing and nutrient inputs – responses which happened quickly and differed across the shelf.

This research was supported by a grant of sea time on RV Investigator from the CSIRO Marine National Facility.

📸 Bozena Wojtasiewicz & Max McGuire, CSIRO