RLS South Australia returned to the Encounter Marine Park to complete annual monitoring surveys and train some brand new volunteer divers in February, 2024. Completing 32 transects in total, all while training seven new divers, the survey effort was both massive and rewarding! The team recorded 112 different species of fish and invertebrate, including some creepy cryptics and Great Southern Reef icons.
Sailing 640nm in two and a half weeks, the crew aboard Melita set out from Exmouth to explore the reefs of Ningaloo Marine Park and beyond. The team finally said goodbye to the tropics, as Melita descended along the WA coast toward the temperate reefs of the higher latitudes.
On this leg of Melita’s lap of Australia, the crew would sail from Marapikurrinya/ Port Hedland to the magnificent Montebello Islands, before coming back into port in Exmouth. It was a celebration of charismatic megafauna, as the team were met by humpback whales, mating sea turtles, dugongs and curious sea snakes. Travelling over 350nm in total and completing over 30 surveys along the way, this was another epic leg in Melita's journey around the continent.
Prof. Graham Edgar, Anna Edgar, Kirsty Whitman, and Sophie Kalkowski-Pope hopped aboard Melita to survey over 75 sites from Darwin to Port Hedland. The crew sailed over 1000nm in 3 ½ weeks during this leg Graham's lap of Australia. Lucking out with some glorious conditions and plenty of fish, Sophie joined the crew to learn the RLS methods in an unforgettable chapter of her OWUSS scholarship experience.
Continuing on the journey around Australia, RLS Volunteer Diver Kirsty was joined aboard Melita by interstate RLSers embarking from Waibene/ Thursday Island to survey the islands of the Torres Strait, before coming back in to port at Gulmerrogin/Darwin. With 1,200nm under their belts this leg, the team enjoyed some epic encounters of the fishy kind, a very special birthday, and narrowly avoided disaster in the face of a broken winch!
