Outbreak ready: working to prevent human and animal disease

Our scientists continue their important work safeguarding human and animal health from disease, while we strive for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Throwback Thursday: our ocean exploration glow ups

Ocean technology is helping us to answer the question of ‘what exactly is out there?’ And shine a light on unexplored ecosystems and species. But how did we arrive here?

Scientists soak up marine sponge discovery

Scientists have discovered the world’s largest number of new species of carnivorous sponges from a deep-sea expedition on board RV Investigator.

A pile of single use plastic water bottles found during a beach cleanup

Sink or swim: marine debris on land vs seafloor

Our scientists, together with Project Aware and Ocean Conservancy, have conducted the largest global survey of land and marine debris.

What’s in a name? Not all sharks are the same

With more than 500 shark species globally, new research suggests using shark species names could help manage shark conservation.

Photo showing corals and small to medium sized fishes swimming.

Fish detectives use eDNA to tally tropical species

Our marine biologists are using environmental DNA (eDNA), fragments of DNA shed by fish into the marine environment, to detect tropical fish species in Australia.

underwater photo of fish and coral

Why marine protected areas are often not where they should be

Biodiversity is often highest in places with human activity. The fishing industry has shown we can often have it both ways: maintain important livelihoods while protecting precious marine life.

A water marker showing a small puddle of water

It’s official: the last five years were the warmest ever recorded

The World Meteorological Organisation today published a definitive climate report card showing concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise, and the last five years were the warmest on record.

plastic rubbish on beach

Plastic pollution gets trapped on the beach

A significant amount of plastic pollution from our ocean ends up washed up along our coasts, mostly towards the back of the beach where it becomes trapped in vegetation.

A white wall of ice, known as the Getz iceshelf front.

How floating ice walls are protecting the Antarctic ice sheet

The Antarctic ice sheet could raise the global sea levels by tens of metres if it melted. A new study published in the journal Nature shows that floating ice walls offer some protection to the ice sheet.

lobsters in an orange plastic box

Coronavirus is hurting Australia’s lobster export market

The abrupt downturn in seafood consumption in China is wreaking havoc on the traditional fishers of the Torres Strait and other Australian fishing communities.

Researcher conducting a coral reef transect survey as part of coral disease research in Indonesia.

Australian of the Year: our scientist up for top gong

Our oceans and atmosphere researcher Jess Melbourne-Thomas could be named Australian of the Year 2020.