Our latest research publish Global Change Biology:

Great to the Voyis camera system attached to an ROV in action today. When attached to an ROV, this camera system helps build amazing 3D models of reef and structures. Very impressive technology in action!

🧪🦤🌐 The herbivorous sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii removes macroalgae & creates barrens. Understanding density-dependent processes governing its abundance will assist with addressing the challenges it poses in some jurisdictions in south-eastern Australia. bit.ly/meps_771_55

Today we had the black cockatoos visit us. They come down from the mountains over winter to feed in coastal areas. They were living the proteas!

🚨Our new package {galaxias} is released in R & Python today! 🚨 📦 galaxias makes it easy to standardise data to Darwin Core, the accepted format for sharing ecological data with infrastructures like @gbif.org and the Atlas of Living Australia galaxias.ala.org.au #rstats #python 🧪🌏🐟 A thread 🧵👇

Our latest research published in @GlobalChangeBio demonstrates how the demersal fish assemblage in the Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) region has vastly increased in occurrence, abundance, and species richness. over the past 2 decades. doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

Whoops… the importance of sea floor mapping! www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

A research team led by scientists from our University has returned from a major 54-day voyage on CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator to explore the impacts of the devastating 2022 eruption of Tonga's underwater Hunga Volcano. Read about what they've discovered: utas.au/Hunga_Voyage

Have a question about scientific publishing? @hbrowman.bsky.social and the editorial board of ICES Journal are here to help early-career scientists navigate the the many challenges of publishing today 📝

On the tools! Piloting the ROV over some great mesophotic reef in the Commonwealth Solitary Islands Marine Park. We are doing 200m transects and some exploratory surveys.

Another day another round Of BRUV and ROV surveys in the Solitsry Islabds Marine Park! Dropped the BlueROV on some seriously awesome temperate mesophotic reefs! Black corals, octocorals, giant sponges! And of course some big fish! #mesophotic #marineparks #rov #bruv

Gumbaynggirr Rangers in action! BRUVing mesophotic reefs in the Solitary Islands Marine Park (Commonwealth) mapping fish and habitat.

We’re off to Coffs to survey the mesophotic reefs of the Solitary Islands Marine Park. This work is for an Our Marine Parks grant in partnership with Ngiyambandigay Wajaarr Aboriginal Corporation. Stay tuned for updates through the week! @utas.edu.au

Who remembers the Mathomat!! It’s been 30 years since this has been used but I need a protractor!!

Last week I had the pleasure and honour to participate in a IUCN Red List workshop to assess Australia and New Zealand fishes! I learnt a lot through out the week. Including learning about this mesophotic only Bigeye Gurnard Perch!! Thanks everyone for a great week! @aciucn.bsky.social

Once classified as extinct in the wild, these tiny marsupials are running free on three islands. Technically, not extinct in the wild, there is a Tasmanian population. We have them living in our backyard! www.theage.com.au/environment/...

Flashback to my 4th PhD chapter. While this was a classic 4th chapter, this goes down as one of my most interesting papers! Taking a multi-elemental approach to larval fish otolith microchemistry can distinguish location of larvae in the water column aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

New paper out! We found that a climate change-driven warming off Sydney has increased the amount of time bull sharks spend around Australia's biggest city. #sharks #climatechange #sydney #bullsharks @jcuofficial.bsky.social @drrossdwyer.bsky.social @imos-aus.bsky.social @saveourseas.bsky.social

link.springer.com/content/pdf/... 🦑

On my first dive in Tassie I noticed a nudibranch that seemed like it was out of place, like it should have been in Port Stephens. After spreading the word, this nudi started popping up across eastern Tassie. This is a really interesting range extension! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Our latest paper is available as a preprint: Changes in demersal fish assemblages of the Kerguelen Plateau in relation to climate change and fisheries practices. Using a joint species distribution modeling approach.

Great work @utas.edu.au leading the world on climate change. It is a privilege to be able to contribute to this.

"That is a crisis in terms of our ability as a nation to do the work we need to do to inform the policymakers, but also just to show that we take Antarctica seriously." - Director @deformedearth.bsky.social on the approaching funding cliff for #Antarctic research ⬇️ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

🧪🌊⚒️ Sharks in the water (for real & metaphorically). But as scientists we get back to work, regardless. This was 100m deep at Palmyra, Line Islands, on my Schmidt Ocean Institute program to study #sealevel & #climate change impacts on once shallow coral reef communities over time. More in ALT text.

Dr Sonia Rowley has spent nearly 20 years exploring the mesophotic zone, revealing hidden octocoral biodiversity 🌊🪸 With 8,000+ specimens collected, she's validating new species with support of the Ocean Census Species Discovery Awards. 2025 applications close 30 Apr! ➡️ oceancensus.org/awards/

I’m on the big stage today! If you’re at IPFC and want to hear about marine parks and mesophotic reefs then come to big stage and poster session this afternoon! #ipfc #mesophotic

Made it to Taipei for a week of fish science! And it’s hot, dam hot!

I’m off to Taiwan for #ipfc2025 to hang out with fish nerds for a week. I look forward to sharing our research on marine parks and #mesophotic reefs! Who’s going to be there?

What case do people use when flying with their #BlueROV with heavy upgrade? It seems most of the pelican/spacecase etc are inches too small...

I’ve successfully performed a brain transplant on the #BlueROV. Love the little ROV and tether print on the flight controller! The new flight controller is amazing! Now it’s time to get in the water!

Joining online to see the final presentation of my amazing Master student, Alyaa Shara Shaharuddin who investigated microplastic contamination in small reef fish. Excellent work, Alyaa! Co-supervised with Alyssa Marshell, @joelfishecology.bsky.social and Thomas Rodemann.

Your mission should you chose to accept: Help rediscover an Australian temperate mesophotic pygmy seahorse!! The Bullneck Seahorse hasn't been seen since 1996. It lives on our deep reefs so this mission is for the advanced deep divers! @rewildorg.bsky.social

Received this game for my birthday! You get to be a fish ecologist and dive through the depths from the photic zone to the twilight zone while learning about all the different fishes!! Is playing this game tax deductible… #finspan

I purchase a deep sea research submarine to explore the mesophotic zone… it has come flat packed like Ikea furniture…

Look how pretty this temperate mesophotic fish is!! Now I need an id confirmation is this Callanthias australis or allportii? It is from Tasmania and I’m going with australis… Either way one of my favorite mesophotic species!!

Finally dived on some #mesophotic reefs in Tasmania!! Nope it’s not the Great Barrier Reef! This is the deep section of the Great Southern Reef where light becomes limited and reef is dominated by corals, sponges, plentiful fish. Stay tuned for some more shots! @greatsouthernreef.bsky.social

I’ve been diving Victoria for 25+ yrs & never seen a blue groper west of Wilson Prom. I had heard they’re making a comeback in the Port Phillip heads and on the weekend I saw one and managed this snap one off Pt Lonsdale! I believe this is a Achoerodus gouldii #greatsouthernreef

Peak Tasmania = Half hour drive home, not from out from Hobart, and have to stop for pademelon, Bennett's wallaby, southern brown bandicoot, eastern barred bandicoot, ring tail possum, brush tail possum, and to cap it off spotted quoll! to cross the road.

Bigbelly Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, at the local beach in 2m of water. This is the largest seahorse species on the Great Southern Reef. Jump over to insta and follow @joel_williams_photos #tasmania #greatsouthernreef #seahorse

Check out this new paper describing how we observe marine heatwaves using ocean gliders to address ecosystem challenges as part of the national IMOS Event Based Sampling Facility doi.org/10.5670/ocea... @imos-aus.bsky.social

On patrol at the World’s most southern coral reef, Lord Howe Island. The Galapagos Shark, was first described at the Galápagos Islands but are distribute worldwide around tropical oceanic islands and seamounts. It is mostly the juveniles that tend to hand around Lord Howe.

This week we are on the stunning Lord Howe Island to engage with the community, test @IMOS_AUS Moana Sensors, scoping BRUV/ROV surveys, for a new climate change, marine heatwaves, #mesophotic reefs in Aus Marine Parks project thanks to @ausmarineparks. Thanks LHI community!

Social media brains trust! We are doing some ROV surveys on #mesophotic reefs across eastern Australia, should we be considering collecting eDNA samples at the same time?

Each rectangle is a close up of the surface of the the #skin or #shell of seafloor creatures from #Antarctica! #colours #nature #marine #benthic

I'm hiring a coordinator for our #mesophotic Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) program! This exciting new project will generate unprecedented amounts of information about the biodiversity of deep reefs in the Pacific. Spread the word! us242.dayforcehcm.co...

Group leaders! The uptake of this paper suggests to me that folk aren’t talking enough about experimental design with their students? Has experimental design fallen off the syllabus? Is a sense of experimental design like a sense of humour? Everyone thinks they have a good one but….?

New publication alert! Ever wondered what it takes to do #offshore research when you don’t have a big ship or loads of funds? We used #palau as a case study to navigate #largescaleocean #science in a #pacific #smallislanddevelopingstate. Check it out! doi.org/10.1071/PC24...