Welcome to this blog!

Keep checking to see the latest discoveries and adventures of an expedition of discovery to the seas around the islands of the Bonaparte Archipelago located offshore roughly halfway between Darwin and Broome.

The Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) is sending scientists from:

•  the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS),
• the Australian Museum,
• the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO),
• Geoscience Australia, and
• Curtin University

to learn more about the coral reefs, sponges, and other creatures that live in this little studied region of Western Australia’s amazing coastline.

As the scientists and crew of the AIMS research vessel the RV Solander get ready to set sail on 2 December 2015, you can learn more about the research vessel that will transport them to this very remote region in the Indian Ocean.

• Take a virtual tour  of the AIMS Research Vessel RV Solander!
• Check  where the RV Solander is at any given moment.

Well before the journey begins, scientists think carefully about what they want to try to discover and where they should look.  Travelling by boat is expensive and it is not possible to visit every single place where important and interesting habitats and sea creatures might live.

The next blog entry will explain what we hope to discover and why, and how we will do so!  See you then.