Day 1 - Astrolabe Reef (07.02.23)

 

Today was my first official day with the Coastal Marine Field Station - Waikato University. We left Tauranga early and headed to the Astrolabe Reef, where the Rena crashed in 2011. The divers were looking for separate things according to their research. Emma was collecting sponge samples to take back to the lab for identification. These identifications help to build a baseline of known sponge diversity in the Bay of Plenty region and help track any shifts or extensions in geographic ranges of particular species. Jenny was collecting audio equipment that has been at the Astrolabe Reef for the past 6 months. The acoustic equipment is used to listen to marine acoustics. The highlights of the fieldwork for me were seeing the scientists collect samples and snorkelling at the reef. I swam with a seal, and many large schools of fish such as Kingfish and briefly saw a Mako shark.