Page 34 - Tropic Magazine Issue 35

TROPIC • COVER STORY

Most would visualise the Great Barrier Recently, JCU sent an all-female team “Seagrass meadows are incredibly
Reef filled with thickets of blue staghorn on a six-day expedition to the remote valuable and often overlooked,
and honeycomb coral, next to peeking Ribbon Reefs: a 120-kilometre string historically, by the broader community,”
giant clams and sea anemone. Fish in of 10 individual coral reefs stretching Dr Chartrand said.
every rainbow hue darting between from waters east of Cooktown towards
one another, and a gang of comically- Lizard Island. On board was JCU Senior
oversized Maori wrasse looking researcher Dr Katie Chartrand, who’s
around curiously. spent 18 years mapping and monitoring Recently, a big focus has
While these unrivalled scenes draw coral, seagrasses, and other marine
tourists from around the world, there’s species in the World Heritage area. been on their ability to
much more beneath the surface – and Her work’s helped uncover seagrass capture and store carbon
scientists, tourist operators and citizens meadows’ vital role in marine ecosystems,
are working together to find it. from providing habitat for various for long periods of time
Seagrass – which covers more surface organisms to filtering water of sediments
area of the Reef than coral – is just one and nutrients from land-based runoff. Dr Katie Chartrand
JCU Senior Researcher
marine population sought by researchers, They are however notoriously difficult to
including those at James Cook map, often extending to water depths of
University (JCU). up to 50 metres around the Reef. “In fact, research suggests seagrasses
do it better than their terrestrial
counterparts like forests, but much work
is still needed to understand how deep-
water seagrasses of the GBR contribute
to carbon storage.”
Sea cucumbers and their unique job
of keeping coral ecosystems healthy
were another focus point among the
15-strong team, which included JCU
researchers, members of the Torres
Strait community, and tourism company
Passions of Paradise.

34 • Tropic • Issue 35