12 October
2006 - 115 Antarctic expeditioners head south
on the Aurora Australis today, opening the 2006-2007
Australian Government Antarctic Division (AGAD)
research season.
The Minister for the Environment
and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell said that two
of the significant projects to be undertaken this
Antarctic summer will be a study into the remediation
of contaminated sites, and technological advances
for monitoring penguins and how their diet affects
krill populations.
Adelie penguin monitoring to
benefit from enhanced technology:
Senator Campbell said that as
large consumers of krill, Adelie penguins are
useful indicators of effects of changes in krill
abundance brought about by harvesting.
“Sixteen years ago the Commission
for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources (CCAMLR) established an international
programme to monitor the impact of the krill fishery
on the Southern Ocean ecosystem and assist in
sustainable management.
“In 11000, Australia established
an Adelie penguin monitoring programme at Bechervaise
Island near Mawson station to study the effects
of krill abundance on penguins and collect baseline
data in the event of a krill fishery opening up
in the region,” Senator Campbell said.
Recently, the Australian Government
Antarctic Division (AGAD) has developed an automated
camera, powered by solar panels, to monitor aspects
of Adelie chick survival and breeding chronology.
AGAD ecologist Dr Matt Low who
sails for Antarctica today said that during the
winter months the cameras ‘sleep’ then ‘awaken’
as the summer returns to record a series of photographs
throughout the breeding season.
“This year, we will install
six cameras at new island sites in the Mawson
region. This will give us access to information
over a much broader area than if we concentrated
solely on Bechervaise.
Dr Low said that the latest
development will build on data collected so far
in this long-running programme to give a more
comprehensive picture.
“An automated recording system
in place since 1991 already logs the birds automatically
as they enter and leave the colony.
“Many of the birds can be individually
identified by microchips implanted under the skin.
These are detected via an antenna
near the colony. Two infra-red beams, which are
cut sequentially by the birds as they pass by,
tell us the time of passing and direction of travel.
“This information tells us about
the length of time birds have been foraging at
sea.
“Now, extra monitoring from
the cameras will give us substantial boost towards
a broader understanding of the needs of the penguins
in this study,” Dr Low said.
One major aim of CCAMLR is to
ensure that the human harvest of krill does not
adversely affect any element of the Southern Ocean
Antarctic marine ecosystem.
Human Impacts in Antarctica:
Senator Campbell said researchers
would assess the effectiveness of a permeable
reactive barrier installed last summer to help
trap diesel spilt at Casey Station which aims
to prevent further leaching into a nearby melt
lake.
“We are hopeful that this type
of barrier will prove an efficient way to help
clean up errors of the past which occurred at
most stations around the Antarctic continent and
which happened before we understood the impact
of these contaminants on the environment.
“Australia is the only nation
doing this kind of work in Antarctica and other
nations with a presence there are watching closely
to measure its success with a view to potential
implementation.
“The Australian Government’s
Antarctic Division (AGAD) played a pivotal role
in the establishment, in 1991, of the Madrid Protocol
which provides protection of the Antarctic environment.”
Dr Martin Riddle, head of the
AGAD’s Environmental Protection and Change programme,
said that the permeable reactive barrier would
be trialled over the next five to eight years
for its ability to remove the fuel and slow its
flow.
“The barrier was built by digging
a trench (5.5m wide, 2m long and 1m deep) in the
path of the polluted melt water, with wings on
either side to funnel the water into the trench.
The trench was then filled with metal pallets
containing three different layers of permeable,
reactive materials.
“The first layer contains nutrients
which, when mixed with water, stimulate naturally
occurring microbes that will do the hard work
of digesting the diesel hydrocarbons.
“The second layer contains a
reactive material that captures the hydrocarbons
and holds them long enough for the microbes to
break them down into harmless by-products – water
and carbon dioxide. The third layer catches any
excess nutrients before the filtered water passes
back out into the soil,” Dr Riddle said.
“Work this season will be looking
to measure how effectively the barrier is working
and whether the chemical processes are happening
as we expect.
“We will also be measuring fuel
concentrations in some of the soil that was removed,
and sorted in containers, during the installation
of the barrier. This soil had nutrients added
to enhance bioremediation,” Dr Riddle said.
Aurora Australia departs Hobart
today at 4pm.
Rob Broadfield
NOTE to Picture Editors: High res pics of the
remote cameras (in situ) for are available to
be e-mailed on request from Sally Chambers at
AGAD on sally.chambers@aad.gov.au
