Temperate WA (Kendrick, Babcock, Smale): A cruise was undertaken in collaboration with the University of Western Australian and CSIRO to document benthic assemblages on temperate reefs off the coast of Western Australia in April, 2012. This cruise was the third in a 3 year series of IMOS Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Facility cruises intended to establish a benthic habitat timeseries along the Eastern and Western coasts of Australia. These surveys have been repeated annually for three years. Surveys were conducted off Rottnest Island, Jurien Bay, and the Abrolhos Islands. Sites were surveyed at each location spanning three depths (15 m, 25 m, 40 m), both inside and outside MPAs, with three 25 m x 25 m full photo coverage quadrants devoted to each site. Site locations targeted kelp beds and were provided by the science party. The locations of individual quadrants within each site were selected to repeat surveys conducted in 2010 and 2011. Additional scientific operations carried out during the cruise consisted of CTD casts.

The objectives of the work in SE Queensland (Nov. 2011) was to revisit dive sites inside and outside of a green zone offshore of Moreton Island. There were a few issues associated with working on a small vessel and on the final day of operations the AUV was lost in part due to the vessel not having sufficient fuel to stay on station when the vehicle did not surface on the completion of its dive. An extensive search was conducted over the following three days using Coast Guard vessels and aerial search but the AUV was not located. Two weeks later the vehicle washed ashore some 100km to the North of the site where it was last seen. It had sustained relatively little damage but this incident highlights the vulnerability of the Facility to the loss of its one asset. An ARC LIEF proposal has been submitted to support the development of multiple, smaller AUVs to help maintain the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Facility observing program

SE Queensland – Moreton Island (Babcock): Dive sites were selected inside and outside of a green zone offshore of Moreton Island. A broad grid was completed at each site and three dense grids completed in each of the depth bands 15‐20m, 20‐25m and 25‐30m. There was insufficient ship time available to deploy at other sites in the region where kelp has been documented, including in deeper waters and further north. Sites for targeted dredging, sub-bottom profiling and AUV imaging were then selected for detailed study of particular features. All activities were undertaken during a 21-day cruise aboard the R/V Southern Surveyor, Australia's Marine National Facility operated by CSIRO. The study of these structures may yield insights regarding potential future sea level changes and their potential impact on sensitive reef areas such as the GBR.

Solitary Islands (Barrett, Jordan, Hayes): Dives in the Solitary Islands were focused on surveying reef habitats around the Solitary Island Marine Park. The surveys were conducted as part of a collaboration between the IMOS Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Facility, the National Environment Research Program (NERP) Theme 1 - National monitoring, evaluation and reporting and NSW DPI Fisheries. Dives focused on a number of reefs in 20 m to 60 m of water depth and consisted of both dense 25 m x 25 m full photo quadrants designed to allow repeat surveys over years and broader surveys up to 2km in length to document habitat distributions over broader scales. Additional scientific operations carried out at these sites include multibeam bathymetry, towed video and Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS).

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Sirius (IMOS Platform code: SIRIUS) was part of a three week research cruise in September 2007 aboard the R/V Southern Surveyor documenting drowned shelf edge reefs at multiple sites in four areas along the Great Barrier Reef. Sirius documented relic reefs up to 20k years old formed during previous ice ages when sea levels were up to 100m lower than today. Broad scale bathymetric mapping was used to confirm if the reefs are consistent geomorphic features and to define patterns of past reef growth. Sites for targeted dredging, sub-bottom profiling and AUV imaging were then selected for detailed study of particular features. All activities were undertaken during a 21-day cruise aboard the R/V Southern Surveyor, Australia's Marine National Facility operated by CSIRO. The study of these structures may yield insights regarding potential future sea level changes and their potential impact on sensitive reef areas such as the GBR.

GBR Queensland (Doherty): In the Great Barrier Reef the program is focused on seagrass beds in the middle of the GBR lagoon to understand how their abundance is affected by upwelling coming through the Magnetic and Palm Passages and on deepwater coral reefs on the outer GBR. Although there is extensive monitoring of shallow water reefs along the extent of the GBR, there has been relatively little opportunity to monitor deeper reefs. Understanding the nature of these deepwater reefs may provide important insights into the resilience of the GBR to stresses such as changing temperatures, ocean acidification, cyclones and nutrient influx from the coast. Surveys of the seagrass beds in the lagoon, which were designed to revisit sites surveyed using towed video ten years ago, and at Myrmidon Reef on the outer GBR were completed during July 2011 to establish benthic reference sites in this area.

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Sirius (IMOS Platform code: SIRIUS) surveyed benthic habitats around the Sir Joseph Banks Island group in South Australia during June 2008 as part of an IMOS-funded research effort led by the Department of Environment and Heritage South Australia (DEH SA). The island group is being considered for the establishment of a marine park and the objective of the cruise was to document the surrounding benthic habitats. The imagery collected by the AUV will be used to validate habitat assessment to be made with sidescan sonar surveys.