Ascension : Darwin Dive Project Expedition
Submitted by The Islander (Conservation Office) 30.08.2012 (Article Archived on 13.09.2012)

Divers from the Darwin Project carrying out an assessment on Ascension’s marine biodiversity.

Divers from the Darwin Project carrying out an assessment on Ascension’s marine biodiversity.

Assessing Ascension Island’s marine biodiversity

Recently an international team of scientists and naturalists arrived on Ascension Island to spend three intensive weeks photographing, collecting and cataloguing the wide diversity of marine life found in these waters. The expedition, funded by the Darwin Initiative, is being co-ordinated and managed by the Falkland Islands based Shallow Marine Surveys Group (SMSG) and the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI). The effort is supported by the Ascension Island Government and a number of enthusiastic Islanders who are contributing their time and valuable local knowledge. The assistance and cooperation of British Forces South Atlantic Islands has been instrumental in making this endeavour possible at all.

At the time of writing we are one week into the survey with a large number of dives completed already, hours totalling 124 hours underwater, giving the team an excellent idea of the range and nature of the marine habitats surrounding the island and the many different animals to be found here.

Already the team are making new and exciting discoveries. We have new records of several species for Ascension Island, including the Atlantic white spotted filefish and orange frilled file clams. These have been found elsewhere but until now have not been noted here. We have also collected a number of unidentified species, including sponges, sea-squirts and polychaetes (marine worms), some of which could be completely new to science. These specimens will be sent to experts world-wide for identification.

In addition to the dive surveys, a number of projects are underway during the three weeks. These include work on intertidal oysters carried out by Dr Alexander Arkhipkin which will examine the differential growth rates at different sites around the island, a study on the effect of rising ocean temperatures on selected Ascension Island marine life conducted by Dr Simon Morley and work on parasitic fungi by Professor Peter van West. The results of these and other studies undertaken during the course of the survey will be presented in international scientific journals

Although everyone in the team has been busy with the work, all expedition members are thoroughly enjoying the friendliness and hospitality of Ascension Island residents. We welcome anyone interested in the work being done to come and speak with members of the team about the work we are doing. There is usually someone available during each day in the Conservation offices but we also would enjoy speaking to anyone before or after dives. We will also be giving some public talks while we are here and invite all to come along to hear about the work and see some early images taken during the first week of the survey.

Anyone who would like to follow the team as they embark on task of exploring and recording the marine environment around Ascension Island can follow the expedition blog at http://www.smsg-falklands.org/blog  where team members have been posting their experiences and photographs during the 3 week long survey.

By Dr Wetjens Dimmlich, Shallow Marine Surveys Group