Southern French Polynesia expedition
Experience the diverse marine life through the exploration and collection of underwater creatures.
The Southern French Polynesia expedition
During September and October 2014, museum scientists surveyed the shallow water fishes and marine invertebrates of the Austral and Gambier Island Groups. The expedition is a collaborative effort by the Australian Museum, Auckland Museum and Pew Charitable Trusts.
The aim of this expedition is to survey the shallow water biota of the Austral and Gambier Island Groups in the middle of the Pacific Ocean halfway between Australia and South America.
Sally Reader (fishes), Mandy Reid (molluscs), Stephen Keable (marine invertebrates) and Mark McGrouther (fishes) joined forces with scientists from New Zealand on this month-long expedition. A big thank you to Dr Tom Trnski from the Auckland War Memorial Museum, who made this expedition possible by organising the trip.
One of the goals of the project was to fill gaps in our knowledge of the biodiversity of the region and to determine connections to marine populations in the adjacent western Pacific Ocean and indeed further afield into the northern hemisphere.
This project followed on from the very successful 2011 Kermadec Islands Expedition, utilising the same ship and collaborating with many of the same personnel.
