Top spot may form part of reef

RESEARCHERS are on their way to find out if Gardner Bank off Fraser Island may one day form the southern border of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef ends just south of Lady Elliot Island. Researchers are now considering if Gardner Bank near Fraser Island may eventually form the reef’s southern border. Picture: File

RESEARCHERS are on their way to find out if much-loved fishing spot Gardner Bank off Fraser Island may one day form the southern border of the Great Barrier Reef.

James Cook University marine geologist Robin Beaman is leading a joint JCU/University of Sydney research voyage.

The objective is to test whether long-term climate change could see the Great Barrier Reef head further south.

Dr Beaman's team, which departed on Wednesday, will use multi-beam mapping and rock dredging equipment to investigate Gardner Bank.

Dr Beaman said the bank, located off the north-east coast of Fraser Island, was the ideal place for a possible shift from a cool water environment to a warmer-water environment.

It would mean a change from an algal-dominated environment to a coral-dominated one.

"A detailed study of the sediments and marine life there will provide the baseline data to compare against changes in the future," Dr Beaman said.

The research is part of an expedition up the Queensland coast and all the way to Fiji as Dr Beaman and his team also map volcanic seamounts, measure greenhouse gases and marine debris.

The Great Barrier Reef ends near Lady Elliot Island.

Originally published as Top spot may form part of reef