Our knowledge of the world’s oceans is strong along coastal areas, but we live in surprising ignorance of the deep ocean–the largest habitat for life on earth. The Deep Sea Research Centre is committed to expanding our understanding of the deep ocean by discovering new species, assessing marine biodiversity, mapping the ocean floor, and charting deep-sea habitats. We specialise in abyssal (3,000-6,000m) and hadal (6,000-11,000m) depths that represent the deepest 70% of the oceans, the most extreme marine frontiers.
The hadal zone comprises deep trenches formed by tectonic subduction. These extremely deep marine habitats host the deepest 45% of the ocean’s depth range yet comprise many ecologically disjunct ecosystems that differ greatly from the surrounding abyssal plains. Studying these hadal communities poses a series of challenges from access from the surface, environmental gradients at depth, reliable and available technologies, extreme and unknown topography and substrates, to various biological challenges associated with extreme hydrostatic pressure.
The Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre is a multidisciplinary seagoing team based at The University of Western Australia led by marine biologist, engineer and explorer Professor Alan Jamieson.
Inkfish is a marine research organization dedicated to exploring the ocean. With a focus on community involvement, Inkfish engages a global network of specialized researchers and marine enthusiasts, providing programmes and resources to support human and scientific discovery.
The Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre has been supported with a major five-year grant from the Minderoo Foundation’s Flourishing Oceans initiative, as part of its commitment to increasing knowledge of the deep sea and to return the oceans to a healthy, thriving state.
The UWA Oceans Institute brings together the collective strength of the University’s best and brightest researchers into a multidisciplinary, integrated research organisation across oceanography, ecology, engineering, resource management, social sciences and governance.
Armatus Oceanic provides expert consultancy for high-profile projects through scientific research, technology and communications focused on the deep ocean and other extreme marine frontiers.
Our research takes place in Wardan Boodja (Sea Country).
We pay our respects to the past and present Traditional Owners of the land on which our centre resides, the Whadjuk Nyoongar people of Western Australia, and to all the native peoples of the lands and seas on which our researchers work.
For general enquires please email deepsea@uwa.edu.au
Our centre is located on the ground floor of the Botany and Biology building (409) at the University of Western Australia.
We are accessible through carpark 8 via Hackett entry 3.
The University Of Western Australia (UWA), 35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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