Conducting nationwide plankton surveys at 10 major ports as part of a national biosecurity monitoring program

Biosecurity Plankton Sampling

Protecting the ocean from invasive species is critical, especially in waters around Australia’s ports. Taking on the task of port monitoring, the client engaged us to carry out plankton surveys at major ports across Australia as part of a national biosecurity monitoring program.

Our team conducted sampling using standard operating procedures and analyzed findings for marine pests using molecular (DNA) identification techniques. Weather posed the greatest challenge since the work could only take place in good conditions. Other challenges included coordinating and mobilizing multiple teams, working around busy port schedules, and managing sample preservation and shipping from remote locations.

Having delivered similar inshore and offshore multidisciplinary sampling programs in many of these port areas before—including previous marine pest surveys—we could conduct these surveys successfully within a tight timeframe.