PHOTOGRAPHY
Video Cameras and Housings. Five units. Each set consists of a Sony HDR-HC9 HD video camera and a matching HC9 Ocean Images housing, which are pressure rated to 120ft / 40m depth. Each housing has a set of lights (including battery case and two 1ft / 35cm arms on either side of the battery case; not in the picture).

Still Cameras with Video Capability and Housings. Three units. The Sony DSC-W200 cameras have a maximum resolution of 12Mpix and among the features of the cameras are that both aperture and exposure can be set manually, important for highly variable conditions in subtidal environments. The Sony WPK-WP housings are pressure rated to 120ft / 40m depth.

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page authorised by

Stephen Swearer

Time Lapse Cameras. Four units. The Harbortronic DigiSnap 2000 units are solar powered and weatherproof and can run autonomously for deployments of up to several months. The units are equipped with Pentax K110, digital SLR cameras with a maximum resolution of 10Mpix. The frequency of image capture and the time of operation can be programmed before deployment.

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OCEANOGRAPHY
Minibat. The Minibat is equipped with a DS5X Hydrolab and a towed video system with illumination for benthic habitat surveys. The minibat can be programmed to sample at a fixed depth or tow-yo up to a maximum depth of 20m. The Hydrolab is equipped with temperature, salinity, DO, turbidity, and chlorophyll sensors.

ADCPs. Four units. 1MHz Nortek Aquadopp Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs). These include stainless steel moorings and aluminium cover plates for each ADCP and external battery pack. Each unit has maximum depth range of 20m and a minimum depth resolution of 40cm. The external battery packs allow for long (up to 6 months) deployments.

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OTHER ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Hydrophone. Underwater recording and playback equipment. The unit consists of an omnidirectional CRT C55RS hydrophone, which has a flat response from 0.016 to 250kHz, a CRT transducer, an IO Tech PDaq2005 data recorder and a splash water resistant tablet laptop for use in the field. Recordings can be made ranging from seconds to hours and for any frequencies within the response range of the hydrophone. Recordings can be broadcasted underwater using either a Lubell LL916 speaker or one of two laboratory owned units of a Lubell UW30.

Transect Sonar. One unit. The XIOS EyeSea sonar allows for the determination of distance and directionality of underwater transects. The unit consists of two separate devices, and base station, emitting a signal, and a wrist mounted unit, receiving the signal. Straight line underwater transects become possible without rope, chain or other implements, greatly improving the efficacy of Underwater Visual Census (UVC) due to minimal equipment and great accuracy.

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IMAGE ANALYSIS
Microscopy and Digital Imaging Facility. The facility is comprised of two Olympus BX51 compound microscopes and three Olympus stereo microscopes, a Spot Flex X Mpixel colour digital video camera and Image Pro Plus software. The system is used primarily for otolith dissection and microstructure analysis as well as for generating publication quality images of plankton and larval fish.

OTOLITH ANALYSIS
Otolith Preparation Lab. Otolith Preparation Lab. The Lab consists of two rooms, one room for otolith embedding and sectioning, equipped with two low-speed diamond saws, hotplates, and a microscope, and one clean room for otolith polishing and cleaning, equipped with a Class 100 laminar flow cupboard, a fume hood, Sartorius balances, a Millipore high-purity water system, an SBT polishing wheel, an SBT multilap polishing fixture, and an Olympus compound microscope. Samples are prepared in the clean lab primarily for trace-element analysis by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) within the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

LA-ICP-MS. This facility is based in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne. In consists of custom-built excimer laser ablation system coupled to an Agilent ICP-MS. The Swearer Lab has over 15 years of experience in LA-ICPMS analysis of fish otoliths and frequently collaborates with researchers from other Australian and overseas institutions on applications of otolith chemistry.

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FACILITIES TO STUDY BEHAVIOUR OF FISH LARVAE
Flow Tank. A horizontal flume measuring 200 x 20 x 20cm. The working area is equipped with 5 separate swim lanes and motorized propeller can be adjusted to achieve speeds between 2-50cm/s. The tank is used for measuring maximum swimming speeds and swimming durations for larval fish.

Choice Tank.Two choice tanks measuring 250 x 30 x 20cm. These are y-maze tanks used for assessing larval/juvenile fish responses to olfactory cues.

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Vertical Flume. The vertical flume is 3m high and has a diameter of 30cm. It has three separate sections that can be closed off and drained independently. This tank is used to assess responses by larval fish to changes in light, temperature, and salinity with depth.

Pressure Tank. The pressure tank is 1m tall and x cm in diameter. It can be pressurized safely to an equivalent depth of 20m. It is used to assess depth preferences of larval fish.

TRANSPORT
D-Mac. The RV 'D-Mac', named after Professor David Macmillan, a former Head of Department and member of the marine biology and physiology research group, is one of three vessels available for research to the Swearer Lab. Owned by the Department, it is powered by a 135hp Honda four-stroke. The boat is used for transport of heavy and / or bulky equipment and for the majority of research on the open coast. The hull consists of sealed pontoons, which give the boat an increased stability on the water, decreasing the lateral lean angle, e.g., when heavy equipment is moved over the sides of the boat with the winch. Due to this construction the D-Mac is unsinkable. One of the two people accredited to command the D-mac is Dean Chamberlain, the current research assistant of the Swearer Lab, the other is John Ahern, the diving and boating officer of the Department of Zoology.

Altadore. The RV 'Altadore' is the work horse of field research in the Swearer Lab. The 6.5m rigid hull inflatable is equipped with a Yahama four-stroke 60hp engine and due to its agility and easy use it is the vessel of choice for the majority of research undertaken within the lab.

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Tamboon. The RV 'Tamboon', a 5m Clarke with a 50hp Evinrude four-stroke outboarder, is mainly used in Freshwater environments.

Hilux 2 x 4. The red Hilux is the primary people mover of the Swearer Lab. Its 2.7l 4-cylinder engine is capable of towing and launching Altadore from boat ramps.

Hilux 4 x 4.The white Hilux is the heavy duty car of the Swearer Lab. Its 3.4l 6-cylinder engine it is capable of towing the D-Mac and beach launching. 

DIVE FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
SCUBA units. Five units. The units include BCDs and regulators, equipped with primary and secondary stages, dive computers, and compasses.

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Drysuits. Three units in two sizes. These DUI CF200 suits enable research in temperate waters all year round. Several of the regulators are equipped with additional inflator hoses for these suits.

Other dive gear. A variety of other gear is available for researchers working in the Swearer Lab. Weight belts, masks, gloves, boots and fins are kept in the dive locker at the Department of Zoology to enable visiting or other researchers to conduct subtidal work on SCUBA. Tanks are also available, in a variety of sizes and materials. Currently the Swearer Lab has at all times access to 4 12l aluminium tanks, 8 12l steel tanks and 4 9l steel tanks.

Dive locker. The Dive Locker of the Department of Zoology is the central storage facility for all diving and boating gear. It contains the First Aid and oxygen kits, boating equipment, cleaning basins, drying racks and lockers for individual researchers to keep field and dive gear. The tank room is in a separate room and consists of the storage racks for tanks and the filling station. Three banks and a compressor are used to fill the tanks needed for work on site.

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FIELD GEAR
Light traps. Ten units. The traps were based on the AIMS design, but have been equipped with ultrabright LED light sources and infrared sensors for automatic and continuous operation at night.  

Nets, floats, buoys. There is a large range of field equipment in use in the Swearer Lab, including a variety of nets, floats, buoys, eskies, waders and other gear. The nets are used not only for subtidal work, but include Seine and Fyke nets for use in estuarine and freshwater environments. Hand nets and 20l bait trap nets are on the one end of the size scale, some of the Fyke nets, 1.5m by 1.5m opening with detachable 5m x 1.5m wings, are on the other. The lab also has a range of Plankton nets of different diameters and mesh sizes available for sampling small plankton to larval fish.

Artificial Reefs. The Swearer Lab is currently undertaking research on 24 artificial reef units, two arrays of 12 reefs deployed in two locations in Port Phillip Bay. The reefs are 1m x 1m x 70cm and are constructed of plastic crates filled with bricks, arranged in an aluminum frame, covered with a sheet of PVC, and deployed on sandy bottom in 9m depth, >500m from the nearest natural reefs. The reefs can be reconfigured to manipulate size, shelter availability, and the ratio of perimeter to edge.

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