RV Bombora
The RV Bombora is the best purpose-built nearshore marine research vessel in Australia. The vessel is being used for marine research in NSW waters.
The vessel can work in coastal lakes, estuaries, rivers and nearshore waters up to 100 nautical miles offshore. The RV Bombora also has the capacity to travel to Lord Howe Island, which is 350 nautical miles offshore. It can carry up to 10 people and operate under extreme weather conditions.
Bombora means reef or underwater island in the D'harawal language which is local the vessel's home port of Port Hacking.
RV Bombora is owned by the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and was built in 2009 by Steber International, a Taree-based, family-owned and operated company.
Oceanographic studies
While underway, RV Bombora can collect information about water temperature, salinity, currents, chlorophyll content and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM). This information can be used to:
track changes in water quality
map marine productivity
understand impacts of castal river outflows on our coastal habitats
track dispersal of pollutants.
The vessel has the capability to sample water (pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, salinity. temperature, nutrients, plankton) using a carousel of water bottles which can be lowered to 200 metres.
Habitat mapping
RV Bombora is equipped with state-of-the art intruments so it can map the bathymetry and hardness of the seafloor. This is used to generate habitat maps of the seabed which are used to:
better estimate the distribution of seabed structure and marine life
document and monitor community composition and extent of specific habitats
help assess the effectiveness of the Marine Parks system and zoning arrangements.
Habitat maps are produced using a swath system (which maps the seabed in swaths or sweeps), towed underwater cameras and other oceanographic instruments. RV Bombora provides better, high resolution seabed habitat information over a much bigger area than was previously available. Video of the seabed is used to ground-truth the system and identify dominant seabed communities. So far, approximately 840 square kilometres of seabed along the NSW coast has been mapped using this system.
More information
Page last updated: 28 July 2011
