Discovering Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
澳洲留學-昆士蘭大學帶領全球探索大堡礁
Now thanks to the University of Queensland, even armchair Scientists can enjoy the underwater splendour of Australia’s coral reef ecosystems.
An incredible new website will also let us help with conservation efforts for the Great Barrier Reef – Australia’s precious World Heritage Site.
感謝澳洲昆士蘭大學,讓科學家可以徜徉在大堡礁美麗珊瑚礁海洋生態系統. 更棒的是新的網站設計讓全世界認識澳洲的珍貴世界遺產珊瑚礁與保護工作.
澳洲留學-昆士蘭大學-科學-生物保護學碩士
| Study Sciences at UQ
What course? Master of Conservation Biology Quick look
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Language – English ability IELTS 6.5 overall (with no band score under 6.0). |
Discovering Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is Queensland’s own underwater wonderland.
And now, thanks to a pioneering new research project involving scientists from the University of Queensland, ocean conservationists, diving enthusiasts and couch potatoes all around the world will get to enjoy some virtual diving experience on the reef, revealing more of its secrets than ever before.
大堡礁是昆士蘭的獨特海底樂園。感謝昆士蘭大學研究人員參與的革命性研究計畫，海洋保育學家、潛水客、全球網路使用者將可以享受虛擬珊瑚礁潛水，發掘海洋世界的秘密。
One of the key reasons to choose Australia as a place to study is undoubtedly the country’s natural environment.
選擇到澳洲讀書的關鍵之一就是當地的自然環境。
From lush rain forests to dry grasslands, snowy mountain ranges to vast deserts, Australia has every conceivable natural space, and it has plenty that are beyond imagination.
從茂密雨林到乾燥草地，被雪覆蓋的群山到廣大的沙漠，澳洲擁有每種您可以想像得到的自然景觀，更有許多您想像不到的!
And among Australia’s most unique and important natural assets are the country’s ocean ecosystems. Queensland’s famous Great Barrier Reef attracts thousands of tourists and Australian divers, who come to experience the brilliant colours and amazing sea creatures that live off this series of coral reefs stretching 2,300km.
But as well as these visitors, the coral ecosystem has the constant interest of scientists and conservationists, and now, because of a pioneering scientific study involving the University of Queensland, the chance to discover Australia’s underwater wonderlands is being opened up to people all around the world.
而澳洲獨特的珍貴天然資源中，就包含了澳洲的海洋生態系統。例如知名的昆士蘭大堡礁吸引上千觀光客及澳洲潛水客去體驗那延伸兩千三百公里的珊瑚礁海底世界。
珊瑚礁生態系統不只是吸引觀光客，也受到了科學家及保育學家的注目。現在昆士蘭大學的開創性研究計畫，讓全世界都有機會一窺澳洲的海洋生態樂園。
The Catlin Seaview Survey has been launched online. It’s a project exploiting new technology allowing scientists to study Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef in greater detail, focusing on the health and organic makeup of the living coral. A key player in the project is the Global Change Institute – a leading centre of research attached to the University of Queensland. Leadership for this ambitious research is being provided by the GCI Director, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg, who explains two of the survey’s central goals.
「卡特琳海景調查計畫」目前已經開始在線上運作，此項計畫運用最新科技讓科學家仔細研究昆士蘭大堡礁，注意活珊瑚的健康與有機組成狀況。昆士蘭大學的附屬研究中心「全球變化學院」在這項極具野心的計畫中扮演關鍵角色，該學院院長 Hoegh-Guldberg 是此計畫主導人。以下是他提出的兩個中心目標:
First is the goal of gaining a far better understanding of how the planet’s ocean ecosystems are being affected by climate change. Aiding marine conservation, the survey will establish a solid base of data to inform decision-making on these sensitive environments, reduced over the last 30 years by as much as 50%. Another of the project’s pioneering objectives is allowing a truly global access to knowledge and to the survey itself. With the help of wonderful high-resolution imagery, members of the public are already gaining access to underwater experience. It’s an interface with the survey that organisers hope will cut the distance between knowledge held by specialists in the science world, and that of ordinary members of the public – people who may also live thousands of kilometres away from the coral reefs.
首先是要了解地球的海洋生態系統如何被氣候變遷影響。這個調查將建立完整資料庫，與海洋保育同步協助這些三十年來所減百分之五十的敏感海洋環境。另一項開創性目標是要讓計劃本身在國際上公開。現在，藉由高解析度畫面，一般民眾已經可以與海底世界接觸。計畫主辦人希望能藉由公開這些研究計畫表面，縮短專業知識與大眾之間的距離。
A collaboration with Google Earth & Maps (diving into the sea will be like using Google’s ‘Street View’ feature) is already making the enormous range of undersea images from the Seaview’s special camera available to viewers around the world. It is revolutionary not only because the project enables internet users to become explorers of the reef; as the research takes place, online visitors can also become important participants in the survey’s new discoveries.
Google 地圖與本計畫的合作(潛水只需用Google的”街景”功能)已經讓無數海底影像供全世界觀賞。這項計畫革命性的意義不只在於網路使用者可以成為珊瑚礁探險家，更在於所有線上訪客都可能參與調查。
A visit to the website gets you started – we are immediately drawn into a spectacular undersea environment. Thanks to ingenious, specially-designed underwater cameras, a vivid ocean experience is recreated online. As it explores depths down to 100 metres, the Seaview camera captures a 360 degree view of its surroundings. Some 50,000 images will be made accessible online, where these recordings are rendered as fantastic panoramic images which users can move through as if exploring the reef with a diver’s eye. It’s a truly fascinating ‘virtual dive’ you can make at home. Meanwhile, scientists on the reef use special tablet computers (operational underwater), which form
a vital part of the system because they enable scientists to change camera settings and download images without leaving the ocean, prolonging the research and helping it remain consistent. Below the surface, tablets can control the camera technology, helping guide Seaview’s robot to the right places for specific recordings.
您可以從參觀這個網站開始。一打開頁面，就會發現自己被令人驚豔的海底環境包圍! 感謝高性能水底攝影機，現在您可以線上體驗海洋。這些海景攝影機下潛一百公尺，捕捉三百六十度的周圍環境。約五萬枚影像將會以虛擬全景的模式於網路上公開，使用者在家就可以如潛水般探索珊瑚礁，體驗不可思議的虛擬潛水。而整個作業的關鍵部分則是在珊瑚礁之上──科學家不須離開海面就可以運用特殊的平板電腦(在水中操作)調整攝影機設定、下載影像，因此拉長研究時間、保持作業不中斷。海面下的平板電腦負責控制攝影機，並且引導海景機器人走到正確的地點。
What’s even more impressive is that the system will allow for new visits in the future, enabling the scientists to relocate specific sections of the reef – using geolocation. This will help realise important conservation goals – because when you can revisit an exact location for a future photo-shoot, it is much easier to monitor changes that may be happening along a vast coral reef that’s extremely sensitive to climate change, pollution, fishing and other threats. With the survey’s global audience online, monitoring evidence of change will be much more effective.
更令人驚奇的是，這項計畫未來將可容納新參訪記錄，讓科學家可以運用地理定位重訪珊瑚礁岩的特定區塊。能夠重新抵達定點再次攝影，對於觀察易受氣候、汙染、釣魚及其他威脅影響的珊瑚礁岩有很大幫助。而觀察環境改變跡象的工作也將會受到全球線上使用者的幫助。
So, the first images of the reef are waiting for you to view, already uploaded to the project’s website. It’s early days for the survey but floating through the underwater gardens of the Great Barrier Reef with views of sea life in every direction, it only seems possible to feel engaged with the project, and a deep fascination with its subjects. Perhaps a sign of the project’s successful design and realisation, it seems easy to make the connection between the project’s stated objectives of conservation, exploration, and education, together with a celebration of this beautiful marine environment.
第一批的珊瑚礁影像已經上傳到官方網站，正等著您觀賞。目前計畫還在起步階段，但是漂浮在大堡礁的海底花園中觀看四面八方的美景，無人能不被這個計畫的目標感動。保育、探索、教育的計畫宗旨與直逼眼前的壯觀海景深刻連結在一起，真可以算是這項計畫的大成功了。
(以上圖片皆來自http://www.catlinseaviewsurvey.com/)
Helpful links
With plenty of spectacular imagery, link to Catlin Seaview Survey here
Read more about the Global Change Institute at University of Queensland
Taching staff at UQ:
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