South Java Deep-Sea Biodiversity Expedition

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South Java Deep-Sea Biodiversity Expedition

Join our scientists as they explore the deep ocean off the south-west coast of Java with scientists from Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) on board the research vessel Baruna Jaya VIII….

The South Java deep-sea biodiversity expedition—SJADES 2018—sets sail from Jakarta on 23 March 2018, to the deep waters off the southwestern coast of Java via the Sunda Strait.

This is the first time that researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) are working together to elucidate the biodiversity of the seafloor in this poorly known area off the coastlines of Pelabuhan Ratu and Cilacap.

Over the 14-day expedition on the Indonesian research vessel Baruna Jaya VIII, scientists plan to collect numerous samples of deep-sea marine creatures which are hard to obtain and rarely accessible, from depths up to 2,000 metres with various equipment.

The expedition will focus on a variety of organisms – Crustacea (crabs and prawns), Mollusca (shells), Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish), Polychaeta (worms), Echinodermata (starfish and urchins), and fishes. This first-of-its-kind deep-sea expedition between the two countries is in support of RISING50, a celebration of 50 years of friendship and collaborations between Singapore and Indonesia.

The expedition is led by Professor Peter Ng, Head of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum of the National University of Singapore (NUS), and Dr Dwi Listyo Rahayu, Senior Research Scientist at the Research Center for Oceanography (RCO) of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

The NUS research team comprises scientists from the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory, Tropical Marine Science Institute (SJINML-TMSI) and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM), together with researchers from the Research Center for Oceanography of Indonesian Institute of Sciences (RCO-LIPI).

Follow SJADES 2018 on: https://www.facebook.com/stjohnsislandmarinelab

Official Link to LKCNHM at https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/research/sjades2018

Check out Straits Times coverage at http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/singapore-indonesia-team-sets-off-to-explore-deep-seas-off-western-java

Checkout ChannelNewsAsia coverage at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/nus-researchers-embark-on-first-deep-sea-expedition-in-west-java-10068456