Anthropocene Markers
is anthropogenic - it doesn't exist on its own in nature.Plutonium isotopes can remain in ocean sediments for thousands of years due to their long half-lives, and this week, researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) confirmed plutonium levels in sediment at the Montebello Islands off Western Australia of up to 4,500 times greater than the Western Australian coastline.Three plutonium-based nuclear weapons tests were conducted by the UK at the Montebello Islands in the 1950's. The first, code named Operation Hurricane, had a weapon's yield of some 25kT, and formed a crater in the seabed
Strategic Move Brings Decom Engineering's Base to Aberdeen
larger facility in Marywell Commercial Park from where it has consolidated relationships and secured major projects with UKCS and international operators and contractors.Decom is currently engaged on a wide range of infrastructure removal projects in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Brazil, Nigeria and western Australia.In 2024, the company completed a successful cutting project on the removal of 30” conductors from the decommissioned Brent Charlie platform in the North Sea.“With so many existing and potential clients having a strong presence in the north east of Scotland, strategically it makes
Australian Border Force: Ten Illegal Fishers Found Guilty
to illegally fishing in Australian waters in separate cases at Darwin Local Court on April 29 and 30, 2025. The first case arose from an incident on April 3, 2025, when Australian authorities identified, intercepted and apprehended an Indonesian vessel fishing illegally near Parry Harbor, Western Australia. Authorities seized 420 kg of sea cucumber, 300 kg of salt used to process and preserve catch, and fishing equipment including a 50-meter line with hooks and a trawling device. The crew were detained and transported to Darwin for further investigation by AFMA. ABF seized the vessel
New Alliance Set Up to Boost Australia’s Subsea Sector
of subsea assets requiring to be decommissioned includes over 1,500 wells and structures and 4,500km of pipelines with major opportunities for specialist plugging, cutting, inspection and recovery technologies,“Meanwhile in offshore wind, largely focused on key areas in the South East and Western Australia, there are projects totaling 11GW. The subsea requirement for cables, foundations, survey and protection systems across upwards of 700 turbines provides a significant future opportunity for UK subsea companies,” Gordon concluded
Carbon Dumping
snake, the red necked wallaby. More pertinent to the discussion of offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS), there’s the green sea turtle, pygmy blue whale and the dusky sea snake.It’s these three species that environmental groups say are amongst those under threat at Scott Reef in Western Australia if Woodside’s Browse CCS project goes ahead.The environmental groups call it “carbon dumping” rather than CCS in what could be interpreted as blackwashing, in contrast to the greenwashing that they are accusing Woodside of doing.The news is discussed this week in Marine Technology
Woodside Accused of Greenwashing Over CCS Plans
The Australian government’s call for two weeks of public consultation starting January 2 on Woodside Energy’s plans to sequester CO2 as part of the Browse project off Western Australia has met with opposition from environmental groups. The consultation period enables interested parties to voice their opinion on whether or not an environmental impact statement is required.The proposed Browse carbon capture and storage (CCS) project would capture a compressed CO2 stream from onboard the two FPSOs proposed as part of the Browse to NWS Project. Woodside, as operator, is proposing to develop
Curtin, NASA Tap Ocean Information from Space
and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on a new-generation satellite mission to study the colour of the ocean from space, providing vital information about ocean health and its role in climate regulation.Researchers recently deployed a 15-metre-tall buoy off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, as part of a new project to ensure the data quality for NASA’s newly launched PACE (Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds, Ocean Ecosystems) satellite mission.Professor David Antoine, head of Curtin’s Remote Sensing and Satellite Research Group (RSSRG) in the School of Earth and Planetary
Whale Sharks Beware!
forced to move into cooler environments, and this would make them 15,000 times more likely to collide with ships.The study, published in Nature Climate Change, was led by the Marine Biological Association and co-authored by Associate Professor Ana Sequeira and Dr Mark Meekan, from The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute, and Dr Luciana Cerqueira Ferreira and Dr Michele Thums from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and adjuncts at UWA’s Oceans Institute.“Moving to cooler regions may protect whale sharks from climate change, but we found it can also expose
Australia Conducts First Maintenance of US Nuclear Submarine
time on Friday, a key step by AUKUS partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific, the defense ministers of Australia, Britain and the United States said.Australian personnel trained with the United States and Britain over the past year ahead of the submarine maintenance at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, involving personnel from the three nations."Our navies are committed to reinforcing the same guiding principles within Australia that have allowed the United States and United Kingdom to safely operate nuclear-powered ships for nearly 70 years," the ministers said in a joint statement
February 2025
