SCIENTISTS are calling for volunteer divers to help survey the health of a remote corner of the Great Barrier Reef.

 
Earthwatch Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences are planning a detailed study of the coral reefs surrounding Orpheus Island to assess the extent of coral disease.
Scientists fear the reef around the small island, located around 1200km northwest of Brisbane, is at risk from rising sea temperatures.
Earthwatch Executive Director Richard Gilmore said the study was a unique opportunity for divers to give hands-on help to the scientific community.
"Volunteers will get to experience this unique marine park filled with an unusually wide variety of reef habitats, clam gardens as well as submerged indigenous sites and recent shipwrecks," he said.

"(The study will) help scientists understand more about the factors influencing the health of coral reefs."It's a great way to experience something different, while making a difference to this important World Heritage site."
He said the divers will help survey, tag and photograph diseased areas of the reef, which scientists will then monitor over time.

Walking Under The Ice

It’s the only time you can walk on a frozen lake and not have to worry about the ice breaking.

A group of divers have filmed themselves walking and performing various tasks while upside down under a lake in Finland.
The breathtaking footage, filmed in Lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, Finland, shows the diving team carrying buckets, pushing a wheelbarrow and taking a seat on the frozen barrier.
Divers Eelis Rankka, Tommi Salminen and Jukka Pelttari wore buoyant sealed dry suits, which are inflated with air.
The team then use air bubbles to fill the buckets and wheelbarrow, causing the objects to float to the surface.
But because the team are upside down, the buoyancy functions like gravity, giving the buckets apparent weight and keeping the wheelbarrow steady on the ice.
The video, which was posted five days ago in Finland, is already gaining massive traction on viral news websites.
"This video is going to have a few million views in time..It's just so awesome," a YouTube commenter wrote.
Other viewers from the Northern Hemisphere have quipped that it was filmed in Australia, because of it being upside now.