Todd Borgie reporting from Freemantle, Australia: Australian Institute for Marine Sciences   Freemantle, Australia Latitude: 147º 45' E Longitude: 19º 15' S How would you like to scuba dive for a living? At the Australian Institute for Marine Science, scientists like Max Rees spend time in the ocean studying coral and fish off the coast of Western Australia. Their studies are important to helping determine the impact of oil drilling, storms, and other development upon the shores of Australia and other regions. Max spends time mapping the seabed with his little “benthic” vehicle you can see on the left. This vehicle can travel down to depths of 300 meters, something that you and I couldn’t do! This vehicle can swim and cruise around on the ocean floor taking samples or pictures. Coral is also studied here at AIMS. Australia has a lot of coral reefs surrounding it. One of the most well known of these reefs is the Great Barrier Reef on the Eastern side of Australia (we visited it about two weeks ago).  Here, coral spawning habits are being studied. Six-inch (20 cm) square tiles are placed at different depths and areas on the ocean floor. These are left in the ocean for some time. After awhile, they are collected. Then scientists count and document all the different types of coral that are found on the tiles. Their data will give them a better idea of how coral reproduces itself, what areas it likes, and what areas it avoids. In this way they can assess what impact human projects might have on life underwater. Max loves to dive, but comments that working underwater is much different than working on land. "Underwater, you are not able to communicate with the person next to when you have a problem", he describes underwater chalkboard-like tablets they use write back and forth as one means of communications.  Max loves his job, but says one of the best things of his work is taking the last dive of the day for himself.   Through the work of Max and other scientists at AIMS, we are able to understand more about the oceans and the organisms that live in them. As the human population continues to grow and demand more from the planet, we need to understand how our behavior is affecting other organisms. This information needs to guide our future decisions.  Studying the reefs will help guide us toward proper behavior. Do you have a question about the Australian Institute for Marine Science?