Voyage of discovery to Australia's Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Museums Victoria Research Institute (MVRI) is leading a voyage to Australia’s Indian Ocean Territories (IOT) exploring the remote Cocos (Keeling) Islands in October 2022. This is a collaboration with CSIRO’s Marine National Facility RV Investigator, Parks Australia, Bush Blitz, the Australian Museum in Sydney, and the Western Australian Museum.

Documenting Australia’s newest marine park

The Cocos (Keeling) territory is home to one of Australia’s newest marine parks, a vast region of deep abyssal plains, underwater mountains, tectonic ridges and coral atolls. Our voyage will explore life on the seafloor, map the seamounts for the first time, and develop an understanding about how life thrives down in the ocean depths. We will collect all kinds of scientific data that will assist Parks Australia to protect and manage this unique environment.

This voyage is part of Museums Victoria Research Institute’s mission to document Australia’s unknown biodiversity, from our dry deserts to the deepest seas. With over 16 million natural history specimens in our collections, assembled over 170 years, we specialise in describing, mapping, and conserving Australia’s unique natural heritage.

Museums Victoria crew

You can follow the adventure with our Museums Victoria crew on social media.

Dr Tim O’Hara: Instagram and Twitter

Melanie Mackenzie: Instagram and Twitter

Dani Measday: Instagram and Twitter

Dr Dianne Bray: Twitter

Tiffany Sih: Instagram and Twitter

(Dr Martin Gomon, the museum's Senior Curator of Ichthyology is also on board with us, but doesn't do social media)

Voyage live stream

You can keep track of the voyage and see a live stream from the ship.

Visit CSIRO

Investigating the Indian Ocean Territories 2021

RV Investigator set sail from Darwin on 30 June 2021 to investigate underwater volcanos and deep-sea marine life in Australia’s Christmas Island Territory. These are some stories from that voyage.