Hi All,

It has been a very hectic last week with the safe arrival of Scarlet Rose last Thursday. Both mum and Scarlet are both doing well and we are all settling into abit of a rhythm at home. As it turns out Lish went into labor on the same day the new One Tree reef cores arrived from their long journey from the reef. I was a bit preoccupied at the time but many thanks to everyone that helped unload the pallet and move the cores into the lab. It is wonderful to have both of our new GRG “babies” now safe and sound!

The One Tree drilling was a very challenging month long campaign but in the end it was highly successful with 12 new cores recovered. We completed transects of multiple holes across the windward and leeward reef flats as well as patch reefs in the lagoon. Over 115 meters of fossil coral reef deposits recovered through the modern or Holocene reef (9-0 ka) and also the previous Last Interglacial reef (~ 125 ka). I want to thank again all those involved for their hard work, including the teams from UQ and QUT.

Work has already started with Scarlet (I am slowly regaining my nappy changing skills!) and we will soon begin work on the new reef cores. Stay tuned.

Jody.