Belgian Scientific Expedition was a scientific survey of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

, conducted in 1967–1968. The Belgian Scientific Expedition to the Great Barrier Reef was a seven month expedition beginning in 1967, sponsored by the University of Liege, Belgium, the Belgium Ministry of Education and the National Foundation for Scientific Research. It indirectly honoured the Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928–1929, which was led by

Maurice Yonge Sir Charles Maurice Yonge, CBE, FRS FRSE (9 December 1899 – 17 March 1986) was an English marine zoologist. Life Charles Maurice Yonge was born in Silcoates School near Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1899 the son of John Arthur Yonge (1865-1946 ...

and a large group of researchers from Europe. This earlier expedition had studied the northern Great Barrier Reef primarily around Low Isles Reef. The 1967 expedition, led by Professor Albert Distèche took place between

Lady Musgrave Island Lady Musgrave Island is a coral cay on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, with a surrounding reef. The island is the second southernmost island in the Great Barrier Reef chain of islands (with the first (southernmost) being Lady Elliot Island). T ...

and

Lizard Island Lizard Island is an island on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (Australia), northwest of Brisbane and part of the Lizard Island Group that also includes Palfrey Island. It is part of the Lizard Island National Park. Lizard Island is within ...

off the coast of Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef. Seventy-five ship's crew, many researchers and guests were involved in the expedition. Its primary objective was to make scientific marine biology films. Ron Taylor, who would become famous for his films and diving work with sharks was one of the cinematographers hired to undertake the underwater filming using a 35mm motion picture camera. The former British warship, the De Moor was utilised for the study by the

Belgian Navy The Belgian Navy, officially the Belgian Naval Component ( nl, Marinecomponent; french: Composante marine; german: Marinekomponente ) of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium. History Early history The Belgian Navy wa ...

. Captain Wally Muller was contracted to guide the De Moor through the

Swain Reefs Swain Reefs is a national park in North Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. It was established in 1995, and covers an area of 0.58 km2. It is managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Fauna Birds Nine small cays, wi ...

and remain with the expedition, on his charter vessel, the Careelah. Coral reef scientists participated in the study as time permitted. The ship would return to shore every 10 days. Among these scientists were David Barnes from the Townsville area and Robert Endean from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. Sir Maurice Yonge would also visit during this expedition, in recognition of his earlier work in 1928. Later studies of the Reef would be conducted and published as part of Project Stellaroid, which surveyed coral reefs in the North Pacific Ocean and their damage by the

Crown of Thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...

starfish.

References

{{reflist * * * * Marine biology Great Barrier Reef