Our forty-ninth treasure, from the Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, is a series of photographs depicting Sir Maurice Yonge's Return to the Reef, in 1978.Trisha Fielding answers the question "why is this significant?"
The highly successful Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928-1929 to Low Isles, far north Queensland, opened up the scientific world to the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef, and laid the foundations of scientific study into modern coral reef biology. Led by distinguished marine zoologist Sir Charles Maurice Yonge (1899-1986), the expedition inspired generations of scientists around the world.
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| Sir Maurice Yonge and Ivan Hauri on Low Isles reef flat. Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, ©Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) |
Fifty years later, in his retirement, Sir Maurice and his wife, Lady Phyllis, visited the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to conduct field work at several sites on the Queensland coast. With the assistance of AIMS personnel Martin Jones, Ivan Hauri and others, the Yonge’s conducted research at various locations in the Palm Islands Group, north of Townsville, including the reef flat between Brisk and Falcon Islands. During this work, the Yonges were accommodated at Orpheus Island Resort.
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Sir Maurice Yonge, Lady Phyllis Yonge, Ivan Hauri and Peter Saw, Orpheus Island Resort. Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, ©Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) |
A series of images captured on 35mm film by AIMS personnel during the Yonge’s 1978 visit provides a unique insight into Sir Maurice Yonge’s undimmed passion for his research. The photos, many of which are in colour, show the 77 year-old scientist wading in knee-deep water on a coral reef exposed by the low tide, collecting samples. Lady Phyllis (a helminthologist), is also pictured getting involved, actually sitting in the shallow water, examining specimens.
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Sir Maurice Yonge and Lady Phyllis Yonge with Ivan Hauri, reef flat between Brisk and Falcon Islands. Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, ©Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
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Lady Phyllis Yonge, reef flat between Brisk and Falcon Islands. Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, ©Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
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| Sir Maurice Yonge, Lady Phyllis Yonge and Ivan Hauri, in the Zodiac. Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, ©Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) |
The trip included a visit to Low Isles, where the expedition Sir Maurice led 50 years before had been conducted. Although he enjoyed visiting Low Isles again, in a subsequent report to AIMS, Sir Maurice noted his disappointment in the state of the reef at Low Isles.
‘I had the opportunity of revisiting Low Isles, off Port Douglas and the scene of the expedition I led 50 years ago and which worked there for 13 months. It was sad to find the reef surface, then the site of the richest possible array of living organisms and a natural experimental aquarium, now almost entirely dead. This appears to be the effect of sediment brought down by the Daintree River following the clearance of rain forest.’
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| Sir Maurice Yonge, Lady Phyllis Yonge and Kay Abel, in the Zodiac. Sir Charles Maurice Yonge Collection, ©Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) |
The success of Sir Maurice Yonge’s expedition to the Great Barrier Reef in 1928 sparked a worldwide obsession with the reef in both scientists and tourists alike. On the one hand, the expedition had the effect of galvanising awareness of the need to work towards conserving the reef and its resources for future generations. But in a sadly ironic twist, the public’s newfound fascination with the Great Barrier Reef paved the way for the exploitation of its resources as tourists flocked to visit the reef, upsetting its delicate ecological equilibrium.
Over the course of 2020, JCU Library's Special Collections will be unveiling 50 Treasures from the collections to celebrate 50 years of James Cook University.
Author BiographyTrisha Fielding is an historian and writer whose published works include the books Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the remarkable lives of North Queensland’s independent midwives 1890-1940, Queen City of the North: a history of Townsville, and the history blogs North Queensland History and Women of the North. She holds a Master of History degree from the University of New England and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from the University of Southern Queensland. Trisha also works part time in JCU Library’s Special Collections.
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