Robert Irving spent 6 weeks on Ascension Island in October/November 1985 as joint-leader of the diving expedition Operation Origin.
The main aim of Operation Origin was to survey the near-shore sublittoral habitats all around the island and to catalogue all of the marine life (invertebrates and fishes) we encountered. Emphasis was placed on taking underwater photographs, of which over 2,500 were taken. We were assisted by members of a Joint Services diving expedition who were on the island at the same time.
The results of the expedition were written up as a report (Taylor, J. & Irving, R.A. Operation Origin, Ascension Island 1985. Final Report, vol.1: General. 177 pp, 8 figs., 23 plates) and also published as scientific papers (Irving, R.A. 1989. A preliminary investigation of the sublittoral habitats and communities of Ascension Island, South Atlantic. Progress in Underwater Science 13, ed. W. Farnham, pp 65-78; Irving, R.A. 2013. Ascension Island’s hermatypic but non reef-building corals. In: C. Sheppard (ed.) Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, pp 213-222. Springer). [Back]
