He resigned in 1925 to become scientific director of the Great Barrier Reef Investigation Committee. Between April and August 1926 he was supervising the sinking of a bore on Michaelmas Reef near Cairns, and he returned to Sydney in August intending to visit Japan in connexion with the third Pan-Pacific Science Congress.
In 1925, he resigned from his role as scientific director for the Great Barrier Reef Investigation Committee. From April through August 1926, he was overseeing the construction of a bore on Michaelmas Reef near Cairns; subsequently, intending to attend the third Pan-Pacific Science Congress in Japan, he returned to Sydney in August.