West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says the disappearance of MH370 has proven a good thing for marine science in the state.
He was speaking at the West Australian State Library as part of the launch for a new blueprint to determine the future of marine science in Western Australia.
But when Mr Barnett tried to highlight positives resulting from the tragic loss of life and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, sighs of disapproval could be heard in the packed lecture theatre.
"Sometimes knowledge can come from unexpected sources," Mr Barnett said.
"We're all conscious of the loss of the Malaysian airline somewhere off our coast a little over a year ago."
The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared over the South China Sea in the early hours of March 8 last year after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing.
There were 239 people on board the flight, thought to be lost in the Indian Ocean, when it went missing.
"And while that is a great human tragedy there will be some good come out of it and the knowledge of the deep sea, and the seabed conditions will probably exceed anywhere in the world because of the scientific effort that is searching for an aircraft but providing all sorts of other information," Mr Barnett said.
The search has uncovered previously unknown large ridges and deep trenches and other geographical features.
"For example, previously unknown volcanoes have been discovered," Mr Barnett said.
"Fresh water lakes and fresh water waterfalls have been discovered, features of the marine bed that many did not believe was likely to exist."
The search for the missing plane has resulted in a survey of an area of the Indian Ocean that was until recently largely uncharted, prompting claims there were better maps of Mars than that part of Earth.
"And that knowledge largely collected by the Malaysian government will become available," Mr Barnett said.
"There is much yet to be learnt about our coastline and the species of both plant and marine life that live there."
