Surveys
Subtidal Benthic Surveys
We conduct both coastal and offshore subtidal benthic surveys around the UK and internationally to assess the potential impact of marine developments.
Our field teams have a wealth of experience. Their goals are often to determine the potential impact of marine developments and activities on protected habitats and the infaunal and epibenthic communities they support in sediments and on the seabed.
This includes:
- Subtidal sediments
- Bedrock and stony reefs
- Polychaete worm reefs
- Maerl beds
- Seagrass beds
- Cold-water coral reefs
- Mussel beds
- Deep-sea sponge aggregations
We use a variety of benthic sampling methods to assess these habitats. These include:
- Grab sampling (Day, Hamon, Van Veen and Ekman)
- seabed video
- photography using drop-down cameras, towed arrays or Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)
- Side scan sonar (SSS) and multibeam echosounder (MBES) mapping techniques
Our nearshore surveys are undertaken aboard our MCA Category 2 coded survey vessels Seren Las and Argyll Explorer and third-party offshore vessels are used for sampling in deeper waters.
Projects featuring subtidal benthic surveys
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