Benthic imagery and light attenuation data from Paluma Shoals, Halifax Bay, Great Barrier Reef, 2016

This dataset consists of underwater benthic imagery and measurements of light attenuation taken from Paluma Shoals in the Coral Sea following a 2016 El Niño coral bleaching event. Data were collected between 09 and 11 August 2016. Benthic imagery was captured using a SeaViewer Sea-Drop™ Camera (950 Analog model) on 10 August 2016. Light attenuation measurements were taken using a LiCOR LI-192SA Light Meter deployed at a range of depths below the sea surface. These cruises formed the field component of NERC Discovery Science project "Quantifying ENSO-related bleaching on nearshore, turbid-zone coral reefs grant story”. The data were collected following a major El Niño event which caused mass coral bleaching across the Great Barrier Reef. The event provided opportunity to undertake a rapid assessment of the impacts of bleaching on the turbid-zone reefs in the vicinity of Paluma Shoals (central Halifax Bay). The aim of the project is to ascertain: 1) The total extent of bleaching-induced mortality; 2) The extent to which specific coral species have been impacted; 3) Any immediate impacts on the structural complexity and diversity of the reefs. The Discovery Science project was composed of Standard Grant NE/P007694/1. The grant was held by the University of Exeter, School of Geography and led by Professor Christopher Perry. The funding period ran from 01 July 2016 to 31 March 2017. All data described have been received by BODC from the RRS James Clark Ross and will be processed and made available online in the future. Raw data are available on request. No further data are expected from this project.

2005 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA7 Survey - Biological, physical and chemical sampling survey report. ERT 1320 (NE Atlantic west of Scotland)

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA7 an environmental survey was carried out from the SV Kommandor Jack. The aim of the survey was to acquire seabed samples for biological, physical and chemical analysis together with video and digital stills photography to ground truth the geophysical data and enable a general characterisation of seafloor habitats and community types present within the SEA7 area. The area sampled included Anton Dohrn Seamount, Rockall Bank, Hatton Bank, George Bligh Bank and Rosemary Bank. This report provides a log of the field sampling work undertaken for SEA7, in particular the biological, physical and chemical sampling.

Five benthic image sets acquired during cruises JC241 and JC257 in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (Pacific Ocean, 2023-2024)

Two collections of benthic still images were obtained using a downward-looking camera mounted on the UK ISIS Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), deployed from the RRS James Cook during cruise JC241, 2023. Three further benthic still image collections were acquired using the UK Autosub5 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), deployed from the RRS James Cook during cruise JC257, 2024. All surveys were undertaken in the abyssal plain of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), Pacific Ocean (~4100-4700 m depth). The Grasshopper2 GS2-GE-50S5C camera system was mounted on each vehicle and captured vertically orientated still images at a target altitude of 2.5 - 3 m above the seabed. One ROV survey from JC241 was undertaken to assess benthic biological patterns in an area disturbed by a deep-sea mining machine operated by the Ocean Minerals Company (OMCO) in 1979. The second ROV survey from JC241 and one AUV survey from JC257 was undertaken in the UK-1 exploration area. The second AUV survey from JC257 was undertaken 30 km south of the northern border of the UK-1 exploration area. The third AUV survey from JC257 was undertaken 100 km south of the northern border of the UK-1 exploration area. The surveys were undertaken to derive ecological understanding on the influence of seabed topography on seabed community composition. The data were collected by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK as part of the NERC-funded Seabed Mining And Resilience To EXperimental impact (SMARTEX) project (NE/T003537/1).

2003 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA6 Biological, physical and chemical sampling survey report, ERT 1200. Kommandor Jack samples (Irish Sea)

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment for Area 6 (SEA6) an environmental survey was carried out from Kommandor Jack during October 2003. The aim of the survey was to acquire seabed and water samples for biological, physical and chemical analysis together with video and digital stills photography to ground-truth the geophysical data ans enable a general characterisation of seafloor habitats and community types present within a number of offshore areas containing pockmarks and shallow gas seeps within the Irish Sea. The areas surveyed were: St Georges Wall; Yuan's Pockmarks; Pisces Reef; Texel 11, Codlings Extension; Harvey's Trench; Texel 10. This report provides a log of the field sampling work undertaken.

2004 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA6 Kommandor Jack SEA6 Survey C (or Leg 3) - seabed sampling survey with photography (Irish Sea)

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA6) a seabed survey was carried out. The survey comprised photography and seabed sediment and water sampling. The purpose of these surveys was to shed light on the distribution and extent of methane-derived autigenic carbonate (MDAC) in the Irish Sea. 942 photographs are available. Cruise report is available.

2004 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA5 Seabed and superficial geology and processes, BGS Report CR/04/064N (North Sea)

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report reviews published and newly-acquired seabed geological data in an area of 78,000 square kilometres extending from the coast to more than 200 m water depth to the east of the British Isles. While it can be argued that the modern environment is a product of past environmental conditions, the basis for the review is also that our understanding of the modern environment can be significantly improved if new techniques, data and ideas are applied to a revision of the existing research knowledge. The purpose of the review is to place the characteristics of the seabed features that were surveyed by the DTI in 2003, and the processes forming them, into an improved understanding of their historical, local and regional context. In this way a strong element of the review is to include the results from exploration and discovery. The survey data included multibeam, sidescan sonar, seismic-reflection profiles, sea floor photographs and samples.

High-resolution bathymetry, seafloor texture maps, and colour corrected images collected by the INSITE ATSEA programme - 2022

The dataset contains BioCam visual seafloor mapping device from data collected between 23rd September to 5th October 2022. These data were collected by the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) as part of the INSITE (Influence of man-made structures in the ecosystem) AT-SEA (Autonomous Techniques for anthropogenic Structure Ecological Assessment NE/T010649/1) project. Two shore-launched Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) deployments were conducted in the North Sea, at the site of the decommissioned North West Hutton oil platform and Miller platform. These data include colour corrected strobed images, and cm-resolution bathymetry maps and texture maps. These data were collected using the BioCam seafloor mapping device mounted to the 6000 m rated Autosub Long Range (ALR). To collect colour imagery, a strobe was mounted at the front and another one at the back of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and were used to illuminate the seafloor when the colour camera of BioCam, mounted at the centre of the AUV, acquired those images once every 3 s. The strobed colour images were stored in raw format along with their timestamps. A line laser mounted at the front and another one mounted at the back of the AUV projected lines onto the seafloor at the same time. The lasers were permanently on, except when the strobes were triggered, when they were briefly turned off to avoid projecting the laser lines onto the strobed colour photos. Images of the laser line projection were acquired at 10 Hz and saved along with their timestamps. Post mission, the strobed images were colour corrected with an algorithm implemented in oplab-pipeline in post processing. Bathymetric data were computed using the laser line images that were processed with a light-sectioning algorithm published by Bodenmann, Thornton and Ura (2016). Texture maps were generated by projecting the colour-corrected images onto the 3D reconstructed bathymetry as detailed by Bodenmann, Thornton and Ura (2016).

2001 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA2 North Sea Survey Leg-2 Cruise Report, (Kommandor Jack)

This report describes fieldwork operations of the North Sea Strategic Environmental Survey, Leg 2 conducted from S/V Kommandor Jack between 05 May and 21 May 2001 as part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA2. The survey objectives were to carry out quantitative seabed sampling and seabed photography in three distinct areas: Area 1 - sand bank / wave study areas, off the Norfolk coast; Area 2 - Dogger Bank transects; Area 3 - South Fladen pockmark study areas. Contains brief description of seabed appearance and fauna. 269 samples were collected.

2006 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA7 Survey, August 2006. Biological, physical and chemical sampling survey report (Faroe Shetland Channel)

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Strategic Environmental Assessment project for Area 7 (SEA7) and environmental survey was carried out from the RV Pelagia in the Faroe Shetland Channel. The aim of the survey was to acquire seabed samples for biological, physical and chemical analysis together with video and digital stills photography to ground truth the geophysical data and enable a general characterisation of seafloor habitats and community types present within the SEA7 area. This report provides a log of the field sampling work.

2003 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA5 Wessex Explorer SEA5 Survey - seabed sampling, video and geophysical survey (North Sea)

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) a geophysical survey was undertaken on Wessex Explorer as part of a geophysical survey and seabed sampling on shallow sand bank areas in the Southern North Sea off the Norfolk Coast; in particular Race Bank, Docking Shoal and Ower Bank. Multibeam and sidescan sonar data were collected. The survey comprised seabed sampling, video and geophysical survey on shallow sand bank areas in the Southern North Sea off the Norfolk Coast; in particular Race Bank, Docking Shoal and Ower Bank. The survey objectives were to collect geophysical data, conduct quantitative seabed sampling and gather video footage of the seabed in the vicinity of selected sand banks with a view to better understanding the complex sediment transport processes at work in the area. An additional objective was to collect seabed samples and video footage for subsequent identification and assessment of benthic habitat. 3 processed gridded multibeam files are available. Navigation and tide data and cruise reports are also available.

Seabed photography