University of Southampton OES Undergraduate Falmouth Field Course 2016 - Group 3 databank and initial findings.
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Due to the Fal Estuary’s history of vulnerability with regards to its natural habitats, mapping of these areas is crucial in order to document and reveal important areas of habitat for protection. Mapping of waters West of Black Rock took place on 21/06/16 by Group 3.
Research Aim: To create a habitat map of a section of the Fal Estuary, west of Black Rock.
Habitat Mapping - Xplorer
- 4 parallel line transects 100m apart using Dual Frequency Side Scan Sonar (410kHz) to characterise the seabed, using SURFER 8 and Google Earth to create track plots.
- Van Veen Grab deployed at the end of line 1 and start of line 2 (32725.2 m N, 182655.6 m E), analysed sediment type and identified species present.
- Video camera lowered (32651.7 m N, 182751.6 m E) at SE to line 2 and drifted to 362601.4 m N, 182769.4 m E) at 10:21 UTC with the camera pointing forward and slightly downwards. Second video at 32183.7 m N, 183014.0 m E at 10:39 UTC with same camera angle. Species identification at intervals of 60s.
Limitations of methods
- Video: drift instead of along transect lines or any parallel path, camera angle might distort image.
- Grab: only 1 grab is not representative, very little grab content.
- Transect: interpretation of sonar print-out difficult, many points where things can go wrong (identifying features, calculations, transferring to track plot).
Methodology
Navigate to: Observations
Environment Parameters (21/06/16)
Cloud Cover - 7 octants
Air Temperature - 17°C
Wind Speed - 17 knots
Wind Direction - SW
Precipitation - None
Sea State - 2
High Tide - 05:41, 17:55 UTC
Low Tide - 12:07 UTC