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CCMA completes year 3 of Caribbean benthic mapping effort.

CCMA completes year 3 of Caribbean benthic mapping effort.

NOAA's CCMA Biogeography Branch recently completed the third year of an ongoing Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) benthic habitat mapping project in the US Caribbean. While working aboard R/V NANCY FOSTER from 3/20/06 to 4/2/06, multibeam sonar bathymetry and backscatter were collected alongside Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) underwater video at depths down to 1000 meters. Summary information from the cruise include the collection of 143.3 square km of multibeam coverage from 14.7 m to 1000.10 m in water depth. Total ROV data for the mission included 22 linear km of video transects from 20 to 830 m water depth. Detailed information about the project, including daily cruise updates, is available on the web at http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/usvi_nps/.

For St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, approximately 81 square km of multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data were collected, ranging from Salt River in the west to Lang Bank in the northeast, and including the primary project area of NPS's Buck Island Reef National Monument. The depth range for St. Croix extended from 15.87 to 1000.10 m in water depth. Four training/ground truthing ROV transects, 5 km in length, were collected at a depth range of 490 to 810 m. Three validation/accuracy assessment ROV transects 4 km in length at a depth range of 490 to 810 m

Approximately, 62.3 square km of multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data was collected for La Parguera, Puerto Rico. The multibeam depth range for La Parguera extended from 14.67 to 984.54 m water depth. Six training/ground truthing ROV transects measuring 7 km in length were collected at a depth range of 20 to 830 m water depth. Five validation/accuracy assessment transects were collected, 6 km in length, at a depth range from 20 to 830 m water depth.

A wide diversity of habitat types were characterized from multibeam and ROV data. Seafloor features included rock precipices, ledges, limestone caves, boulders, rock outcroppings, flat mud, wide (>1 km) deep channels in mud, thin (< 1 m) shallow channels in mud. The biota below 200 m, never visually characterized before, included Lophelia coral, black coral sea whips, feather stars, sea pens, sea anemones, starfish, brittlestars, urchins, sponges, isopods, sea cucumbers, lobsters, shrimps, crabs, conch, Orange Roughys, roundnose grenadiers, tripod fish and several types of snappers.

For more information please contact TimBattista@noaa.gov (NCCOS; 301-713-3028 x 171).