Bay Scale Assessment of Eelgrass Beds Using Sidescan and Video - Bouctouche
The assessment of the status of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds at the bay-scale in turbid, shallow estuaries is problematic. The bay-scale assessment (i.e., tens of km) of eelgrass beds usually involves remote sensing methods such as aerial photography or satellite imagery. These methods can fail if the water column is turbid, as is the case for many shallow estuaries on Canada’s eastern seaboard. A novel towfish package was developed for the bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds irrespective of water column turbidity. The towfish consisted of an underwater video camera with scaling lasers, sidescan sonar and a transponder-based positioning system. The towfish was deployed along predetermined transects in three northern New Brunswick estuaries. Maps were created of eelgrass cover and health (epiphyte load) and ancillary bottom features such as benthic algal growth, bacterial mats (Beggiatoa) and oysters. All three estuaries had accumulations of material reminiscent of the oomycete Leptomitus, although it was not positively identified in our study. Tabusintac held the most extensive eelgrass beds of the best health. Cocagne had the lowest scores for eelgrass health, while Bouctouche was slightly better. The towfish method proved to be cost effective and useful for the bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds to sub-meter precision in real time.
Cite this data as: Vandermeulen H. Data of: Bay Scale Assessment of Eelgrass Beds Using Sidescan and Video - Bouctouche. Published: November 2017. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/b4c83cd2-20f2-47d8-8614-08c1c44c9d8c
- Publisher - Current Organization Name: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Licence: Open Government Licence - Canada
Data and Resources
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Bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds using sidescan and videoHTMLEnglish guide HTML
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Data DictionaryCSVEnglish French guide CSV
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Bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds using sidescan and videoFGDB/GDBEnglish dataset FGDB/GDB
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Bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds using sidescan and videoTIFFEnglish dataset TIFF
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Bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds using sidescan and videoESRI RESTEnglish web_service ESRI REST
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Bay-scale assessment of eelgrass beds using sidescan and videoESRI RESTFrench web_service ESRI REST
Contact Information
Delivery Point: Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 1 Challenger Drive, PO Box 1006
City: Dartmouth
Administrative Area: Nova Scotia
Postal Code: B2Y 4A2
Country: Canada
Electronic Mail Address: DFO.CESDDataRequest-DSECDemandededonnes.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca