Surveys and monitoring undertaken at Darwin Mounds Special Area of Conservation (SAC); Whittard Canyon submarine complex; Haig Fras Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ)

Fauna abundance per unit area of the bed; Habitat characterisation; Habitat extent; Bathymetry and Elevation; Macroalgae generic abundance in water bodies; Side-scan sonar; Salinity of the water column; Temperature of the water column; Acoustic backscatter in the water column; Transport in the water column; Electrical conductivity of the water column; Coral infection and damage; Raw current meter output parameters; Seabed photography

Multi-beam echosounders; benthos samplers; cameras; unconsolidated sediment corers; acoustic backscatter sensors; CTD; water body temperature sensor; current meters; sediment traps

A collection of geophysical and oceanographic data from several cruises dedicated to the repeated mapping and monitoring of three UK Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Data were collected on the following cruises between 2018-2023: JC166/7, DY103, DY108/9, DY120, DY116, DY130, JC231, DY152, JC237, JC238, JC247. Data collection took place at three UK MPAs: Haig Fras Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) in the Celtic Sea; Whittard Canyon submarine complex, which includes The Canyons MCZ, situated off the south-west UK continental shelf; Darwin Mounds Special Area of Conservation (SAC), situated in the northern Rockall Trough. An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) was used to collect photographic data, sidescan sonar and multibeam bathymetry. Other data included shipboard multibeam bathymetry data; moored ADCP, CTD and sediment trap datasets from repeat mooring deployments; deep glider data; ROV video, pushcores and specimen samples; settling plate experiments; box-cores and mega cores; BioCam imagery. The MPAs under investigation had previously been surveyed on cruises JC035 (2009) and JC125 (2015), hence these cruises formed part of the Fixed Point Observations Underpinning Activity. Here repeated observations and surveys of MPAs and their surroundings aimed to provide insight into the development and recovery of benthic ecosystems following natural and/or anthropogenic impacts. The data collection was undertaken by scientists at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and formed part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (CLASS) Programme (NERC grant reference NE/R015953/1).

British Oceanographic Data Centre
Joseph Proudman Building 6 Brownlow Street
Liverpool
Merseyside
L3 5DA
United Kingdom