Publication Abstract
- Title
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A detailed survey of Haig Fras
- Publication Abstract
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In 2010, JNCC and Cefas formed a partnership agreement to work together to support national obligations to achieve challenging objectives for marine nature conservation and biodiversity protection. One of the objectives of the first research cruises under the partnership agreement was to survey Haig Fras Site of Community Importance (SCI). Haig Fras SCI was one of the first UK sites to be submitted to Europe as an offshore Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for its reef features.
Haig Fras is a granite exposure situated in the Celtic Sea measuring about 45 km by 15 km and protrudes in patches above the surrounding sediment as a rock platform. The rock is mostly smooth with occasional fissures and faultlines, some containing patchy overlying sediment. In one area it rises to a peak which lies just 40m beneath the sea surface. The surrounding seabed is approximately 100m deep.High resolution multibeam data was collected for the area during two surveys in 2011. An adaptive survey technique was used to maximise the seabed coverage with the aim of obtaining a full coverage high resolution bathymetric map of the area. Backscatter information from the multibeam system was used to inform different seabed substrata. Drop down video and still images were used to ground-truth the acoustic data. Preliminary results indicated that coralline algae and Corynactis viridis were found in shallower parts of the reef while Caryophyllia smithii appeared dominant in deeper waters. The ross coral Pentapora was found to occur in deep rocky areas.
- Publication Internet Address of the Data
- Publication Authors
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Fionnualla McBreen, Matthew Curtis*, Markus Diesing*, Neil Golding, Bill Meadows*, Suzanne Ware* and Paul Whomersley*
- Publication Date
- July 2011
- Publication Reference
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9th International Temperate Reefs Symposium, Plymouth, UK, 26th June - 1st July 2011
- Publication DOI: https://doi.org/
