This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents observations from underwater video collected in the Offshore of Tacoma, Washington, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Map Series. To validate the interpretations of sonar data in order to turn it into geologically and biologically useful information, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) towed a camera sled over specific locations throughout the Tacoma map area to collect video and photographic data that would “ground truth” the seafloor. The ground-truth survey conducted in the Tacoma map area occurred in 2009 and 2011 on the R/V Karluk (USGS field activity K109PS, and K0111PS) and on the Washington State Department of Fish and Game R/V Molluscan in 2011 and 2012 (USGS field activity M0111PS, M0112PS, and M0212PS). The camera sled was towed 1 to 2 m above the seafloor at speeds of between 1 and 2 nautical miles/hour. The surveys for this map area includes approximately 30 hours (47 trackline km) of video.

The Vlaming Basin survey (GA survey # 334) was conducted under the Nation CO2 Infrastructure Plan (NCIP) on the MV Southern Supporter between the 12th to the 21st April 2012, with technical support provided from Fugro. The survey obtained geological (sedimentological, geochemical, geophysical) and biological data to support assessments of offshore acerage release areas for potential CO2 storage, and investigate the relationships between the physical environment and associated biota for biodiversity prediction. The purpose of the survey was to contribute to the assessment of the Vlaming Sub-basin for containment risk, as well as complement and validate interpretation of seismic data in the same area. Underwater footage was collected from 12 stations, although quality varies between sites and among transect lines. Video folders are named according to station number, followed by gear code (CAM=Ray Tech Underwater system), then the deployment number, and followed by region. For example, 12CAM02_D1 represents a video transect from station 12 that was the 2nd video transect of the survey and located in area region D1. Multiple files within transect folders indicate location metadata (Start of line location). In addition, USBL (Ultra-short baseline) text files located in the same folder provide continuous navigational information on location, time (UTC) and depth of each video transect line.

In October 2019, opportunistic mapping and imagery of the Wessel Marine Park on the RV Investigator revealed a localised band of high biodiversity linked to a unique and culturally important geomorphological feature in the otherwise uniform seascape prevalent in the Wessel Marine Park. Our findings help contribute to an understanding of the values of a northern marine park, including an inventory of communities and habitats as well as potential relationships to geomorphic features and culturally important sites. This has national significance to the implementation of the northern marine park management plan, as well as informing future monitoring programs in northern Australia. Citation: Przeslawski R, Beaman R, Fava L, Nichol S, Woehler E, Yule C (2020). Wessel Marine Park: Post-Survey Report for INV2019T02. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia.

In October 2019, opportunistic mapping and imagery of the Wessel Marine Park on the RV Investigator revealed a localised band of high biodiversity linked to a unique and culturally important geomorphological feature in the otherwise uniform seascape prevalent in the Wessel Marine Park. Our findings help contribute to an understanding of the values of a northern marine park, including an inventory of communities and habitats as well as potential relationships to geomorphic features and culturally important sites. This has national significance to the implementation of the northern marine park management plan, as well as informing future monitoring programs in northern Australia. Citation: Przeslawski R, Beaman R, Fava L, Nichol S, Woehler E, Yule C (2020). Wessel Marine Park: Post-Survey Report for INV2019T02. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia.

In October 2019, opportunistic mapping and imagery of the Wessel Marine Park on the RV Investigator revealed a localised band of high biodiversity linked to a unique and culturally important geomorphological feature in the otherwise uniform seascape prevalent in the Wessel Marine Park. Our findings help contribute to an understanding of the values of a northern marine park, including an inventory of communities and habitats as well as potential relationships to geomorphic features and culturally important sites. This has national significance to the implementation of the northern marine park management plan, as well as informing future monitoring programs in northern Australia. Citation: Przeslawski R, Beaman R, Fava L, Nichol S, Woehler E, Yule C (2020). Wessel Marine Park: Post-Survey Report for INV2019T02. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia.

In October 2019, opportunistic mapping and imagery of the Wessel Marine Park on the RV Investigator revealed a localised band of high biodiversity linked to a unique and culturally important geomorphological feature in the otherwise uniform seascape prevalent in the Wessel Marine Park. Our findings help contribute to an understanding of the values of a northern marine park, including an inventory of communities and habitats as well as potential relationships to geomorphic features and culturally important sites. This has national significance to the implementation of the northern marine park management plan, as well as informing future monitoring programs in northern Australia. Citation: Przeslawski R, Beaman R, Fava L, Nichol S, Woehler E, Yule C (2020). Wessel Marine Park: Post-Survey Report for INV2019T02. Report to the National Environmental Science Program, Marine Biodiversity Hub. Geoscience Australia.

This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents observations from underwater video collected in the Offshore of Burien, California, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Habitat Map Series. To validate the interpretations of multibeam sonar data and turn it into geologically and biologically useful information, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) towed a camera sled over specific locations throughout the Seattle map area to collect video and photographic data that would “ground truth” the seafloor. The ground-truth survey conducted in the Offshore of Burien map area occurred in 2011 on the R/V Karluk (USGS field activities K0109WO, K0111PS) and on the Washington State Department of Fish and Game R/V Molluscan (USGS field activity M0112PS, M0111PS, M0212PS). The underwater camera sled was towed 1 to 2 m above the seafloor at speeds of between 1 and 2 nautical miles/hour. The surveys for this map area include approximately 6 hours (9.1 trackline km) of video.

This part of USGS Data Series 935 (Cochrane, 2014) presents observations from underwater video collected in the Offshore of Burien, California, map area, a part of the Southern Salish Sea Habitat Map Series. To validate the interpretations of multibeam sonar data and turn it into geologically and biologically useful information, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) towed a camera sled over specific locations throughout the Seattle map area to collect video and photographic data that would “ground truth” the seafloor. The ground-truth survey conducted in the Offshore of Burien map area occurred in 2011 on the R/V Karluk (USGS field activities K0109WO, K0111PS) and on the Washington State Department of Fish and Game R/V Molluscan (USGS field activity M0112PS, M0111PS, M0212PS). The underwater camera sled was towed 1 to 2 m above the seafloor at speeds of between 1 and 2 nautical miles/hour. The surveys for this map area include approximately 6 hours (9.1 trackline km) of video.

Survey FK200308 on the R/V Falkor undertook detailed mapping within two significant and biologically unexplored submarine canyons (Cape Range and Cloates Canyon) in the Gascoyne Marine Park. The Gascoyne Marine Park covers 81, 766 km2 adjacent to the Ningaloo Marine Park. The canyons form part of the habitat protection and multiple use zones of the marine park and are identified as Key Ecological Features. The canyons provide an important connection between the abyssal plain environments and the Commonwealth waters adjacent to Ningaloo Reef on the continental shelf. High productivity aided by upwelling through the canyons has been related to aggregations of whale sharks, manta rays, humpback whales, sea snakes, sharks, large predatory fish and seabirds. In addition, the hard canyon walls provide habitat for a range of sessile invertebrates, while the soft sediments on the canyon floor support a range of mobile invertebrates. The data from this survey will provide a comprehensive taxonomic survey to characterise the marine biodiversity of the canyons or to understand the distribution of canyon habitats in relation to the seabed morphology. The SuBastian ROV was used to acquire high-resolution video and collect samples. SuBastian is a custom-built work class ROV that conducts scientific work down to 4500m. It is equipped with a Sulis Subsea Z70 deep sea science camera with 4K UHD 2160p optics and sensors for temperature, depth, conductivity and oxygen. Twenty ROV dives were completed across 16 stations, and these included 12 quantitative imagery transects within the Cape Range Canyon. No quantitative transects were conducted in the Cloates Canyon. The quantitative transects were run for 500 m upslope, ideally at a speed of 0.3 knots and an altitude of 2 m above the seafloor or rock walls.

Physical, environmental, and biotic observations were derived from underwater video collected by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) offshore of Morro Bay, California. The data were acquired during three separate surveys in 2019 in support of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)/Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing I (Cal DIG I) project. Transect information developed to analyze the data for biotopes (as described in Kuhnz and others, 2021) and the resulting biotope numbers are included in the point data. A joint USGS-BOEM-MBARI cruise, which took place from 19-26 September 2019 on the R/V Bold Horizon (USGS field activity 2019-642-FA), focused on conducting biological surveys using MBARI's MiniROV (dives M137-148). Additional surveys were conducted from 02-14 February 2019 (dives D1120-1131) and from 01-11 November 2019 (dives D1202-1217) using MBARI's R/V Western Flyer and ROV Doc Ricketts. The ROV-video surveys were designed and conducted to collect video ground-truth information about substrate and biota.