1. Geophysics Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Mouth of the Helford Estuary
Introduction:
The Helford Estuary is classified as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) (2), as it sustains an important number of annex species such as maerl. (1)
The aim of this survey is to produce a time series database of mapped habitats to assess change in the area.
Meta data:
Date
Vessel – MTS Xplorer
Weather – Cloud cover 7/8, slight rainfall
Time – 7:00 – 11:00 UTC
Temperature – 16˚C
Wind speed and direction – Westerly, 15mph
Tides – High tide – 5:45 UTC
Low tide – 12:10 UTC
Methods:
- Site 6 at the mouth of the Helford estuary
Four side-scan sonar transects starting at 050˚06.1’ N 005˚04.8’ W ending at 050˚07.0’ N 005˚04.3’ W.
Three Van Veen grabs at 050˚06.9’ N 005˚04.3’ W, analysed the sediment looking for any organisms of interest
Sieved the grab sample through 2mm and 1/2mm separating out the Maerl and sand grains
Locate areas of interest - lower a submersible video camera into the water and observe and record fauna present.
Figure 1(left): Habitat Map AND SOME CAPTION ABOUT IT AND MAYBE INCLUDE WHAT THE KEY SAYS BECAUSE ITS SMALL
Figure 3(left): Maerl sampled from the Van Veen grab with a grain size sheet for reference. Figure 4(right): Marthasterias glacicuis, picture from the video transect.
Discussion:
bifurcated ripples formed by waves
Deviated from the transect due to a buoy – possible overlapping of habitat
Missed some boundary points on habitat map and may not be representative of actual habitat.
Grab confirmed maerl habitat
All forms of observations/data support one another.
Figure 4(above): Area in which sampling took place. Red lines represent the transects and the green line represents ship track while conducting the video survey.
References:
1 Birkett et al,. 1998, Maerl. an overview of dynamic and sensitivity characteristics for conservation management of marine SACs. 
2 Langston et al,. 2006, Characterization of the European Marine Sites in South West England: the Fal and Helford candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC).
Met Office  Weather - Culdrose (nearest observation site to Falmouth). [ONLINE] Available at:  [Accessed 11 July 2017].
These views are from the individuals concerned and not that of The University of Southampton or The National Oceanography Centre Southampton
Group 11: Jaz Elliot, Diana Holdsworth, Ed Jeffery, Joe Blakeman, Sean Kirwan, George Goodman, Amy Smith, Laurie Pestana, Katie Corbett