Wyville Thomson Ridge Survey WTR0924S (Blog #2): Capturing the marvels of Wyville Thomson Ridge
By Victoria Hope & Rosie Clewett
Catch up on our offshore survey team’s visit to Wyville Thomson Ridge MPA in their second blog post.
This JNCC and Scottish Government survey focusses on imagery analysis to monitor any change of condition at Wyville Thomson Ridge MPA. We have taken a different approach to previous surveys, by investigating the effect of different depths across the site on the organisms that live on the seafloor. The site is split into seven different depth bands ranging from 350 metres to 1,000 metres (see Image 1).
Image 1. Schematic map showing the different depth bands of Wyville Thomson Ridge MPA, which range from 300 – 1,000 metres
We are visiting stations across the site, using a drop frame camera system (Image 2) to take photos and videos of the habitat and marine life on the seafloor at each depth. The drop frame has a camera that faces downwards, specifically for taking stills, and a separate high definition video, with four spot lasers that help us to measure how big things are.
Image 2. Drop frame camera system used during the Wyville Thomson Ridge MPA monitoring survey
(photo © JNCC and Scottish Government's Marine Directorate).
Some of the things we have seen quite regularly in our images are species of Striped Eelpout of the genus Lycodes (image 3), Blue Ling (Molva dypterygia) (image 4) and Arctic Skate (Amblyraja hyperborea) (image 5).
Image 3. Lycodes (Striped Eelpout)
(photo © JNCC and Scottish Government's Marine Directorate).
Image 4. Molva dypterygia (Blue Ling)
(photo © JNCC and Scottish Government's Marine Directorate).
Image 5. Amblyraja hyperborea (Arctic Skate)
(photo © JNCC and Scottish Government's Marine Directorate).
We are also deploying a conductivity temperature depth (CTD) device (Image 6) across three transects to collect environmental data. This device measures physical attributes from the top of the water column to the bottom, so we can see how things like temperature change as we get deeper.
Image 6. Photo of the CTD emerging from the water after being sent to the depths
(photo © Tom Tangye, JNCC).
We will use the data we get from the CTD alongside the imagery data, to determine if and how these factors have an impact on the seabed and its biological communities across Wyville Thomson Ridge SAC. It will be especially interesting to see how the ecology might differ between the north (Arctic) and south (Atlantic) sides of the site (find out more about this site division in Survey WTR 0924S blog #1).
The survey team are due to return to shore on 14 August, so stay tuned to our blog and follow @JNCC_UK on X/Twitter to find out more.