Underwater Video from Cape Range and Cloates Canyons (FK200308)

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.