Relatively little is known about what the seafloor of Australia's continental shelf looks like or has living on it. Geoscience Australia (GA), together with other partners, undertakes a range of marine surveys to improve our understanding and management of Australia's marine environments. One component of the research involves the collection of underwater imagery to directly observe and characterise coastal and deep sea habitats. In some regions these surveys build on existing baseline knowledge, but in many areas, particularly deep offshore locations, these surveys provide the first images of the seafloor. The imagery collection includes both still and video imagery collected using various systems, including towed platforms, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Post-survey reports and metadata files are included as part of the collection, which describe further details of the surveys and respective imagery collections. The seafloor imagery provides a wealth of information about the geological features, habitats and life forms occurring throughout Australia's marine jurisdiction. <b>Value: </b>Improve the understanding and management of Australia's marine environments. <b>Scope: </b>GA surveys from 2007 onwards in waters around Australia and Australia's Antarctic Territory.

Unlike land based environments, relatively little is known about what the seafloor around Australia looks like or has living on it. Geoscience Australia undertakes a range of marine surveys to improve the understanding and the management of Australia's marine environments. One component of the research involves the use a towed video system to directly observe coastal and deep sea environments and identify what habitats occur there and the organisms that live there. In some regions these surveys build on existing knowledge, but in many areas, particularly in deep offshore sites, these devices provide the first images of the seafloor. This data package includes towed video and still images acquired on GA surveys from 2007 onwards. Between 2007 and 2013, this included 21 marine surveys (including Antarctic waters). Using a winch on the ship, the video system is lowered to 1-2 metres above the seafloor and then towed along at 1-2 knots. This speed and altitude allows the video camera to record sharp images of the seafloor while covering distances of up to 1-2 km. Video footage is sent up a cable to the ship so it can be viewed in real time. The hours of footage collected on the seafloor provide a wealth of information about the geological features, habitats and life forms occurring throughout Australia's marine jurisdiction.