Characterization of Benthic Habitat and Biota NOAA Ship
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NOAA CIOERT Cruise Report South Atlantic MPAs and Oculina HAPC: Characterization of Benthic Habitat and Biota NOAA Ship Pisces Cruise 16-02 UNCW Mohawk ROV June 7-22, 2016 Funding: NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) NOAA CRCP-Fishery Management Council Coral Reef Conservation Cooperative Agreements Project ID#: NA14NMF4410149 Stacey Harter, Principal Investigator NMFS/Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), Panama City, FL Email: [email protected] John Reed (Co-PI) and Stephanie Farrington Cooperative Institute of Ocean Research, Exploration and Technology Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University Fort Pierce, FL Andrew David, Co-Principal Investigator NMFS/Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) Panama City, FL Citation: Harter, Stacey, John Reed, Stephanie Farrington, and Andy David. 2016. South Atlantic MPAs and Oculina HAPC: Characterization of benthic habitat and biota. NOAA Ship Pisces Cruise 16-02. NOAA CIOERT Cruise Report, 270 pp. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Technical Report Number 181. http://www.coris.noaa.gov/geoportal/rest/find/document?searchText=group%3Apublication&ma x=25&f=searchPage (NOAA CoRIS website persistent link). July 24, 2017 Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Deliverables and Data Management ........................................................................................................... 4 CIOERT/NOAA Collaboration ................................................................................................................... 4 Scientific Participants ................................................................................................................................. 5 Project Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Goals ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Methods ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 ROV Operations ..................................................................................................................................... 7 ROV Video Camera ............................................................................................................................ 7 ROV Digital Still Camera ................................................................................................................... 8 ROV Navigation ................................................................................................................................. 8 ROV Survey Protocol ......................................................................................................................... 8 CTD Operations ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Multibeam Sonar Surveys ....................................................................................................................... 9 Fish Analyses .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Benthic Analyses .................................................................................................................................... 9 Protocol for Benthic Habitat Characterization ........................................................................................ 9 Statistical Analyses ............................................................................................................................... 11 Results ...................................................................................................................................................... 12 Study Areas ........................................................................................................................................... 12 Cruise Summary ................................................................................................................................... 12 CTD Operations .................................................................................................................................... 19 Multibeam Sonar Surveys ..................................................................................................................... 21 SEADESC II Report: Characterization of Benthic Habitat and Benthic Macrobiota ............................ 21 Benthic Macrobiota and Habitat ........................................................................................................... 21 Oculina Coral Reef Sites....................................................................................................................... 23 Oculina HAPC .................................................................................................................................. 24 St. Lucie Hump MPA ....................................................................................................................... 24 Swiftia exserta Octocoral Communities within the Shelf-Edge MPAs .................................................. 30 Benthic Biota and Habitat Relationships ............................................................................................... 33 Analysis of Fish Video Surveys ............................................................................................................ 34 Snapper-Grouper Complex ................................................................................................................... 36 Lionfish Populations ............................................................................................................................. 38 Artificial Reefs...................................................................................................................................... 39 Future Work and Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 40 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................................................... 40 Appendix 1 - Species list of benthic biota and percent cover for each ROV dive………………….…..42 Appendix 2 - Species list of fish species and densities for each ROV dive…………………...46 Appendix 3 - SEADESC II report for each ROV dive………………………………………...51 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A 16 day research cruise was conducted June 7 to 22, 2016 by NOAA National Marine Fisheries on the NOAA Ship Pisces with the UNCW Mohawk ROV. Other collaborators involved include: the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology (CIOERT) at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University (HBOI-FAU), University of North Carolina at Wilmington, College of Charleston, Savannah State University. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) established eight deepwater Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the outer continental shelf off the southeastern U.S in February 2009 and the Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern (OHPAC) in 1984. This cruise was the second cruise of a 3-year grant to document and characterize the benthic habitats, benthic biota, and fish populations within and adjacent to the protected areas within the jurisdiction of the SAFMC. This 2016 Cruise Report provides detailed quantitative characterization of the benthic habitat, benthic macro-biota, and fish populations for each of the 23 ROV dives completed. Appendix 1 provides a species list and percent cover of benthic biota observed at each dive site. Appendix 2 provides a species list and densities of fish species observed at each dive site. Appendix 3 provides a SEADESC Level II Report for each dive site. The SEADESC Level II report includes: cruise and ROV dive metadata and objectives figures showing each ROV dive track on multibeam sonar maps ROV dive track data (start and end coordinates, time, and depth) CTD plots from shipboard casts and temperature profiles for each ROV dive images characterizing the habitat and biota for each dive site characterization of habitat, benthic biota, and fish populations for each dive site quantitative analyses of photo transects for each dive site of benthic habitat and biota quantitative analyses of video transects for each dive site of fish densities. Twenty-three ROV dives were conducted resulting in a total bottom time of 57.5 hours, covering 26.8 km, at depths from 41 to 260 m. A total of 4,199 in situ digital images were taken which included quantitative transect images, general habitat, and species documentation images. Twelve shipboard CTD casts were made and a temperature/depth sensor recorded each ROV dive (Appendix 3). The multibeam sonar (ME-70) was used to map 9 areas including inside the Oculina OECA and covering