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NIWA CLIENT REPORT No: 2019133WN (Rev B) Report Date: June 2019 NIWA Project: VES19305

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NIWA CLIENT REPORT No: 2019133WN (Rev B) Report Date: June 2019 NIWA Project: VES19305 Benthic-survey data summary, Canterbury Great South Basin Field results from RV Tangaroa voyage TAN1902 Prepared for OMV Great South Basin Limited June 2019 Prepared by: Jennifer Beaumont Alan Orpin Anna Bradley Megan Carter Niki Davey Mark Fenwick Rachel Hale Jane Halliday Daniel Leduc Andrew Miller Sadie Mills Kate Neill Scott Nodder Greg Olsen Arne Pallentin Rachel Peart Karen Spong Di Tracey Matt Walkington For any information regarding this report please contact: Jennifer Beaumont Marine Ecologist Marine Ecology National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd Private Bag 14901 Kilbirnie Wellington 6241 NIWA CLIENT REPORT No: 2019133WN (Rev_B) Report date: June 2019 NIWA Project: VES19305 © All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or copied in any form without the permission of the copyright owner(s). Such permission is only to be given in accordance with the terms of the client’s contract with NIWA. This copyright extends to all forms of copying and any storage of material in any kind of information retrieval system. Whilst NIWA has used all reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information contained in this document is accurate, NIWA does not give any express or implied warranty as to the completeness of the information contained herein, or that it will be suitable for any purpose(s) other than those specifically contemplated during the Project or agreed by NIWA and the Client. Quality Assurance Statement Reviewed by: Alison MacDiarmid Checked by: Owen Anderson Approved for release by: Andrew Laing Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................. 8 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 9 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Purpose of this report ............................................................................................... 9 1.3 Survey approach ..................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Survey area ............................................................................................................. 11 2 Method ................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Regional survey ....................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Drill site survey, Tawhaki well site .......................................................................... 16 2.3 Benthic sampling ..................................................................................................... 18 2.4 Epibenthic sampling ................................................................................................ 18 2.5 Water profiling and sampling ................................................................................. 19 2.6 Image analysis - DTIS............................................................................................... 20 2.7 Sample analysis – Multicore ................................................................................... 21 3 Summary of results .................................................................................................. 22 3.1 Environmental variables during voyage ................................................................. 22 3.2 Summary of sampling: Benthic video and coring ................................................... 23 3.3 General survey area description – based on DTIS results ...................................... 28 3.4 DTIS data - substrate ............................................................................................... 35 3.5 DTIS data – Epifaunal diversity measures ............................................................... 37 3.6 DTIS data – Epifaunal abundance and distribution ................................................ 39 3.7 DTIS data: epifaunal communities .......................................................................... 42 3.8 Multicore data: Sediments ..................................................................................... 47 3.9 Multicore data: Macrofauna (MAF 0-5 priority sites) diversity .............................. 48 3.10 Multicore data: Macrofauna (MAF 0-5 priority sites)............................................. 51 3.11 Sensitive environments (Schedule 6), Protected species (Schedule 7A), and At risk and threatened species .......................................................................................... 55 3.12 Summary of CTD collection methods and results ................................................... 84 4 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 96 5 References ............................................................................................................... 97 Benthic-survey data summary, Canterbury Great South Basin Appendix A NIWA Multi Corer Sample Protocol ................................................. 101 Appendix B CTD Water Sampling Protocol ......................................................... 108 Appendix C TAN1902 DTIS station summaries ................................................... 112 Appendix D DTIS abundance plots (inds./1000 m2) for grouped classifications .... 217 Appendix E DTIS data: SIMPER analysis between kR-groups (PRIMER). .............. 238 Bubble plots showing abundance of key epifaunal taxonomic groups: ......................... 265 Appendix F Multicore data_abundance plots (priority 0-5 cm samples) ............. 270 Appendix G Multicore data – SIMPER analysis ................................................... 282 Appendix H Summary of knowledge – Solitary cup corals ................................... 285 Distribution data ............................................................................................................. 285 Sedimentation ................................................................................................................. 289 Biology of stony cup corals ............................................................................................. 291 Appendix I Sediment grain-size data (0–1 cm depth) ........................................ 292 Appendix J CTD profile plots and comparison plots (TAN1902 and TAN1303) .... 296 Tables Table 3-1: Summary of sampling: Benthic video and coring. 23 Table 3-2: Summary of sensitive environments, as defined by Schedule 6 of the EEZ and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects – Permitted Activities) Regulations 2013, observed within the survey area. 62 Table 3-3: Summary of CTD casts undertaken during TAN1902. 85 Table 3-4: Summary of TSS and Chla measurements from water samples collected during TAN1902 GSB CTD deployments. 94 Table H-1: Growth rates and age estimates of Desmophyllum cristagalli (a cup coral that attaches to hard substrates). 291 Table I-1: Summary of laser grain-size analyses from TAN1902 multicore surface (0-1 cm) samples. 292 Figures Figure 1-1: Location of TAN1902 survey area (red polygon), PEP 50119 (white polygon), and proposed Tawhaki_1 well site (red star). 10 Figure 1-2: Sun-illuminated DEM of the South Channel (from TAN1209). 12 Figure 1-3: Sub-bottom profile across the South Channel and associated sediment-wave field (TAN1209). 13 Benthic-survey data summary, Canterbury Great South Basin Figure 1-4: Profile across the south channel contrasting the differential development of the north and south levees. 14 Figure 2-1: Sampling sites across the survey area. 15 Figure 2-2: Close-up of sampling sites (drill site and regional survey sites) in the vicinity of the exploration well site. 17 Figure 2-3: Ocean Instruments MC-800 multi-corer deployment from RV Tangaroa. 18 Figure 2-4: NIWA's Deep Towed Imaging System (DTIS). 19 Figure 3-1: Wind characteristics onsite during TAN1902 survey. 22 Figure 3-2: Sea-surface salinity and temperature onsite during TAN1902 survey. 22 Figure 3-3: Plot showing the sampling locations (DTIS tracks) across the survey area. 28 Figure 3-4: Broad slope basin site R24. Muddy sediments with ophiuroids, a scaphopod and associated track and a large echinoid (Tam O'Shanter urchin). 29 Figure 3-5: Broad slope basin site R1. Muddy sediments with sponges, ophiuroids, a spatangid (heart urchin), scaphopods and associated tracks, anemones and large agglutinated foraminifera. 30 Figure 3-6: Broad slope basin sites OTEMP 10 and 11. Muddy sediments with small dark red cup corals, star-shaped imprints from asteroids and a gastropod. 30 Figure 3-7: Channel site R3. Muddy sediments on the channel levee and a large hexactinellid sponge with a cidarid (pencil urchin) at the top. 31 Figure 3-8: Channel site R3. Angular boulders relatively barren with respect to encrusting fauna. 31 Figure 3-9: Channel Site R20. Encrusting fauna include gorgonians, sponges, barnacles, soft corals, and ascidians. 32 Figure 3-10: Channel site R30. Large and encrusting sponges, whip-like gorgonians, crinoids (feather stars) and occasional hydroid. 32 Figure 3-11: Channel site R3. Muddy sediments on the channel floor. 33 Figure 3-12: Channel site R3. Sandy bedforms observed on the channel floor. 33 Figure 3-13: Seamount site R10. Dense barnacle plates provide a biogenic habitat for small encrusting fauna. 34 Figure 3-14: Seamount site R10. Primnoid gorgonians
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