Fine Scaling the design of the Falkland Islands Marine Management Areas: 2nd inshore research expedition report Author: Dr Ander M. de Lecea, Project Manager South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute 1 Contents Logistics ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Vessel ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Dates ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Team members ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... 4 Main equipment ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Priority goals brief description (see objectives section below for full details) ......................................... 4 Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Survey sites ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Non-SCUBA surveys .................................................................................................................................. 7 Environmental data ............................................................................................................................... 7 Side-scan sonar ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Deep-water Camera .............................................................................................................................. 8 ROV work .............................................................................................................................................. 8 SCUBA survey ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Mobile animal counts ........................................................................................................................... 8 Quadrant photography ......................................................................................................................... 8 JNCC habitat types ................................................................................................................................ 8 Collaborations ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Dr Marina Costa, SAERI (Falkland Islands) ............................................................................................ 9 Heather Glon, PhD student at Ohio State University (US) .................................................................... 9 Dr Claire Goodwin, Huntsman Marine Science Centre (Canada) ......................................................... 9 Dr Angie Diaz, University of Concepcion (Chile) ................................................................................. 10 Data collected and some preliminary analyses .......................................................................................... 11 Oceanographic data ................................................................................................................................ 11 Side-Scan sonar ................................................................................................................................... 12 Deep-water camera ............................................................................................................................ 12 SCUBA surveys ........................................................................................................................................ 14 ROV dives ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Collaborations ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Heather Glon, PhD student at Ohio State University (US) .................................................................. 16 Dr Claire Goodwin, Huntsman Marine Science Centre (Canada) ....................................................... 16 Data ......................................................................................................................................................... 17 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Appendix 1: Event log of the expedition ..................................................................................................... 19 2 Logistics Vessel Golden Fleece – Skipper Dion Poncet Dates 14th November 2019 – 26th November 2019 Team members Ander de Lecea (SAERI/MMA Project Manager) – Expedition Leader Paul Brickle – until 21/11 (SAERI Director) – Dive Officer/Scientist Marina Costa (SAERI/MMA Project Officer) – Scientist Claire Goodwin (Researcher at the Huntsman Ocean Sciences Océaniques) – Scientist Angie Dominique Díaz Lorca (Assistant Professor at the Universidad de Conception) – Scientist Heather Glon - until 21/11 (Ph.D. Graduate Student at the Ohio State University) – Scientist Sacha Cleminson - from 21/11 (RSPB) – Scientist Joost Pompert - from 21/11 (Georgia Seafoods) – Scientist/Dive Officer from the 21st Nov Juliette Hennequin – Golden Fleece skipper and crew Dion Poncet – Golden Fleece skipper and crew Figure 1. Members of the expedition at Weddell Island jetty. Left to right, starting on the front row: H. Glon, A. Diaz, J. Hennequin; back row: D. Poncet, A. de Lecea, J. Pompert, S. Cleminson, C. Goodwin, P. Brickle and M. Costa 3 Acknowledgements Research would not have been possible without the funding from the following organizations 1) Darwin Initiative (DPLUS071); 2) Falkland Islands Government (FIG), and; 3) The Shackleton Scholarship Fund. Please ensure that these organizations are acknowledge on any communications/work relating to samples collected during this research expedition. This research was undertaken under permit 48/2018. Main equipment used ● MMA project: o Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) + fluorometer o Deep-water camera o Side-scan sonar o BlueRobotics ROV ● SMSG (Shallow Marine Survey Group): o Underwater cameras (1 x macro and 2 x wide angle) o Various diving equipment items ● SAERI o Gladius mini-ROV Priority goals brief description (see objectives section below for full details) Full details in the brief description section below. High priority for MMA project: o Photo-quadrats of the sea floor in the localities of Cape Dolphin/Elephant Beach, Bird Islands, and Queen Charlotte Bay) by diving (>20m) and using the deep camera (<-20m). Lead: SAERI-MMA o Side-scan of the sea floor in the three localities cited above; at least along transects. Lead: SAERI-MMA o CTD deployment in the three localities cited above. Lead: SAERI-MMA o ROV photo and videos of the sea floor Lead: SAERI-MMA Other priorities not directly link to MMA project: o Tissue sampling of Commerson's and Peale's dolphins Lead: SAERI-MMA o Collection of echinoderms, molluscs, and bivalves, the latter mainly from the intertidal zone for molecular ecology. Lead: Angie Díaz Lorca o Collection of various anemones species. Lead: Heather Glon o Collection of various sponge species. Lead: Claire Goodwin o Cetacean observation Lead: SAERI-MMA o Coastal monitoring from the sea to verify the presence of solid waste, in particular plastic. Lead: Falkland Conservation o Sample collection (benthic organisms, algae, genetics) 4 Overview This was the second research expedition conducted for the Darwin Plus Project Fine Scaling of the Marine Management Areas (MMA Project Number: DPLUS071). The project builds on SAERI’s previous Marine Spatial Planning projects. These previous projects are the Falkland Islands Marine Spatial Planning project (DPLUS027 2014-2016). Following the successful conclusion of DPL027, FIG appointed SAERI to undertake a second phase of the Marine Spatial Planning project (Marine Spatial Planning Phase II; July 2016 to May 2017), which included an Assessment of Fishing Closure Areas as Sites (AFCAS) as potential marine management areas (MMAs), to be assessed against international criteria for Marine Protected Areas. The main objective of this research expedition was to collect benthic data and specimens in three main areas of the Falkland Islands that were highlighted through the AFCAS report as being potential MMAs (Figure