Photo archive of in situ benthic imagery from the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest - Part 1 of 2

Published: 10 October 2025| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/w2nxcw7gn5.1
Contributors:
Neo Paulin, Francisco Javier Murillo, Claire Goodwin, Estefania Rodriguez, Claude Nozeres, Ellen Kenchington

Description

An Area of Interest (AOI) for DFO (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) is a marine area that has been identified as a potential location for a long-term Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the Oceans Act. The Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest is found on the continental shelf south of Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada. Four benthic imagery transects were positioned perpendicular to the shoreline of Nova Scotia and extending from ~30 to ~120 m depth across the study site, with three of the four transects further offshore from the AOI boundary. A collection of 6960 images of the seafloor were captured along these transects using a towed system’s (Campod) downward-facing camera during the HUD2018021 survey between June 30th and July 4th, 2018. Of these, 672 images were analyzed using the online image annotation software BIIGLE to record taxa presence. Here we provide the files for each of those analyzed images, organized by transect. The organisms identified from those images have been summarized in a technical report and statistically analyzed for a forthcoming publication.

Files

Institutions

  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada Maritimes Region
  • Huntsman Marine Science Centre
  • American Museum of Natural History

Categories

Marine Benthic Organisms, Benthic Ecology, Marine Protection, Image Analysis

Licence