Marine Institute
SeaRover Dive Video

D670 Transect 20 Shipwreck circumnavigation with abundant shoal of pollock. Dive lasts less than 1 hour. P1. Water depth: 161m. Feature: VMS data and local fisher knowledge

Highlights: Small clump of Lophelia Parazoanthus on wreck, shoal of pollack Fishing net

The sediment here is primarily soft sand with occasional areas of pebbles and small rocks. Conspicuous fauna consists largely of ophiuroids and anemones. A large uncharted steel hulled ship wreck is observed, with fishing gear snagged on it. Shoals of pollack are abundant here.

START VIDEO [00:00:00]/14:19. Shipwreck circumnavigation with abundant shoal of pollack. Dive lasts less than 1 hour. [1] ROV landed on sandy/muddy/silky seafloor with sparse and scarce epifauna. Encountered mainly burrowing fauna, although visibility is poor at this point. [00:05:00] Visibility is poor here. Ophiomusa lymani are frequently present in this area. [00:08:00] ROV stops. Seafloor is sandy and muddy. The field is covered in fluffy-shaped organic matter (possibly). 2 x pushcores sampled. [00:28:00] rubbish/human-made object. [00:38:00] [2] Dense aggregations of ophiuroids (possibly Ophiomusa lymani (orange)). [00:41:00] Here, an object that looks like a chain (anchor chain) is encountered . [00:42:00] [3] Now ROV encounters rusty shipwreck with abundant ophiuroids at the bottom with sparse aggregations of actiniaria. The shipwreck is covered in zoanthids. Shoal of Pollack swimming in and around the shipwreck. The shipwreck has fishing nets with buoyants attached to the ropes. [00:51:00] ROV moves forwards. [4] Here seafloor is sandy and muddy with sparse epifauna. Pollack are still present until END VIDEO [00:54:00]/15:13.

Progression Start Duration Code Name
1[00:00:00]00:30:50SS.SsaSublittoral sands and muddy sands
2[00:30:51]00:11:17SS.SCSSublittoral coarse sediment (unstable cobbles, pebbles, gravels and coarse sands)
3[00:42:09]00:09:57CR.FCR.FouFaFouling faunal communities
4[00:52:07]00:02:05SS.SsaSublittoral sands and muddy sands

Cnidaria
Pachycerianthus multiplicatus : 458 : R
Bolocera tuediae : 12 : R
Actinauge richardi : 499 : O
Phelliactis sp. 1 : 255 : R
Zoanthidae sp. 2 : 586 : A
Arthropoda
Chaceon affinis : 254 : R

Echinodermata
Ophiocomina nigra : 1308 : F
Ophiomusa lymani : 551 : O
Asterias rubens : 231 : R
Stichastrella rosea : 198 : O
Chordata
Pollachius pollachius : 1302 : O
Helicolenus dactylopterus : 227 : R

Number of species = 12

© Marine Institute, MERC Consultants, Bernard Picton 2022