Congrats on the Hydrographic Survey of Apollo Marine Park

Our research group just finished the hydrographic survey of Apollo Marine Park, and published the final report.

Ierodiaconou et al., 2020

Deakin University’s Marine Mapping Group, in partnership with iXblue Pty Limited and Parks Australia, conducted a hydrographic survey in the Apollo Marine Park (MP) to complete the requirements outlined in the Approach to Market, DNP-MPA-1920-008. Prior to this program, high-resolution bathymetric mapping information for Apollo MP was limited to multibeam sonar mapping in a search and imaging of the City of Rayville conducted by Deakin University and partners in 2009. The only other available data for the Park was low resolution (250 m) magnetically-derived bathymetry information provided by Geoscience Australia (GA; Whiteway, 2009). The research outlined in this report is a first step in establishing a baseline understanding of the Apollo MP at a resolution useful to managers. This mapping work is critical for identifying the location of deep-shelf reefs to inform future deployment of Baited Remote Underwater Videos (BRUVs), Towed video (TV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUVs) to characterise sessile benthic fauna and demersal fish communities. The bathymetry information can also be used to derive characteristics of the seafloor for developing a better understanding of the distribution of habitats in the Park, including the distribution of hard and soft substrates, to help manage the Park.ults for the potential use of multibeam echosounder water-column data in marine habitat mapping.

The survey was led by our Lab Head Daniel Ierodiaconou, and lab members Mary Young and Stephan O’Brien contributed to the survey. Congrats to Dan and the DU Marine Mapping Group!

To read the full report, click here.