Benthos image data from transect line, coastal of Jang Bogo station in 2015/16

The potential risk from direct sewage discharge to the Antarctic marine environment is highly significant because it contains chemical substances, persistent organic materials, bacterial and viral agents. To investigate the impact of sewage from the station to near coastal of Jang Bogo station, we completed the installation of the observing system for marine benthic animals during the summer activity in 2015/2016 following last year. As benthic organisms are sensitive to habitual disturbance and affected by the domestic wastes and sediments, these ecological characteristics allow them to be an important factor to measure sea area environment. We installed a transect line C starting from sewage outlet and two lines B and C for control sites at 10m apart from C. Then, we took the pictures from four quadrats (50cm x 50cm) at intervals of 10m along lines, recorded the video and collected the representative benthic species. Also, seawater running from sewage outlet and marine sediment sunk on sea bottom were collected in order to measure the possible pollutants in them.
This activity aims to investigate the impact of sewage disposal on benthic communities in nearshore of Jang Bogo Station and to discuss the available treatment options.