Benthic and substrate cover data derived from photo-transect surveys in Kubulau, Fiji, 2009-09-16 to 2009-09-21@en

Underwater georeferenced photo-transect survey was conducted on September 16-21, 2009 at different sections of the reef flat, reef crest and reef slope in Kubulau, Fiji. For this survey a snorkeler or diver swam over the bottom while taking photos of the benthos at a set height using a standard digital camera and towing a surface float GPS which was logging its track every five seconds. A standard digital compact camera was placed in an underwater housing and fitted with a 16 mm lens which provided a 1.0 m x 1.0 m footprint, at 0.5 m height above the benthos. Horizontal distance between photos was estimated by three fin kicks of the survey diver/snorkeler, which corresponded to a surface distance of approximately 2.0 - 4.0 m. The GPS was placed in a dry-bag and logged its position as it floated at the surface while being towed by the photographer. A total of 9,646 benthic photos were taken. A floating GPS setup connected to the swimmer/diver by a line enabled recording of coordinates of each benthic (Roelfsema and Phinn, 2009). […]