Species point records from 1987 OPRU Salcombe & Kingsbridge estuaries spoil-dumping survey

The effects of a recent dumping of 16,000 m/3 of spoil in a licensed dumping ground within the Salcombe and Kingsbridge Estuary were studied during September 15th - 19th, 1987. The area was mapped using a combination of echo soundings and observations by divers. An area of earlier dumping activity was also included in the survey. The habitats and communities inside the area and on the surrounding sea bed were described and documented by diving biologists in September 1985, and results compared with those obtained during a survey carried out prior to the latest dumping programme. The main effect of the dredge spoil was to smother all life over approximately 23,000 m/2 of the sea bed. Outside this area of blanket cover there was increased siltation on the sea bed for at least 200 m to the north. Older clay from previous dumping operations was little different in appearance from the new clay and had only been colonised by a few species giving rise to a community very different from that of the natural sea bed. Sites well to the south around the Marine Hotel did not appear to be affected. The sea bed under the recent and earlier spoil dredgings, amounting in total to around 10% of the available habitat of mixed sediments, stones and shells is thus thought to be irreversibly changed by these operations and it is recommended that no further dumping of this type of spoil should be undertaken within the estuary. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.

于1987年9月15日至19日，对萨姆伯勒和金斯布里奇河口地区内一处许可倾倒场倾倒16,000立方米废渣的影响进行了研究。该区域通过结合回声测深和潜水员观测进行了测绘。同时，对之前倾倒活动的区域也纳入了调查范围。1985年9月，潜水生物学家对该区域内及其周边海底的栖息地和群落进行了描述和记录，并将结果与最新倾倒程序之前进行的调查结果进行了比较。主要影响是覆盖约23,000平方米的海底生物。在广泛覆盖区域之外，海底的泥沙沉积量至少向北增加了200米。之前倾倒的旧粘土在形态上与新的粘土相差无几，仅被少数物种占领，从而形成了与自然海底截然不同的群落。位于海洋酒店南部较远处的地点似乎未受影响。因此，考虑到这些操作导致的海底混合沉积物、石块和贝壳的可用栖息地总面积约10%，认为海底已经不可逆转地发生了变化，并建议在河口内不再进行此类废渣的倾倒。当前被视为敏感的记录已被从该数据集中移除。