Seeps of Heywood Shoals

Using a towed camera we assessed the substrata around seeps identified by Geoscience Australia. Five towed video transects were undertaken between 0900 and 1200hrs on 8/11/2004, in water depths of between 77 and 92m. While the RV Cape Ferguson?s echo sounder showed the potential seeps, there appeared to be little of interest on any of the video tows. There was no noticeable change in the substratum (sediment type, hardness etc) or the visible biological community around the identified seeps. Potentially our video tow gear could have missed the seeps as they are only 5-10 metres across. However the echo sounder did suggest we towed directly over several seeps. Video footage of each tow is held by AIMS WA.