Fish, invertebrate and benthic surveys along the West coast of Hawaii from 2003-03-01 to 2017-03-01 (NCEI Accession 0164965)

Fish & Invertebrate surveys:
At each permanent monitoring site (26 at present), fishes and urchins are recorded on 4 fixed 25m transects. Each transect is surveyed by a diver of divers who collectively record fishes within, entering or passing across the belt transect with combined dimensions (both divers) of 25m*4m. On reaching the site, divers first attach lines to pins fixed at the transect start and end points. After all transect lines are attached, divers begin the survey. Fishes are counted by means of two passes – mid-water and roving species are recorded on the outward swim; urchins and all other fish species are recorded in the return swim, during which divers swim more slowly carefully looking for smaller site-attached and semi cryptic organisms that make up the bulk of abundance at most sites. Divers always swim in parallel, only recording fishes and urchins on their side of the transect line. Thus, each diver surveys an area of 25m*2m, and collectively the transect area is 100 m2. Divers take care not to count fishes moving across the transect line from the other divers portion of the transect.

Benthic surveys:
Benthic cover is assessed at all monitoring sites, typically during the spring every three years (or annually following an anticipated substantial change in benthic cover). Benthic images (0.30 m2) are taken at each meter along four 25 m transects at each site. Benthic taxa located below 20 stratified random points in each image are identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level using Coral Point Count with Excel extensions (CPCe) software, version 4.1. Relative change in benthic cover by category is calculated for each transect, then averaged by site.

Coral bleaching/ health surveys:
In response to extensive coral bleaching in West Hawaii during the spring/summer of 2015, coral bleaching/ health surveys were conducted at 8 permanent monitoring sites from 9 October to 13 November 2015 using methods described in Couch et al. 2014. Three 10 m2 belt transects were surveyed per site, and all coral colonies (≥ 5cm diameter) within each belt were scored for bleaching/health condition and severity. During surveys, a progression of algal turf presence on bleached coral colonies was also scored (recorded in this dataset under the heading "TF"). The severity of each condition and algal turf presence was scored based on the percent of the colony affected. Additional coral bleaching/ health surveys will be conducted as needed.