FUGRO habitat mapping hydro acoustic survey (multibeam) in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia (WAMSI Node 3 Project 1 Subproject 3.1.1)

Marine survey specialists Fugro Survey Pty Ltd (FUGRO) were contracted to conduct a habitat mapping hydro acoustic survey in three distinct regions of the Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP); Osprey, Boat Passage and Mandu.The multi beam survey was conducted using a Reson Seabat 8101. This survey provides detailed seafloor raster imagery of both bathymetry (shape) and backscatter (texture) to enable the preparation of high resolution habitat maps of the areas surveyed. The Reson Seabat 8101 was configured to output snippet backscatter data, which permits a geo-referenced textured map to be generated across the survey area.Complete coverage was achieved in the Osprey and Boat Passage regions, however due to time and safety constraints only the near shore portions of the Mandu region were surveyed. This survey was undertaken to provide a tool for the identification of areas of bathymetric and topographical interest in areas with different levels of protection within the Marine Park.The multi-beam data will allow the characterization and classification of the seafloor in terms relevant to the distribution of benthic habitats and help understand the spatial and temporal distribution of the deep water marine environment of NMP. The combination of topography and textural surfaces provide an excellent reference dataset for research and management of the NMP.