Benthic surveys of the Swain Reefs, southern Great Barrier Reef (1977)

Surveys were conducted in the Swain Reefs region in October, 1977. Reefs were surveyed using the "spot check" method. This involves making spot checks every few hundred metres around the perimeter of each reef visited. Using a face mask, the observer leans over the side of the dinghy and views the reef for a period of one minute. During this time the dinghy is moved slowly along the reef edge for a distance of up to 50m, allowing an area of reef slope of several hundred square metres to be inspected down to the limit of visibility, generally 10-15m. Four categories of starfish abundance were used: 0, 1, 2-10, and more than l0 individuals per spot check. Total counts were also recoreded.Reefs inculuded in the survey were Hook, Sanctuary, Horseshoe, Chinamans, Wade, Beacon, Hill, Heartm Triangle, Blu Lion, Jenkins, Littles, Central, Gannet Cay, Pike, Banana Cay, Emporer, Price Cay, Turtle, Frigate Cay, Bacchi Cay, Thomas Cay, Distant Cay, and many unnamed reefs in the region.

1977年10月，研究团队于斯温群岛礁（Swain Reefs）区域开展海洋礁体调查。本次调查采用「定点抽查（spot check）」法实施礁体勘测，具体流程为：在每处到访礁体的周缘每隔数百米布设一个抽查点位。观测人员佩戴潜水面镜，俯身于小艇舷侧，以1分钟为观测时长对礁体进行观察；观测期间小艇沿礁缘缓慢行进，单次行进距离可达50米，由此可覆盖数百平方米的礁坡区域，直至能见度极限处——通常为10至15米水深。
本次调查采用四级海星丰度分级标准：0级（无海星个体）、1级（单只海星）、2-10级（2至10只海星）以及10只以上级（单次抽查点位海星个体数超过10只），每处抽查点位的海星丰度按上述分级记录，同时同步记录总个体数。
本次调查涵盖的礁体包括：霍克礁（Hook）、圣所礁（Sanctuary）、马蹄礁（Horseshoe）、钦纳曼斯礁（Chinamans）、韦德礁（Wade）、比肯礁（Beacon）、希尔礁（Hill）、哈特三角礁（Heartm Triangle）、蓝狮礁（Blu Lion）、詹金斯礁（Jenkins）、利特尔斯礁（Littles）、中央礁（Central）、加内特凯礁（Gannet Cay）、派克礁（Pike）、香蕉凯礁（Banana Cay）、埃姆波勒礁（Emporer）、普莱斯凯礁（Price Cay）、海龟礁（Turtle）、弗里加特凯礁（Frigate Cay）、巴奇凯礁（Bacchi Cay）、托马斯凯礁（Thomas Cay）、迪斯坦特凯礁（Distant Cay），以及该区域内诸多未命名礁体。