WEST CAPE YORK MARINE PARK (WCYMP). Fish surveys of Carpentaria and Merkara Shoals,10 – 20 November 2022

AIMS conducted field surveys for Parks Australia in November 2022 to complete new bathymetric mapping via Multibeam Echo Sounder (MBES) across Merkara Shoal (4.2 x 3.2 km area) and a nearby Pockmarks feature (3.5 x 2 km area) 7km to the northeast of Carpentaria Shoal (initially identified by a transiting CSIRO vessel). This adds to the existing MBES bathymetry for Carpentaria Shoal completed by AIMS in 2019. Fish and benthic communities in the vicinity of Carpentaria Shoal, the Pockmarks, and Merkara Shoal were surveyed to bridge knowledge gaps for these poorly studied habitats within the WCYMP. Benthic communities were surveyed using a towed video camera (TowVid) and fish were surveyed using baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS).

AIMS（澳大利亚海洋科学研究所）于2022年11月受澳大利亚公园管理局（Parks Australia）委托开展野外调查，采用多波束测深仪（Multibeam Echo Sounder, MBES）对默卡拉浅滩（Merkara Shoal，面积4.2×3.2 km）以及卡奔塔利亚浅滩（Carpentaria Shoal）东北7公里处的邻近麻坑地貌（Pockmarks feature，面积3.5×2 km，最初由过境的联邦科学与工业研究组织（CSIRO）船只发现）完成了全新的水深测绘工作。本次调查补充了AIMS于2019年针对卡奔塔利亚浅滩获取的现有多波束测深水深数据。针对卡奔塔利亚浅滩、麻坑地貌及默卡拉浅滩周边区域的鱼类与底栖生物群落开展了系统调查，以填补WCYMP内这些研究程度较低的生境相关的知识空白。其中，底栖生物群落采用拖曳式摄像系统（Towed Video Camera, TowVid）进行观测采样，鱼类则通过诱饵式远程水下视频站（Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations, BRUVS）完成调查。