Marine Survey

To facilitate Marine Protected Site identification JNCC has dedicated survey teams working on the collation of existing survey data and the co-ordination of new survey to enhance our knowledge of areas that may be designated as Marine Protected Sites.

Offshore Seabed Survey

As part of JNCC's statutory responsibility to recommend SACs in the offshore area, the Marine Protected Sites team needs to gather information to help support these recommendations; either by searching and retrieving existing information, or through collaborative or commissioned survey. On such surveys a variety of data may be recorded using a range of instrumentation. These range from using multibeam echosounders and sidescan sonar to record the bathymetry, seabed texture and morphology through to using high resolution digital video and stills equipment to image the seafloor.

Within JNCC, the Marine Protected Sites team recognise the advantages of working collaboratively in the offshore marine environment to reduce costs (offshore survey can cost many thousands of pounds per day) and benefit from shared knowledge and expertise. We work collaboratively with a large number of organisations including the British Geological Survey, University of Plymouth, Cefas, the country conservation agencies and many more. If you are interested in collaborating or learning more about our offshore survey programme please contact us.

Marine Bird Survey

Collation of existing data, along with carrying out new, targeted survey of marine birds, is also being carried out by the Marine SPA team, as part of their work to identify possible SPAs in the marine environment. Such surveys include counts from shore, boat and light aircraft.