IMIS - Marine Research Groups

"This dataset contains information on the abundance of benthic infauna from sediment grabs collected from the South-east Mourne Coast off Co. Down (Northern Ireland). The main aim of this survey was to contribute to the INIS Hydro project. The main aims of the project are to provide a high resolution baseline dataset of the seabed off the coast of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland using a multibeam echo sounder and ground truthing methods (grab samples). The areas surveyed in this project are important in many ways e.g. important navigation channels, environnmental/conservation significance or potential sites for renewable developments, but are poorly charted. Therefore, this project aims to create accurate, updated and concise seabed maps of these important areas. In this survey there were 47 samples taken for infaunal analysis and PSA and C & N analysis. The survey was carried out on board the RV Corystes using a 0.1m2 day grab on 2011-02-16 and 2011-02-17. The methodology for the day grab is detailed below. • A 0.1m2 day grab was used to take a sample of the sediment & associated infaunal communities. • When the sample reaches the deck, a 250ml sample is taken for PSA and a further 25ml is taken for C & N analysis. The rest of the sample is carefully sieved to reveal any infauna. • Fixed Formalin (4% buffered formaldehyde) is added to the remains of the sample and these are placed in labelled buckets. • The samples are sent to accredited taxonomic laboratories were they are identified to as high a level as possible and weighed. "