Earlier in the month, scientists and crew from UHI Shetland visited Fair Isle to carry out acoustic and drop down video surveys aboard the Moder Dy research vessel as part of the Fair Isle DR MPA benthic research project.
Moder Dy research vessel off the coast of Fair Isle
This research project aims to map the benthic (seabed) habitats around Fair Isle, building on existing predicted habitat models determined earlier this year. Three areas to the east of Fair Isle were surveyed using hydro-acoustic methods and two of these areas were ground truthed using drop down video methods.
These surveys bring to a close a busy summer of research activity as part of the Fair Isle DR MPA research programme. We hope to bring you more updates from the benthic survey soon!
Well done, and thank you to the UHI Shetland team! This survey was kindly supported by the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery through the National Trust for Scotland’s Love our Nature project.
The UHI team in action. From clockwise: skipper conducting the hydro-acoustic survey of the seabed, crew ready to deoploy drop-down video camera, all crew at stations during drop-down video camera drifts
and video footage monitor of the seabed from the drop-down video