Stereo BRUVS survey of the Money Shoal and Pillar Bank, Arafura Marine Park, Australia (2020)

Brief description

Observations of demersal fish communities on and around Money Shoal and Pillar Bank, Arafura Marine Park were undertaken using baited remote underwater video (stereo-BRUV) units. Each stereo-BRUVS comprises a pair of high-definition video cameras (GoPro Hero5) set to record at 1080p resolution at a rate of 30 frames per second. Each stereo-BRUV was baited with approximately 1 kg of crushed pilchards (Sardinops spp.) held within a plastic-coated wire mesh basket, attached to a stainless steel bait arm and positioned 1.5 m in front of the cameras. Each system was deployed for 60 minutes on the seafloor. Neighbouring deployments were separated by at least 400 m to reduce the likelihood of fish swimming between neighbouring stereo-BRUV deployments. Data from GlobalArchive (https://globalarchive.org/) project 293 and accessed on 2021-03-16. Report of the Arafura Marine Park survey (SOL 7491 / GA 0366) is at https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/document/arafura-marine-park-post-survey-report, covering multibeam, sediment samples and video observations from towed video.