Benthic Mapping Report Phase I (2007)

Benthic habitat maps of the estuary seafloor will increase our knowledge of range and variability in benthic habitats, will assist managers in their efforts to protect and/or restore commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish, will link land usage (e.g. developed vs. undeveloped areas) and water quality data to benthic habitat quality, and will make it possible to utilize faunal data as a long-term indicator of the overall –health” of the estuary. The report developed benthic habitat maps by combining high-resolution remote sensing techniques with detailed study of the physical and faunal characteristics at point locations in different seafloor environments. In Phase I, six critical natural resource areas (CNRA: Robins Island, Shelter Island, Flanders Bay, Orient Bay, Northwest Harbor, and Gardiners Island) were acoustically mapped and sampled. Acoustic mapping generated bathymetric and backscatter images that provide high resolution detail about bottom morphology, sediment processes, and geophysical habitat, and that allow classification of the sea bed into regions. Samples for macrofauna and sediment properties were collected within each bottom region to provide “”ground truth”” for the acoustic maps. “