PRE AND POST DRILLING BENCHMARKS AND MONITORING DATA OF 

 OCEAN FLOOR FAUNA, HABITATS, AND CONTAMINANT LOADS IN THE 

 GEORGES BANK SUBMARINE CANYONS 



Dr. Richard A. Cooper 

 Professor of Marine Sciences 

 Director, National Undersea Research Center, 

 University of Connecticut at Avery Point, 

 Groton, CT 06340 



ABSTRACT 



The biology and geology of submarine canyons of the 

 northwest Atlantic was investigated by diver scientists, 

 using manned submersibles, from 1973 through 1984. This 

 effort entailed in-situ studies in eighteen canyons ranging 

 from Corsair, Georges, Nygren, Powell, Lydonia, Gilbert 

 Oceanographer, Filebottom, Hydrographer, and Veatch off 

 Georges Bank to Atlantis, Block, Hudson, Toms, Wilmington, 

 Baltimore, Washington and Norfolk off southern New England 

 and the Mid Atlantic Bight. From 1980 through 1984 

 scientists from several New England research institutions 

 (NMFS, USGS, and NURC) conducted a before, during, and post- 

 drilling study of the species abundance, community 

 structure, animal-substrate relationships and body- 

 substrate burdens of trace metals, PCB's, and hydrocarbons 

 within and downstream of oil and gas exploration areas on 

 the south central portion of Georges Bank. There was no 

 evidence of impact from drilling on the megabenthic fauna 

 and the quality of their ocean floor habitats within the 

 Georges Bank Canyons (Lydonia, Oceanographer, and Veatch) . 

 The five-year "benchmark" and monitoring study, conducted 

 from the research submersible Johnson - Sea - Link , was 

 supported by NOAA's Office of Undersea Research (OUR) and 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, Woods Hole, MA. 



Site specific stations were established in Lydonia 

 Canyon (head of canyon and west wall) in 1980 and in 

 Oceanographer and Veatch Canyons in 1981 and 1982. Photo 

 and video transects were made in July, along transects 

 oriented north, south, east, and west of the station marker. 

 Estimates of species abundance and community structure were 

 made by habitat type. 



We hypothesize that submarine canyons function as 

 refugia for many bottom-oriented species, where there is 

 little, if any, impact from active fishing gear. Species 

 diversity and abundance are greater in canyons than in non- 

 canyon areas at comparable depths. Canyons also function as 

 important nursery grounds for a wide variety of megabenthic 

 fauna such as shrimps, Cancer crabs, American lobster, white 

 hake, cusk, ocean pout, conger eel, tilefish, and black- 

 bellied rosefish etc., and provide three-dimensional 



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