Jurien Bay benthic habitat mapping

Jurien Bay Boat Harbour is located north of the town of Jurien Bay, ~250 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The Boat Harbour services a range of government, recreational and commercial vessels and is managed by the WA Department of Transport (DoT). Wrack and marine sediments frequently accumulate in the Boat Harbour, negatively affecting the navigability, environment and aesthetic quality of the Harbour. To manage these impacts, routine maintenance dredging is undertaken by DoT. To inform future dredging requirements and marine environmental management of the Boat Harbour, BMT undertook benthic habitat mapping of Jurien Bay in November 2017 on behalf of DoT. The objectives of the mapping project were to: i. collect baseline data on the spatial extent and characteristics of benthic habitats in the mapping area, and ii. qualitatively characterise the extent of benthic primary producer habitat surrounding the Boat Harbour, and develop a mapping product to inform dredging operations and potential future environmental approvals applications, if necessary. Mapping was conducted by first collating satellite imagery to identify benthic habitat features to be ground-truthed by towed video. Video footage was annotated with biological attributes and combined with the satellite imagery to create classified benthic habitat maps of an area offshore of the Boat Harbour. See the "Lineage" section of this record and attached survey report for detailed methodology.