1.3 Benthic habitat surveys of potential LNG hub locations in the Kimberley

Description

A number of sites in the Kimberley region were being considered for their suitability as a location for a proposed common-user liquefied natural gas hub precinct. The marine benthic communities at these prospective sites are largely undescribed.

The Northern Development Taskforce (NDT) approached WAMSI to coordinate a rapid assessment of the marine benthic communities within four locations along the Kimberley coast.

There are many similarities across all locations in both the types of seabed substrate and the species encountered, but also some differences in the spatial distribution and extent of particular habitat types at each of the four locations.

Aims

• Classify and spatially define the distribution and extent of the major benthic habitat types in four selected localities within the Kimberley region.
• Survey the benthos along five supplementary transect lines between localities.
• Validate the location of the tide height-corrected 5, 10, 15 and 20 m bathymetric contours for the four selected localities.
• Collect biological samples from each habitat type identified at each location and along each supplementary transect line between localities to allow identification of benthic flora and fauna, and fish.