Single beam acoustic surveys in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia (WAMSI Node 3 Project 1 Subproject 3.1.1)

Created 23/06/2025

Updated 23/06/2025

In 2006, two areas in the Cloates Sanctuary Zone (SZ) (mid and north), one area in the Mandu SZ, one reference area outside the Cloates SZ and a reference area outside the Osprey SZ, in the Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP), were surveyed in transects, using a Simrad EQ60 Single beam echo-sounder, providing cross and along shelf profiles for each surveyed area.In 2007, surveys were extended from the southern boundary of the Ningaloo Marine Park at Red Bluff to south of Cloates SZ and from north of Mandu SZ to Point Murat. Preliminary onboard processing of single-beam acoustic backscatter data displayed differences in seabed acoustic roughness (irregularities in topography) and hardness (type of substrate) aiding in the identification of broad-scale habitats for sampling. The backscatter (Sv) values from the transect data were examined using Nearest Neighbour Interpolation within ArcGIS Spatial Analyst Tool. Future detailed analysis will aid in the preparation of marine habitat maps of the areas surveyed, and provide surrogate information for additional broad-scale biodiversity assessments. Surveys were undertaken to aid in the identification of any features of interest on the seafloor. Although this is a course method of acoustic survey, it is cost effective and provides a baseline bathymetry, which has not been achieved previously in Ningaloo Marine Park.

Files and APIs

Additional Info

Field Value
Title Single beam acoustic surveys in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia (WAMSI Node 3 Project 1 Subproject 3.1.1)
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/438ebc30-df82-467a-8a75-c2c67fa12b8f
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
reception@aims.gov.au
Reference Period 20/11/2017
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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  "type": "Polygon"
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Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Single beam acoustic surveys in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia (WAMSI Node 3 Project 1 Subproject 3.1.1)". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/single-beam-acoustic-surveys-in-ningaloo-marine-park-western-australia-wamsi-node-3-project-1-s1