Abstract
The South Sandwich Islands (SSI) are a chain of volcanic islands located to the east of the Scotia Sea, approximately 700 km south-east of South Georgia. To date, knowledge of the SSI benthic environment remains limited. In this context, the Blue Belt Programme conducted a scientific survey in the SSI Marine Protected Area (MPA) during February/March 2019 to examine the biodiversity and distribution of benthic communities and their potential vulnerability to licensed longline research fisheries. Here we report results from analysis of multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and drop camera imagery data collected in selected locations around the SSI. A total of eight vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) indicator morphotaxa were mapped along the slopes of the SSI, showing a substantial variation in taxon composition and frequency of occurrence, both along bathymetric and latitudinal gradients. Our results suggest that VME indicator taxa are mostly restricted to waters shallower than 700 m. As such, based on our present understanding of the region’s benthic environment the MPA, as currently established, offers effective protection for the majority of the VME indicator taxa.
Highlights
The UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are home to over 90% of the United Kingdom’s biodiversity and are of fundamental importance to regional and international marine conservation (FCO, 2012)
The benthic epifauna observed on drop-camera transects included hard and soft corals, bryozoans, and sponges attached to exposed rock and dropstones, whilst ophiuroids, sea stars and holothurians dominated the soft sediments
Observations indicate a marked change in abundance and faunal composition correlated with depth and substrate, with higher diversity occurring in the shallower hard substrate habitats
Summary
The UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are home to over 90% of the United Kingdom’s biodiversity and are of fundamental importance to regional and international marine conservation (FCO, 2012). Located in the South Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, the overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is recognised as a globally important wildlife haven. The islands are an internationally significant site for higher predators, hosting some of the largest populations of seabirds and marine mammals on Earth (Ratcliffe and Trathan, 2011; Trathan et al, 2014; Rogers et al, 2015). In 2012, the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) declared a sustainable use Marine Protected Area (MPA) across its maritime zone, covering an area of 1.24 million km (GSGSSI, 2018). The MPA saw additional enhancements in 2013 and 2018
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