Imagery collected to support two proposed Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME), Western Antarctic Peninsula, within CCAMLR Subarea 48.1, based on high relative abundances of VME indicator taxa that fall within the range of previously registered VMEs.
Video transect footage and extracted image frames documenting the benthic community at Point Prospect, Graham Coast, were collected via a Chasing M2 S Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) deployed from M/V Le Commandant Charcot, flagged with the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands. The dive was conducted on 12 January 2026. The ROV was equipped with a GoPro Hero 13 camera recording in 4K resolution, dual LED floodlights, and paired scaling lasers positioned 10 cm apart. Following quality control and removal of unusable sequences, a 26-minute and 1-second video transect was retained for analysis.
Video transect footage and extracted image frames documenting the benthic community at Paradise Harbour, Danco Coast, were collected via a crewed submersible deployed from M/V Seabourn Pursuit, flagged with the Bahamas. The dive analysed for this resource was conducted on 1 December 2025. Imagery was acquired using a Panasonic AW-UE150KEJ 4K Integrated PTZ camera mounted on a U-Boat Worx Cruise Sub 7 submersible and operated with a Panasonic AW-RP60GJ remote camera controller. Following quality control and removal of unusable sequences, a 21-minute and 39-second video transect was retained for analysis. For both locations, still images were extracted from the edited footage at regular intervals and used to assess the relative abundance of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem indicator taxa.
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Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt-obis.gbif.us/resource?r=vme-emm2026-point-prospect-paradise-harbour&v=1.2 https://doi.org/10.15468/u5x28u accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-09-25. accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-09-25. accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-14.","citationProvidedBySource":true},"contactsCitation":[],"lockedForAutoUpdate":false,"createdBy":"104e9c96-791b-4f14-978c-f581cb214912","modifiedBy":"104e9c96-791b-4f14-978c-f581cb214912","created":"2026-06-12T13:27:08.146+00:00","modified":"2026-09-25T13:58:50.842+00:00","contacts":[{"key":7054861,"type":"ORIGINATOR","primary":true,"userId":[],"firstName":"Susanne","lastName":"Lockhart","position":[],"email":["SouthernBenthics@outlook.com"],"phone":[],"homepage":[],"organization":"Southern 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Australia.","citationProvidedBySource":false}],"curatorialUnits":[],"taxonomicCoverages":[{"coverages":[{"scientificName":"Mollusca","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Demospongiae","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Hydrozoa","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Scleractinia","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Arthropoda","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Stylasteridae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Primnoidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Pectinida","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Coralliidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Serpulidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Chromista","rank":{"verbatim":"kingdom","interpreted":"KINGDOM"}},{"scientificName":"Porifera","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Isididae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Zoantharia","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Pterobranchia","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Hydroida","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Thecostraca","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Animalia","rank":{"verbatim":"kingdom","interpreted":"KINGDOM"}},{"scientificName":"Balanomorpha","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Candelabridae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Xenophyophorea","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Malacalcyonacea","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Annelida","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Scleralcyonacea","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Polychaeta","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Bathylasmatidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Brachiopoda","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Hexacorallia","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Cidaroida","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Chordata","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Bivalvia","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Paragorgiidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Ascidiacea","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Acanthogorgiidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Euryalida","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Octocorallia","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Actinacididae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Hemichordata","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Pectinidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Anthoathecata","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Echinoidea","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Sabellida","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Foraminifera","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Antipatharia","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Pennatulacea","rank":{"verbatim":"order","interpreted":"ORDER"}},{"scientificName":"Chrysogorgiidae","rank":{"verbatim":"family","interpreted":"FAMILY"}},{"scientificName":"Hexactinellida","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Ophiuroidea","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Crinoidea","rank":{"verbatim":"class","interpreted":"CLASS"}},{"scientificName":"Cnidaria","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Bryozoa","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}},{"scientificName":"Echinodermata","rank":{"verbatim":"phylum","interpreted":"PHYLUM"}}]}],"geographicCoverages":[{"description":"The dataset covers two sites in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (CCAMLR Subarea 48.1): Point Prospect on the Graham Coast and Paradise Harbour on the Danco Coast.","boundingBox":{"minLatitude":-66.0209,"maxLatitude":-64.8982,"minLongitude":-65.3569,"maxLongitude":-62.8751,"globalCoverage":false}}],"temporalCoverages":[{"@type":"range","start":"2025-12-01T00:00:00.000+00:00","end":"2026-01-12T00:00:00.000+00:00"}],"keywordCollections":[{"thesaurus":"GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type_2015-07-10.xml","keywords":["Samplingevent"]},{"thesaurus":"GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml","keywords":["Observation"]},{"thesaurus":"GCMD Science Keywords: https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/KeywordViewer/","keywords":["CCAMLR","ANTARCTICA","CORALS","INDICATOR TAXA","HYDROIDS","VULNERABLE MARINE ECOSYSTEM","VME","SPONGES"]}],"project":{"title":"Southern Ocean Citizen Submersible Initiative (SOCSI)","contacts":[{"type":"PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR","primary":false,"userId":[],"firstName":"Susanne","lastName":"Lockhart","position":[],"email":[],"phone":[],"homepage":[],"address":[]}],"funding":"ASOC; The Soap & The Sea","awards":[],"relatedProjects":[{"title":"Antarctic bioDiVersity dAta iNfrastruCturE (ADVANCE)","identifier":"RT/23/ADVANCE","contacts":[{"type":"CUSTODIAN_STEWARD","primary":false,"userId":["https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7087-2646"],"firstName":"Yi-Ming","lastName":"Gan","position":[],"email":[],"phone":[],"homepage":[],"address":[]}]}],"abstract":"A novel collaboration between commercial submersible pilots, and their organizations, with Southern Benthics to provide footage of the seabed around Antarctica for the purposes of securing protection for VMEs, and for monitoring the health of those VMEs in the long term in the face of the climate crisis."},"samplingDescription":{"studyExtent":"This dataset pertains to two proposed Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) located within CCAMLR Subarea 48.1 along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. The first site is located off Point Prospect on the Graham Coast, where video imagery was collected using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) deployed from M/V Le Commandant Charcot on 12 January 2026. The second site is located at Paradise Harbour on the Danco Coast, where video imagery was collected using a crewed submersible deployed from M/V Seabourn Pursuit on 1 December 2025. The Point Prospect site consists of flat to undulating terrain of rubble substrate at depths of 20–43 m. The Paradise Harbour site consists of a steep rock wall at depths of 15–120 m. Video surveys were conducted to document benthic communities and assess the occurrence of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem indicator taxa.","sampling":"At Point Prospect, a Chasing M2 S Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) fitted with a GoPro Hero 13 camera recording in 4K resolution, dual LED floodlights, and paired scaling lasers positioned 10 cm apart was deployed twice on 12 January 2026. The longest post-clean-up video was selected for analysis.\nAt Paradise Harbour, footage was collected using a Panasonic AW-UE150KEJ 4K Integrated PTZ camera mounted on a U-Boat Worx Cruise Sub 7 submersible and operated with a Panasonic AW-RP60GJ remote camera controller. Multiple dives were conducted on 21 November and 1 December 2025. Three dives were filmed using the submersible camera and three dives were filmed using a GoPro Hero13 fixed to the pilot’s window. The longest post-clean-up video was selected for analysis.","qualityControl":"- All records were validated.\n- Coordinates were converted into decimal latitude and decimal longitude and plotted on map to verify the actual geographical location corresponds to its locality.\n- All scientific names were checked for typo and matched to the species information backbone of Worlds Register of Marine Species (http://marinespecies.org/) and LSID were assigned to each taxa as scientificNameID.\n- Event date and time were converted into ISO 8601 and verified with the data providers.","methodSteps":["DaVinci Resolve 18.6 was used to stitch together separate video files.","Initial clean-up followed the same methodology used for analysing submersible footage for the successful nomination of VMEs in WG-EMM-22/46Rev1 and WG-EMM-24/48Rev1.","Unusable sequences were removed, including sequences where the ROV or submersible was too far from the substrate, visibility was poor, too much water column filled the frame, the camera remained focused on one area, or the ROV or submersible was moving too fast to produce a clear frame for analysis.","The longest cleaned video from each site was selected for analysis.","To compare the relative percent abundance of VME indicator taxa to that of non-VME taxa and bare substrate, frames were exported at regular intervals of 60 seconds beginning at 0:00, producing 27 Point Prospect frames and 22 Paradise Harbour frames for analysis.","The resulting series of images were colour graded within DaVinci Resolve 18.6.","Images were imported into PAPARA(ZZ)I (Marcon & Purser, 2017).","Within PAPARA(ZZ)I, images were further enhanced by adjusting brightness, contrast and gamma.","The usable area of each image was defined to exclude dark or blurred edges.","An array of 100 random points was overlaid on each image.","Each point was assigned one of three designations: VME indicator taxa, non-VME taxa (including algae), or bare substrate.","Analysis of individual frames was accompanied by examination of the original full-length footage to assist interpretation and ground-truth the scoring of random points."]},"countryCoverage":[],"collections":[],"dataDescriptions":[],"dataLanguage":"eng","pubDate":"2026-06-25T00:00:00.000+00:00","maintenanceUpdateFrequency":"UNKNOWN","maintenanceDescription":"","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","dwca":{"coreType":"http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Event","extensions":["http://rs.gbif.org/terms/1.0/Multimedia","http://rs.iobis.org/obis/terms/ExtendedMeasurementOrFact","http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Occurrence"],"modified":"2026-06-25T08:54:17.370+00:00"},"approximateCounts":{"occurrenceCount":58}}