SEA5 Braer Report: Macrof fauna Species and Biomass from 61 North Sea Samples

The 2004 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA5 Braer macrofauna data report was produced by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (now DECC). It contains species lists, abundance, biomass, and size measurements from 61 seabed samples collected at 13 locations southwest of Shetland following the Braer tanker oil spill.

Use Cases

• Analyze changes in species diversity and abundance based on the reported species list data.
• Model the impact of oil contamination on marine biomass based on the provided biomass measurements.
• Assess the size distribution of affected taxa using the recorded size measurements.

Strengths

• Data is derived from 61 physical seabed samples, providing a concrete basis for analysis.
• Report includes multiple data types: species lists, abundance counts, biomass, and size measurements for selected taxa.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

UK Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change), via Government Digital Service.

Collection Method

Macrofaunal analysis undertaken on seabed samples.

Time Range

2004 (report year). Sampling likely occurred after the 1993 Braer spill.

Freshness

Report is from 2004; data is historical.

Geography

13 locations southwest of Shetland in the North Sea.